Making staff redundant
Redundancy is dismissal that is related to the job and not to the person holding the job. You might need to make a position redundant if:
- you close your business
- you move your business
- you no longer need the skills required by that job
Naturally, many people threatened the loss of their job do take it personally, and you need to deal carefully and sensitively with them. There are three steps you must take:
- Write to the employee notifying them of the reason for the redundancy and invite them to a meeting to discuss the matter
- Hold a meeting with the employee to discuss the redundancy - at which the employee has the right to be accompanied. Notify the employee of the decision and the right to appeal
- Hold an appeal meeting (if the employee wishes to appeal) at which the employee has the right to be accompanied - and inform the employee of the final decision.
ACAS and Business Link can both guide you through these stages:
- Redundancy (ACAS)
- Dismissals, redundancies and other exits (Business Link)
You might find it helpful to point your employee to our Redundancy support for individuals pages.
