From time to time employers may face the difficult necessity of reducing head count. It is crucial that organisation conduct this exercise fairly and legally.Â
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What do we do?
Our employment specialists advise on ways to limit employment costs and reshape organisations. This includes working with businesses to manage tough head count reduction exercises when it becomes clear that a redundancy programme is necessary in order to secure the firm’s future success.Â
Collective consultation
If you are considering dismissing 20 or more employees within a 90-day period, collective consultation obligations apply. This type of redundancy requires the appointment of employee representatives (in the absence of a recognised trade union), an obligation to file form HR1 (with criminal sanction for breach), and a rigid framework within which the consultation must take place.Â
Individual consultation
In every redundancy situation there is an obligation to consult with the affected employees directly and to ensure fairness in selection pools, criteria and the process generally.
We work closely with employers to formulate an effective redundancy strategy, make sure that their obligations are met, and ensure that the process runs smoothly, fairly and efficiently throughout.Â
Provided that the employer has met all of their obligations and adhered to a fair process, employees will be unable to bring a successful claim for unfair dismissal, therefore getting the right advice from the right experts at the outset is crucial.
We bring our most complicated challenges to Gateley. The team here always have good solid legal advice, balanced with the necessary commercial view to help make difficult decisions.
Who do we help?
We advise clients from global corporates to SMEs and are also recognised as leading advisers to a wide range of sectors, including healthcare, local government, education, social housing, manufacturing, retail and financial services.
