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Employment

Redundancy: introduction

If you're going to be made redundant from your job, you should be treated fairly by your employer and there are certain steps they would be expected to follow. You may also be entitled to a redundancy payment.

What is redundancy?

Redundancy is a form of dismissal from a job. Reasons include:

  • new technology or a new system has made your job unnecessary
  • the job you were hired for no longer exists
  • the need to cut costs means staff numbers must be reduced
  • the business is closing down or moving

It can still be a genuine redundancy if someone else's job disappears and they are moved into your job, making you redundant. This is known as 'bumping', but it may be difficult for your employer to justify as fair.

Procedure

In a redundancy situation, the following things should happen:

  • Your employer should select you fairly
  • You should be consulted about the redundancy
  • You should get any redundancy pay you are due, and be given the correct amount of notice
  • Your employer should consider any alternatives to redundancy

If there are fewer than 20 employees being made redundant then the statutory minimum dismissal procedure should be followed. If there are 20 or more, then the collective consultation procedure applies instead.

If an employer uses redundancy to cover up the real reason for ending your employment, or if they do not carry out the redundancy procedure properly, it may amount to unfair dismissal. The rights to redundancy payments and collective consultation are claimed separately from unfair dismissal.

Where to get help

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) offers free, confidential and impartial advice on all employment rights issues. You can call the Acas helpline on 08457 47 47 47 from 8.00 am to 6.00 pm Monday to Friday.

The Labour Relations Agency (LRA) offers free, confidential and impartial advice on all employment rights issues for residents of Northern Ireland. You can contact the LRA on 028 9032 1442 from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday.

Your local Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) can provide free and impartial advice. You can find your local CAB office in the phone book or online.

If you are a member of a trade union, you can get help, advice and support from them

If you have doubts about the way your employer may have calculated your statutory redundancy pay you can call the Redundancy Payments Helpline on 0845 1450 004.

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