The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in organisations looking at redundancies as a result of a downturn in business.

ACAS has seen a 160% year on year increase in calls to its helpline in the past couple of months and redundancy advice has been the primary reason. 

Before making employees redundant, all other options must be considered. Companies may need to be a little creative and remember that it is the role that is redundant and not the employee. It is not an opportunity to remove the employee that they don’t like! The process needs to be fair and with meaningful consultation.

The ‘standard’ considerations to avoid redundancy, aside from the voluntary option, include finding alternative positions, reduced hours, temporary lay-off, barring overtime or freezing recruitment. More creative options include:

• Postponing job offers;
• Voluntary sabbaticals or career breaks;
• Buying extra annual leave;
• Retraining and reorganisation;
• Reduced use of agency workers;
• A salary or pay freeze; or
• Removal of discretionary benefits.

All of these ideas come with a huge caveat! You must follow the correct procedure before implementing and gain consent from those affected. Nevertheless, workers are more inclined to agree to these changes than face redundancy. Employers should also remember that they may need to retain critical employees until the economy recovers.

Coppice HR has dealt with many redundancy situations on a global or local basis and can use this experience to help your specific situation . Contact us on paul@coppicehr.com, www.coppicehr.com or 07814 008478 and we will not only look at the policy, procedure and best practice elements but also the softer and more individual factors too. Remember that “You Do The Business, We Do The HR.”