Redundancy

Expert advice from experienced employment law solicitors

At Hutchinson Thomas we understand how stressful it can be when you are threatened with redundancy or where you believe you have been unfairly dismissed. Our friendly and approachable team will offer advice and support and give you their honest opinion of your situation.

We will discuss your options with you and represent you in bringing a claim for unfair dismissal in the event that a satisfactory agreement cannot be reached with your employer.

It is often the case that a dispute can be settled before it reaches an employment tribunal. Our lawyers are strong negotiators and will work hard to obtain the best possible outcome for you. In the event that the case does proceed to court or to an employment tribunal, you can be assured of robust representation.

The redundancy process

In making someone redundant, your employer must tell you how the process will work, to include how they will choose who to make redundant, the proposed timescales, dates of meetings and how you can appeal their decision.

By law, they are required to consult with everyone at risk of redundancy. They must also put together a selection pool of potential candidates for redundancy and choose fairly from them. This could be by scoring candidates in respect of disciplinary records, attendance, appraisals, experience, skills and qualifications.

They may not discriminate against anyone on the grounds of certain characteristics, to include age, marital status, maternity or paternity, sexual orientation, gender, race, disability, religious beliefs, trade union membership, working pattern or whistleblowing.

This includes indirect discrimination, for example, if your employer chose candidates for redundancy from part-time workers only and those part-time workers were mostly women, this could be classed as indirect discrimination.

As well as being entitled to be consulted over the redundancy, if you are selected, you are also entitled to a notice period and redundancy pay.

If you believe any part of the redundancy process has not been fairly or objectively handled, you should seek legal advice as to whether you have the right to make a claim for compensation. We will be happy to speak to you about your situation and discuss your options with you.

Settlement agreements

In the event that you do have a valid claim for unfair dismissal or if you are prepared to agree to a voluntary redundancy package, your employer may offer you a settlement agreement. This is a legally binding document by which you would agree to drop all claims against your employer in return for a lump sum payment.

We can negotiate this on your behalf to ensure that you receive the best possible deal and we can also advise you on the other terms included in the agreement. For example, your employer may also be prepared to offer you a good reference that you can take with you to show to potential new employees.

A settlement agreement is a waiver of your rights, so by law you must take independent legal advice before signing. Your employer will usually make a contribution towards the costs of this. We can explain the implications of any agreement to you, to include terms relating to confidentiality, restrictive covenants and solicitation.

Contact us

Hutchinson Thomas is the first law firm in Wales to be awarded the Law Society Mark of Excellence. The firm and many of our lawyers are recognised year on year in the Legal 500 publication as leading individuals in their field.

We have in-depth experience of representing clients threatened with redundancy and an excellent track record of obtaining compensation when the procedure is not properly followed.

If you are facing redundancy and you would like to speak to one of our expert employment solicitors ring us on the following numbers or fill in our contact form.