Calderwood House, Montpellier Parade, Cheltenham GL50 1UA
Facing redundancy can be difficult and uncertain. Our employment solicitors provide clear legal advice on redundancy processes, your employment rights, redundancy payments and the options available to you.
Advice During Workplace Change
A redundancy proposal can leave you trying to plan your future while important decisions are being made around you. You may not understand why your role was selected, whether the consultation is genuine or if the payment offered reflects what you are owed. Our employment solicitors help you make sense of the proposal and identify the questions worth raising. We understand that your priorities may include keeping your job, securing another role or leaving on fair terms, and we tailor our legal advice to the outcome that matters to you.
We review the business explanation, selection criteria and supporting scores alongside your contract, service history and any alternative vacancies. Our legal team can help you prepare for consultation meetings, challenge errors, check redundancy and notice payments or obtain independent advice on a settlement agreement. Where there may be unfair dismissal or discrimination, we explain the evidence needed and the options for pursuing a challenge. You receive practical advice on redundancy law while there may still be time to influence the process, together with a clear explanation of the cost of our work before you decide how much assistance you need.
Redundancy is a potentially fair reason for dismissal where a business closes, a workplace closes or the employer needs fewer employees to carry out work of a particular kind. The work itself does not always have to disappear: an employer may need fewer people to perform it after reorganisation.
A genuine business reason does not automatically make every resulting dismissal fair. Consultation, selection, alternatives and the circumstances of the individual employee still matter. We distinguish a challenge to the business proposal from a challenge to how your dismissal was handled.
Consultation should take place while the proposal remains open to meaningful discussion. You should be able to understand why your role is at risk, ask about the selection method and put forward alternatives. Depending on the circumstances, those alternatives may include redeployment, changed hours, reduced overtime or voluntary redundancy.
We can review the information supplied and prepare questions directed at gaps in the proposal. Keep meeting notes and confirm important points in writing. A meeting described as consultation is of limited value if the decision has already been made and your representations cannot influence it.
Collective consultation rules generally apply where an employer proposes 20 or more redundancies at one establishment within 90 days. Consultation must begin in good time and at least 30 days before the first dismissal for 20–99 proposed redundancies, or 45 days for 100 or more. Individual consultation remains relevant alongside collective obligations.
The selection pool should reflect a reasonable approach to the work and employees affected. A pool of one can be appropriate in some circumstances, but the employer should be able to explain why the role is treated separately. We examine whether employees doing interchangeable work were considered and whether the proposed pool is defensible.
Selection criteria should be applied consistently and supported by evidence. Subjective performance scores, inaccurate attendance records or criteria that disadvantage protected groups may require challenge. Disability-related absence, pregnancy and family leave need particular care. Asking for the score breakdown and underlying records can help identify a specific concern rather than a general disagreement with the outcome.
Before dismissal, consider whether suitable alternative employment is available. Suitability can depend on duties, pay, hours, location, status and your circumstances. An unreasonable refusal of suitable alternative work can affect statutory redundancy pay, so obtain advice before rejecting an offer.
A statutory trial period will normally be four weeks where the alternative role involves different terms. An extension for retraining must meet the relevant requirements and be agreed in writing. Clarify the role, start date and trial arrangements before accepting, and raise concerns during the trial rather than assuming you can decide later.
Employees covered by pregnancy and specified family-leave redundancy protections may have priority for suitable alternative vacancies during the protected period. This does not guarantee that redundancy is impossible. We check the applicable dates, leave and available roles to establish what priority should have been given.
Eligible employees normally need two years of continuous employment. The calculation uses complete years of service, age during those years and weekly pay, subject to statutory limits. Up to 20 years of service can be counted:
For redundancies taking effect on or after 6 April 2026, weekly pay is capped at £751 and the maximum statutory redundancy payment is £22,530. For example, five complete years worked entirely within the 22–40 age band, using weekly pay of £600, would produce £3,000. Different age bands, service dates and pay arrangements can change the calculation.
Notice pay, accrued holiday, unpaid wages and any enhanced contractual payment must be checked separately. The headline exit figure may combine sums with different legal and tax treatment. We can examine the breakdown and identify whether the employer has counted the same entitlement twice or omitted money owed.
A tribunal does not simply replace an employer’s commercial judgment with its own. A claim may fail where redundancy was genuine and the employer acted reasonably on consultation, selection and alternatives. Procedural criticism also needs to be assessed alongside the relevant legal test and the likely outcome of a fair process.
Status, qualifying service and deadlines can prevent an ordinary unfair dismissal claim even where the experience was upsetting. The usual qualifying service is two years for dismissals before 1 January 2027, reducing to six months from that date. Discrimination and certain automatically unfair dismissal claims have different requirements. Compensation can also be affected by evidence of loss and reasonable efforts to find work.
