Redundancy

(asked on 17th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he has taken to ensure companies comply with legislation on redundancy consultancy procedures.


Answered by
Paul Scully Portrait
Paul Scully
This question was answered on 23rd November 2020

The Government’s role in these situations is to set the legislative framework and requirements for collective redundancy consultation.

Disputes about the compliance are generally questions of fact and the Employment Tribunal is best placed to determine whether a breach of the requirements has taken place and whether there should be an award for the breach.

The Government has powers to act where there has been a failure to notify the Secretary of State of proposed collective redundancies prior to the start of statutory consultation.

The Government has a robust package of measures to address non-compliance including:

  • potential disciplinary action for officeholders who fail to consult following appointment on insolvency,

  • a financial penalty on employers who fail to engage with employees and;

  • potential prosecution for failure to notify the relevant competent authority when proposing redundancies.

Government recognises the importance of ensuring that where redundancies are necessary, employers get the process right. Acas has been running webinars focusing on handling redundancies in both collective and non-collective situations. The range of digital events outline the legal processes around redundancy. The events have been updated to consider the specific challenges around Coronavirus as well as alternatives to redundancy, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

In addition, Acas, CBI and TUC have published a joint statement on handling redundancies. Their message encourages employers to exhaust all possible alternatives before making redundancies and to consult with their workforce on what these alternatives might be. The organisations have called on all employers considering redundancies to work with their trade unions and employees and get the process right by following 5 principles:

  1. Do it openly – whatever the scale of the redundancies, the sooner people understand the situation, the better for everyone;
  2. Do it thoroughly - by providing information and guidance;
  3. Do it genuinely – consultation means hearing people's views before you make a decision and being open to alternatives based on feedback;
  4. Do it fairly - all aspects of your redundancy procedure should be conducted fairly and without any form of discrimination.
  5. Do it with dignity - losing your job has a human as a well as a business cost. The way you let people go says a lot about your organisation's values. Think about how you will handle the conversation – whether it is face-to-face or remote.
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