If you are facing redundancy, you need to know what your statutory employment rights are under the redundancy laws of the UK. These laws ensure that you are treated fairly by your employer and that they act in accordance with certain guidelines. This will include your right to consultation before the redundancy is finalised.
Your Right To Consultation
According to the law, employers have to consult employees before dismissal on the grounds of redundancy. During this consultation, your employer has to tell you what is going on and provide you with the opportunity to raise objections and ask any questions. There are other steps that your employer will have to take during the consultation.
They will need to consider all other options with you and look at how they can reduce any hardships that are a direct result of the redundancy. The time frame for the consultation will vary depending on the number of redundancies in the company. This may also be done on an individual level if there are less than 20 employees being made redundant.
A Fair Process
Under redundancy law, you have the right to a fair process. This means that your employer will have to be objective and fair when it comes to determining which roles are being made redundant. They have the obligation of telling you the reasons for the redundancy.
If you believe that you have been selected unfairly, you will have the right to appeal the redundancy. The grounds for this will include being chosen based on gender, age and race. If you feel your appeal was not handled correctly, you can take your employer to a tribunal.
Minimum Notice Period
According to the law, your employer will have to provide a minimum notice period. This will vary depending on how long you have worked for the company. If you have worked for the company for more than 12 years, you are legally entitled to a notice period of 12 weeks.
However, if you have been employed for less than 2 years, but more than a month, you are entitled to at least 1 week’s notice. Between 2 and 12 years, you are entitled to a week of notice for each year you were employed.
Redundancy law in the UK provides you with certain rights that you need to be aware of. You are entitled to set notice periods based on the length of your employment. A consultation will also need to be carried out before redundancy decisions are made. If you need professional legal advice, contact DPH Legal who are solicitors specialising in employment law in the UK.
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are for information purposes only and should not be relied upon as formal legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article. Specific legal advice should be sort tailored to the individual circumstances in all cases.
For any information relating to our services please give us a call and we will be very happy to help.