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Government consultation collective redundancy obligations

Details on the government consultation for threshold for triggering collective redundancy obligations and how employers can inform our response.

23 April 2026

The government has launched a new consultation on the threshold for triggering collective redundancy obligations and we are seeking your views to inform our response on behalf of employers.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 aims to introduce new rules requiring employers to carry out collective redundancy consultation and notification whenever redundancies reach the set threshold across the whole organisation.

Current provisions require employers to carry out collective redundancy consultation obligations when they plan to make 20 or more redundancies at one workplace within 90 days. This has resulted in circumstances where large numbers of employees are not consulted, as the redundancies are spread across multiple sites and therefore fall below the existing thresholds at each location.

Collective redundancy processes help to ensure a fair and transparent process by allowing employees to contribute to plans for avoiding or reducing job losses.

The government is therefore seeking input on how a new organisation‑wide threshold for collective redundancy consultation should be designed. The consultation is split into three sections, and we are gathering your views on:

Methods for setting the threshold– for example, whether to use a single fixed number or a tiered approach based on workforce size.
What the threshold level should be – identifying the point that best balances business flexibility with stronger employee protections.
The government’s proposed approach – including the practical impact these changes may have on organisations.

Methods for setting the threshold:

Collective redundancy obligations would apply when an employer proposes a set number of redundancies across the whole organisation within a 90-day period. This single number would apply to all employers, regardless of size. This approach is simple and easy to understand, but the threshold would need to be high enough to avoid large employers being in constant consultation, which could mean smaller employers rarely reach it.
This approach would require employers to calculate how many employees they have in Great Britain and apply a set percentage to decide when obligations are triggered. It offers proportionality across different employer sizes but is more complex in practice, as employers would need to monitor headcount accurately and regularly. Fluctuating workforce numbers or miscalculations could increase administrative effort and create uncertainty for employers, employees and trade unions.
Under this method, employers would be placed into different bands based on their total number of employees, with each band having its own fixed redundancy threshold. This offers proportionality and clarity, but it can create “cliff‑edge” effects where employers close to a band boundary face significantly different obligations. Employers would also need a clear and consistent way of calculating their workforce to determine which tier they fall into.
This approach combines proportionality for smaller employers with a cap for larger ones. Smaller organisations would trigger obligations when redundancies reach a set percentage of their workforce, while larger employers would be subject to a fixed number. This helps to ensure large scale redundancy exercises in bigger organisations still require consultation, but it does rely on clear rules for calculating and monitoring workforce numbers.

Have your say

Please complete our online survey to give your feedback by cop Monday 4 May 2026

Further information

In addition to the questions included in our survey, the government has published further consultation questions on its website. You can read these in full on the GOV.UK consultation web page. We encourage employers to share any additional comments if they feel it is necessary.

The effective date for these provisions is not confirmed. However, they are not expected to come into force until 2027.

Details of the Employment Rights Act 2025 roadmap and actions for employers.

Government consultation collective redundancy obligations

Methods for setting the threshold:

Have your say

Further information

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