If you’re at risk of redundancy or have been made redundant, our redundancy solicitors can advise you on the employment laws that are in place to ensure you are treated fairly.
Unfortunately, you might find yourself in a redundancy situation if your workplace closes or your employer wants to restructure their business or reduce overheads as a result of a downturn in the economy.
We can provide you with advice and guidance on the redundancy process to ensure you are treated fairly, advise if you can bring a claim against your employer, assist in approaching your employer, and if required, help you make a claim to the Employment Tribunal. Whatever the situation, you can rely on our experience and knowledge to give you the right employment advice and resolve your individual circumstances.
Being made redundant isn’t the same thing as being sacked – it isn’t a result of anything you have done wrong and should only happen when your role within a company ceases to exist. If you are facing redundancy situation the responsibility is on your employer to make sure you are treated fairly, which ranges from exploring possible alternative employment to ensuring you receive the full redundancy package you are entitled to.
Before starting the redundancy process, your employer has to be completely sure there are no alternatives to solve the issue causing the potential redundancy, including changes to your terms and conditions that, for example, reduce working hours or pay. The redundancy procedure is a legal requirement for all businesses, and employers need to follow it carefully.
This includes:
You are on maternity, adoption, paternity, or shared parental and are part of the redundancy pool, you may have some preferential rights over other employees on any suitable alternative vacancies that are appropriate to their skills.
Even if a redundancy situation is genuine, failure to follow the correct procedure can result in a finding of unfair dismissal at an Employment Tribunal. While the right to claim unfair dismissal only arises after two complete years of service, selection for a discriminatory reason can also result in a claim from the beginning of the employment relationship.
There are some situations where an employer may wish to offer you a Settlement Agreement– a voluntary legally binding contract that can be used to end an employment relationship on agreed terms between the employer and the employee. A much quicker procedure that the formal redundancy route, Settlement Agreements also ensure that if you are dismissed you will be unable to make an employment tribunal claim about any type of claim which is listed in the agreement such as unfair dismissal. Because of this, employers are normally required to contribute towards the legal costs of their employees as a Settlement Agreement must be ‘signed off’ by an appropriate legal adviser.
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