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How can I achieve staffing efficiencies without redundancies? Do I need to consult and who do I need to consult with? When do I need to start consultation? How long should I consult for? What do I need to consult about? What if I want to phase the redundancies - how will this affect the duty to consult? When should I send at risk letters? How do I identify a pool for selection? What selection criteria should I use? When can notice of termination by reason of redundancy be given? How can I achieve staffing efficiencies without redundancies?There are other ways to achieve staffing efficiencies without redundancies, these include; a recruitment freeze, not replacing staff who leave, using a ban on the use of Agency staff and reduced temporary staffing, including fixed term staff (subject to the requirements of the Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulation 2002). Locally employers can work together to help redeploy staff where they can across organisational boundaries and by using nhsjobs to support staff. Many organisations are implementing the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework to support retraining and career development. Other ways to reduce the need for redundancies are to increase the availability of part-time work in some areas to reduce wte and introduce effective rostering and sickness management arrangements. Do I need to consult and who do I need to consult with?There is a statutory requirement to consult the Trade Union representatives or employee representatives of the sections of staff that are affected by the redundancy process where you contemplate dismissing as redundant 20 or more employees from one establishment within a 90 day period. This is referred to as collective consultation. Irrespective of the number of potential redundancies you should consult with each individual employee to ensure a fair procedure is being followed to prevent claims for unfair dismissal. This is referred to as individual consultation. You should ensure that you have a one to one meeting with all of those placed at risk of redundancy (see below). The need to consult may arise even if there are no redundancies contemplated, for example if there is a restructure programme planned, in accordance with your staff affected by change procedures. You should also be aware that the statutory dismissal procedure will apply if you are contemplating the dismissal of under 20 employees, you will therefore be statutorily required to comply with the three step statutory dismissal procedure. When do I need to start consultation?You need to commence collective consultation when you are contemplating the dismissal of 20 or more employees as redundant in a 90 day period. You are likely to contemplate dismissals early in the process and consultation therefore needs to begin before a firm structure or plan is in place. Individual consultation should start shortly after a person is identified as at risk of redundancy (see below). How long should I consult for?This will depend on the number of employees that at risk of redundancy; There is no statutory time limit for individual consultation and this should take place in sufficient time for full consultation to take place. Individual consultation should take place shortly after a person is identified as at risk of redundancy and can take place during the 30 or 90 day period referred to above as long as no notice of termination is issued. What do I need to consult about?Consultation should be about ways of avoiding the dismissals, reducing the numbers of employees to be dismissed, and mitigating the consequences of the dismissals. Consultation must not be a sham exercise and should be undertaken with a view to reaching agreement. There must be time for the employees / appropriate representatives to properly consider the proposal being put to them and for the employer to reply to any representations. You will also need to disclose information including: reasons for proposed redundancies, the numbers and descriptions of employees who may be redundant, the proposed method of selecting the employees, the proposed method of carrying out the dismissals and the proposed method of calculating the amount of any redundancy payments to be made to employees who may be dismissed. You will need to consult collectively about the pools for selection and the selection criteria to be applied. You should ensure that you keep records of all consultation meetings and the reasons for each decision taken. What if I want to phase the redundancies - how will this affect the duty to consult?If you are planning to make 100 or more redundancies but phased over a period in excess of 90 days, for example redundancies are to be phased over eight months and in blocks of 25, you still have a duty to consult for at least 90 days from when you contemplate the redundancies. This is a minimum period and where there are phased redundancies it may be necessary to extend the consultation period. When should I send at risk letters?Firstly you need to be clear what you mean by “at risk”, the term at risk may mean different things to different people and may depend upon your policy. A person is “at risk” of redundancy when their role has been identified as potentially disappearing, so in many cases when a structure is known. When a person is identified as “at risk” a letter should be sent to the individual confirming this and the reasons for it. How do I identify a pool for selection?The pool will need to be reasonable in the circumstances. One consideration will be to identify pools of staff employed in similar positions whose skills will allow them to be considered for the same positions under the new structure. As a general guide you should look at the foot print of the new organisation as being the pool. A pool should not necessarily be limited to people with identical job titles and you should consider whether, in reality, that individual does the same job. Those acting up into a role should, generally, be placed into a pool based on their substantive post. What selection criteria should I use?Selection criteria should as far as possible be objectively reasonable. Potential criteria could include; length of service, performance; skills and knowledge; disciplinary record; time keeping and attendance record. You should be careful when taking account of an absence record to ascertain the reasons for absence and whether any absence is related to a disability. In addition if a criteria is related to age, for example length of service, this will need to be objectively justified before it can be used and further guidance on this is available on the NHSE website. Where a new role is being introduced it can be legitimate to assess people against the skills needed for that new role almost as if it was a recruitment exercise.When can notice of termination by reason of redundancy be given?Notice should not be given until the conclusion of the collective consultation period. Suitable alternative employment should continue to be sought in the notice period.Where can I find out more?
Further guidance on handling redundancies can be obtained through the advisory booklet, Redundancy Handling at ACAS. Last reviewed 16 Jun 2006 |
