Employers: What is good practice for a redundancy process?
This week, UK telecoms giant Vodafone has announced that it is planning to axe 11,000 jobs over the next three years. The cuts are set to equal around a tenth of the firm’s total global workforce - and will affect both its UK headquarters as well as employees in other countries.
Vodafone’s Chief and Interim Finance Director, Margherita Della Valle, said that its “performance has not been good enough. To constantly deliver, Vodafone must change”.
BT have also announced plans to cut up to 55,000 jobs by 2030. These potential job losses could amount to BT losing 40% of its workforce, in a bid to become a “leaner business” as it pushes into AI.
In the midst of inflation and rising costs, many employers will be looking at ways in which they can cut their spending and remain sustainable. Redundancies are unfortunately a common means of achieving this aim.
Legally speaking a redundancy occurs when an employee’s job no longer exists within the company - either due to a business or office/site closing, or a reduced need for people to do work of a particular kind.
If you’re an employer in the unfortunate position of having to make redundancies, it’s important to do so in the right way for both the company and affected employee(s). These decisions will greatly affect people’s livelihoods - so they need to be treated fairly and lawfully throughout.
There are certain steps that you need to take to manage a redundancy process correctly, in-line with statutory requirements. If your firm fails to comply with these, employees may be able to claim unfair dismissal, which could be damaging in terms of financial cost and reputational damage.
Please note that the information above is a short overview of some of the legal considerations of a redundancy process - it is not an in-depth guide.
If you’re unsure of how to conduct a redundancy process, or how to decide which roles are at risk, our brilliant employment law team at Wilkin Chapman can assist you with any queries you may have, as well as provide our expert advice and guidance throughout the difficult process of making redundancies.
If you would like professional support and advice, please contact us today.
Contact Tom to discuss this further.
