Should we give consultation periods to employees who will be made redundant?

We have given an employee a 30-day period of consultation prior to his dismissal by way of redundancy. Is this period a matter of law or what is considered reasonable?

Answer: The 30-day period applies to collective redundancies, that is when you are intending to make more than 20 employees redundant in one place of work within a 90-day period.

The question remains, however, what is a reasonable period? I think it all depends on whether the feedback from the employee is worth further consideration. For example, if the club’s reason for redundancy is that it needs to reduce costs by a given amount and the employee puts forward well reasoned alternatives, time should be allowed to fully cost the alternatives. This would normally mean the consultation could last up to a week or more. However, if there are little or no topics to discuss the period could be shorter. In cases where a redundancy has been judged unfair due to a lack of consultation, employment tribunals often award two, sometimes three, weeks’ compensation.

Do not forget that employees under notice of redundancy also have the right to:

• be offered suitable alternative employment wherever possible

• have a trial period in the alternative employment without losing their right to a statutory redundancy payment (SRP)

• reasonable time off on full pay for job-hunting or to arrange training.

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