For most unfair dismissal claims where the limitation period begins before 1 October 2026, the usual deadline is three months minus one day. Where it begins on or after that date, most tribunal limits increase to six months minus one day. Statutory redundancy pay claims ordinarily have a six-month-minus-one-day limit, subject to the applicable rules.
Acas Early Conciliation affects the calculation if used in time. An internal redundancy appeal does not itself stop the tribunal clock. Send us the termination date and correspondence promptly so the appropriate claim and deadline can be checked; do not assume the payment deadline and dismissal deadline are identical.
We can agree a focused review of the proposal and payments, help with consultation or an appeal, or quote for settlement negotiations and tribunal work. The fee depends on the documents, complexity and work required. We explain the agreed scope and any additional expenses before you proceed.
An employer may contribute towards independent advice on a settlement agreement, but the amount and work covered must be checked. There is currently no fee to issue an employment tribunal claim, although legal representation and other case expenses can still be significant. We discuss those costs alongside the possible value and risks of a challenge.
Advice During Workplace Change FAQs
Answers about consultation, selection, payments, alternative work and settlement agreements.
Recruiting after a redundancy does not automatically make the dismissal unfair. The question is what work remains, how the new role differs and whether the employer genuinely needed fewer employees to do your kind of work. A replacement doing substantially the same job may justify closer examination. Keep relevant advertisements and compare the duties, responsibilities and timing with the explanation you were given.
No. An invitation to apply for voluntary redundancy does not normally oblige you to accept, and your employer may reserve the right to reject applications. Before volunteering, check the payment, notice arrangements, benefits and any requirement to sign a settlement agreement. If you decline, you may still be included in compulsory selection, so ask how the remaining proposals will affect your role.
Yes. Short service does not prevent redundancy, although it will usually mean you do not qualify for statutory redundancy pay. Notice, holiday and contractual entitlements can still apply. Protection against discrimination and certain automatically unfair dismissals does not depend on the ordinary qualifying period. Ordinary unfair dismissal eligibility also depends on the dismissal date, with the service requirement due to reduce from January 2027.
Possibly. The law distinguishes the suitability of the offer from whether your refusal was reasonable. A substantial change in duties, pay, travel or working hours may be relevant, together with personal circumstances. Do not assume that any different role can be rejected without consequence. Ask for the terms in writing and obtain advice before refusing a potentially suitable offer.
A genuine redundancy can occur during pregnancy or maternity leave, but the employer must not select you because of pregnancy or protected leave. Priority rights to suitable alternative vacancies may apply during pregnancy and defined periods during and after family leave. These rights can require an available suitable vacancy to be offered to you, rather than simply allowing you to compete for it.
If you will have at least two years’ continuous employment by the end of your redundancy notice period, you are normally entitled to reasonable time off to look for work or arrange training. The statutory payment entitlement is capped at 40% of one week’s pay in total, although your employer may offer more. Agree arrangements where possible and record requests and any refusal.
Usually, notice entitlement is separate from redundancy pay. You may work your notice, remain employed on garden leave or receive a payment in lieu, depending on your contract and the arrangements made. Check the length of notice and how benefits, pension contributions, holiday and variable pay are treated. A package described as inclusive of all payments should be broken down into its components.
Receiving a redundancy payment does not by itself normally mean you have waived your right to challenge the dismissal. A settlement agreement or Acas settlement may change that position. Check the employer’s appeal procedure and act promptly, explaining the errors or alternatives you want reviewed. An appeal does not automatically extend the tribunal deadline, so both routes may need attention at the same time.
Eligible employees may be able to claim statutory redundancy pay and certain unpaid wages, holiday and notice payments through the government’s Redundancy Payments Service. Each type of payment has its own requirements and limits, so the amount recovered may be less than the total owed under your contract. Keep your employment records and any information from the insolvency practitioner, including the reference needed to apply.
Obtain independent advice before signing. The agreement may settle claims in return for an additional payment, but the value depends on your existing entitlements, the strength of any challenge and the other terms. Our solicitors can review notice, holiday, tax wording, restrictions, confidentiality, reference provisions and the claims being waived. We also check the employer’s legal-fee contribution and the time allowed to consider the offer.
Arrange a call with our employment solicitors or visit our Cheltenham office by appointment. We will discuss the issue, the documents needed and the scope and cost of any further work. Call 0330 900 0377, email info@pembridgesolicitors.co.uk or request a consultation.
A free 20-minute introductory consultation is available in suitable cases to discuss the main facts and consider whether you may have a claim. It provides limited introductory guidance; detailed legal advice, document review and further work are subject to an agreed scope and fee.
Pembridge Solicitors
Calderwood House, Montpellier Parade
Cheltenham GL50 1UA
Office visits by appointment.