Stage 1 – Prepare a Proposal

·       Establish whether there is a genuine redundancy situation
o   Closure of business
o   Reduced requirement of staff to carry our work
 
·       Make a plan
o   Work out what the business structure needs to look like – prepare an organogram of now and what you think you need 0 make sure it is titled – “Proposed Structure”
o   Consider which roles need to be reduced – consider pools and selection criteria
o   Are there any vacancies?
o   Be clear that this is a proposal – firm decision can only be reached once consultation is underway
o   Speak to staff when redundancies are first contemplated.
 
·       Work out how many dismissals are likely
o   Be mindful if over 20 staff are to be dismissed in a 90day period then collective consultation obligations apply.
 
Stage 2 – Consult with Staff
 
·       Meet with staff
o   Discuss the proposal, be transparent and explain business rationale
o   Explain how many roles are “at risk” and make clear that redundancies are only a possibility at this stage
o   Explain avoidance measures are being explored
o   Ask staff to engage in consultation – seek their suggestions
o   Take notes of meetings.
 
·       Scoring
o   Produce a scoring matrix where appropriate (i.e.) pools of staff – seek staff input before undertaking scoring
o   When undertaking scoring – base all marks on object criteria where possible
o   Be careful to avoid discriminatory criteria
o   Make sure 2 managers complete the scoring.  Make sure they do this independently.
 
·       Meet the lowest scorers a minimum of 2 times to consult.
o   First to provide details of their scores and then to allow suggestions to avoid the need to make them redundant
o   Provide them an opportunity to question their scores
o   Provide reasonable time for them to make further suggestions and allow them the opportunity to raise issues about scores and suggest alternatives to redundancy and consider bumping and other vacancies.
 
·       Keep lines of communication open
o   Ensure that the complete individual consultation process takes at least 7 days (preferably 14 days to complete)
o   Don’t tell high scorers that they are “safe”.  The consultation process enables staff to be placed “at risk” and then depending on their score they may be “provisionally selected” or not.  Staff that score best will not be “provisionally selected”, but remain “at risk” until consultation is complete.  The reason being low scorers may legitimately argue that scoring is incorrect and then swap out and higher scorers become “provisionally selected”
o   Provide redundancy package information before formal decision is made to dismiss
o   Keep notes of meetings, make contemporaneous notes of behind the scene decision making meetings.
 
·       Administration
o   Have a note taker at each meeting where possible
o   Allow employee to be accompanied by work colleague or trade union representative where possible.  It is mandatory for the last meeting in any event
o   Allow staff the right of appeal.
 
Do’s and Don’ts
o   Ensure at all times you make it clear that the redundancies are being proposed – no firm decision has been made until the very last meeting.  You can’t say “this is a proposal” too many times!
o   Invite staff to make suggestions, however silly – sometimes they have not been considered by the business
o   Provide staff as much background information about the proposal so that staff are well informed and can understand the business rationale
o   Take careful notes at all stages – if possible, have a notetaker at meetings
o   When you provide scoring – make sure other employee names are redacted to avoid privacy breaches
o   Don’t be afraid to say at a meeting that any suggestions will be considered and later revert.  There is no point trying to second guess answers and often other people’s input is required
o   Only rely on fair selection criteria – i.e.) avoid subjective and discriminatory ones
o   Make sure managers are armed with detailed information about how pooling has been considered – ensure that they understand the concepts of “interchangeability” so that they can clearly explain why certain roles have been placed in a pool together (even if they have different job titles).