The financial impact of Covid-19 and the continuing changes to the way we are conducting our operations in a pandemic situation sadly means that many charities have no viable alternative to making redundancies. Clearly it is vital to get redundancy handling right in relation to the loss of a dedicated colleague and the impact on teams and morale, and also from the point of correctly following procedures. But, it is more important than ever that we get it right for the individuals.

Things to consider

1. Think about how you would want to be treated if your job were at risk. Except in the most unforeseen emergency circumstances, no formal consultation process should ever be announced without there having been informal meetings with affected individuals.
2. Have a structured approach and timetable. If you don’t yet have a redundancy policy and procedure, now is the time to introduce one. Set a timetable in advance for both the informal and formal parts of the consultation process, and for the selection process.
3. Know the law and don’t cut corners. Be particularly aware of collective consultation requirements if you are making 20 or more staff redundant within any three-month period – if you don’t recognise a union, then employee representatives need to be elected. Be aware of the different purposes of collective and individual consultation. Collective consultation is about discussing with representatives the ways of avoiding redundancies or softening the impact. Irrespective of the number of employees faced with redundancy, you must formally consult the affected individuals.
4. Establish the right selection pool and identify the selection criteria. You need to establish all the people who could reasonably be considered to be doing the same role and include all of them in the selection pool for redundancy. You need to be clear about the selection criteria and process.
5. Write a formal redundancy consultation letter to employees in the redundancy selection pool. Write to those who may be affected, explaining why you’re making redundancies, setting out the anticipated number of redundancies and the pool they’re being drawn from, telling them about the proposed selection criteria, and explaining the whole process and timetable. Invite people to apply for voluntary redundancy, making it clear that you will not necessarily be able to make this available to everybody.
6. Hold a first individual consultation meeting with each person affected. Explain the position again, set out any options for voluntary redundancy or known redeployment possibilities, and discuss any ideas they may have to avoid redundancy. Explain the selection criteria and procedure, and invite comment.
7. Complete the selection process. Make sure that the scores and the objective rationale for the scores is recorded, whether selection is made on a desktop grid basis, by interviews, or a combination of both. Determine which of the employees scored lowest and are to be made redundant.
8. Hold a second consultation meeting with all the employees selected for the redundancy before issuing notice. Go through their scores with them and give them the chance to explain if and why they think you’ve underscored them. Decide whether or not you accept their representations and whether this changes the decision. Set out any redeployment options and invite them to suggest vacancies for which they would like to be considered.
9. Suitable alternative employment. The employer has the responsibility to seek to identify and ringfence any suitable alternative employment opportunities throughout the employee’s notice period. If there are opportunities that are on the same pay grade and with a similar person specification, the employee should be automatically assimilated. Significantly different and/or higher paid roles should only be offered if they demonstrate their capability through the normal interview and testing process.
10. Treat people with honesty, openness and decency. Make sure you continue to include the redundant employees in all meetings and other activities and events right until the point they leave. Make sure that those who leave you have a good send-off. If you have managed the change properly you should feel no embarrassment or hesitation in attending a redundant employee’s “leaving do”. You are setting the tone for the process to be recognised as fair and respectful.