Coming to the end of redundancy consultation - what do you need to consider?
Posted on 23rd February 2021
Firstly, remember that although the meeting is called a final outcome meeting – consultation still continues, and you must ask the employee if they have any suggestions/proposals to put forward before you give the outcome. If any new suggestions are put forward, then you should continue with consultation as normal.
Redundancy Pay and notice period
Otherwise, assuming that no other suggestions are put forward, then during the outcome meeting, amongst other things you will confirm either the contractual or statutory redundancy payment and the notice period the employee is entitled to. The notice period will be the higher of either the contractual notice (the amount stated in the contract of employment) or statutory minimum notice (one week for each year of employment up to a maximum of 12 weeks).
Employees can either work their notice, be put on garden leave or paid in lieu of notice. Both garden leave and paid in lieu of notice, can only be options if they are in the employees’ contract of employment.
Annual leave
Calculate any annual leave accrued but not taken up to the termination date and decide if you are going to pay the employee for this amount or whether you are going to give them notice to take the annual leave during the notice period.
Reasonable time off
Employees are also entitled to reasonable time off with pay to look for another job, and this may include attending outplacement support for writing a CV, gaining interview skills or even an appointment with a recruitment agency.
Appeal
Finally, employees have a right to appeal against the decision to terminate their employment for redundancy. The appeal meeting should be held by an individual who has not been involved in the process so far and if necessary, use an external advisor if there is no-one appropriate available in the business.
Helping small businesses take HR off their ‘to do’ list to done. Daxa@hrresultsltd.co.uk
Tagged as: Annual leave, Consultation, Notice period, Redundancy, Redundancy Consultation, Redundancy pay
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