Guide to redundancy and restructure
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In this guidance on redundancy and restructure, Sharpe Pritchard outlines key legal and procedural aspects businesses must consider.
Redundancy is a specific legal situation under the Employment Rights Act 1996, occurring when a business closes or has a reduced requirement for work of a particular kind. It's a no-fault dismissal used when an employer needs to reduce staff numbers for genuine business reasons.
Restructuring involves changing an organisation's structure for efficiency. This may alter roles but doesn't always lead to redundancies.
Who is this for?
This guide is for organisations preparing to go through a restructure or redundancy progress. It will be of particular benefit to HR leads, senior management and boards.
What will I learn?
Whether redundancy or restructuring, particularly if jobs are at risk, a fair process is essential to protect the business and avoid unfair dismissal claims. This toolkit looks at actions an organisations must take, including:
- Having genuine business reasons for the changes.
- Exploring alternatives to redundancy such as reducing hours, not renewing fixed terms contracts etc.
- Using fair selection criteria taking into account a range of factors from length of service to performance reviews.
- Undertaking meaningful redundancy consultation with employees.
- Communicating clearly.
- Ensuring the process is well-documented, consistent and transparent.
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