Redundancy support for employers
Practical redundancy support for employers, from the first conversation to the last meeting.
Making redundancies is hard on everyone involved. The legal process is exacting, the people affected are anxious, and a single procedural slip can turn a difficult decision into a tribunal claim. Our redundancy support for employers keeps the process fair, lawful and humane, whether one role is going or a whole team is changing.
Talk to us before you announce anything. The sooner we are involved, the more options you have and the smoother the process runs. After that, we stay with you for as much of the process as you want, and in an emergency we can usually give advice the same day.
Rated five stars on Google Read our reviewsWhen employers come to us
- Your first redundancy, and you are not sure where to start
- A restructure that changes roles, teams or reporting lines
- 20 or more roles at risk and a collective consultation to run
- Someone at risk who is on maternity leave or long-term sick
- Closing a site, or the whole business
- A process already under way that has started to go wrong
Whatever you are facing, our redundancy support for employers is built around your situation. We also give redundancy advice to in-house HR teams who want an experienced second pair of hands, or an independent person to chair a meeting, hear an appeal or carry out an independent investigation.
Why getting redundancy right matters
A redundancy is a dismissal because a business or workplace is closing, or because the need for employees to do a particular kind of work has stopped or reduced.
Falling turnover, a lost contract, new technology or a reorganisation can all create a genuine redundancy. A performance problem or a personality clash cannot. Using redundancy to remove someone for those reasons is a quick route to a claim, and the paperwork usually shows it. Conduct and performance need a fair disciplinary process instead.
Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, the cost of a mistake is also rising.
Protective awards doubled
A tribunal can award up to 180 days' pay per employee when collective consultation goes wrong, double the previous limit.
Longer to bring a claim
For anything that happens from this date, employees have six months, not three, to bring most claims.
Unfair dismissal after six months
Employees can claim unfair dismissal after six months' service rather than two years, with no cap on the compensatory award.
A fair, well-documented process is the best protection you have.
How our redundancy consultants help
Our redundancy support for employers covers as much or as little as you need. That might be a single conversation and a checklist your managers follow, or an outsourced redundancy process we manage with you from start to finish. You have an assigned HR consultant who gets to know your business, and the wider team also works on your account when needed.
Planning and the business case
We start with a confidential conversation about what you are trying to achieve, and the alternatives worth looking at first. Where redundancy is the right route, we help you write a clear business case and build a timeline that respects the consultation rules and your deadlines.
Redundancy pools and selection criteria
We help you decide who is in scope, design objective criteria, and set up scoring with a second marker, so every decision can stand up to scrutiny.
Redundancy consultation, individual and collective
We map out each stage, tell you what to discuss and when, and help you consult properly. For 20 or more proposed redundancies we run the collective process with you, including electing representatives and preparing the HR1, which you then submit on time.
Every letter and form you need
We draft at-risk letters, meeting invitations, scripts, scoring forms, outcome and notice letters and appeal letters, all written for your business and dated to your timeline.
In the room with you
Your consultant can attend consultation, outcome and appeal meetings, on site or by video. They can lead the meeting, support your manager or take the notes. A calm, experienced person in the room helps employees see the process is fair.
Pay, notice and the numbers
We work out statutory and contractual redundancy pay, notice pay, accrued holiday and any enhanced terms, and flag the tax treatment for your accountant. If we run your payroll, the final payments go straight through it.
Alternatives, settlements and appeals
We advise on suitable alternative roles and trial periods, and help you hear appeals fairly. Where a settlement agreement is the better route, we draft it and negotiate the terms for you. The employee then takes independent legal advice from their own solicitor before signing, so we build that step into the timetable.
The people who stay
Redundancies affect the whole team. We help you talk to the people who remain, plan the change in workload and rebuild confidence, so the business comes out of it in better shape.
The redundancy process for employers, and where it goes wrong
Every redundancy is different, and the right approach depends on the reason, the numbers and how your teams work. This is the outline, with the points where employers most often come unstuck. For the detail, our guide to the redundancy process goes further, and Acas has guidance on managing a redundancy process.
Confirm it is a genuine redundancy
Write down the reason before anything else happens, and record the alternatives you looked at, such as a recruitment freeze, less overtime, redeployment or voluntary redundancy.
Where it goes wrong: the alternatives are considered after the decision, so the record reads as justification rather than genuine thought.
Define the pool and the criteria
Decide who is in scope and how they will be scored before anyone is told. The criteria need to be objective, measurable and applied the same way to everyone.
Where it goes wrong: more processes fail here than anywhere else, which is why the pool comes up again under the judgement calls below.
Tell people and consult
Meet the affected employees, then confirm in writing that their role is at risk, why, how selection will work and the timetable. Every redundancy needs individual consultation, whatever the numbers.
Where it goes wrong: consulting on a decision already made. If nothing an employee says could change the outcome, it was not consultation, and a letter that reads as final undermines everything after it.
Select and look for alternatives
Apply the criteria and share each person's scores so they can challenge a mistake. Offer any suitable vacancy, and keep looking until notice ends. Anyone who takes a new role gets a four-week trial period.
Where it goes wrong: the search for vacancies stops once notice is given.
Confirm the outcome and offer an appeal
Confirm the decision in writing with the leaving date, notice and payments, and offer a right of appeal.
Where it goes wrong: no appeal is offered, or the person who made the decision hears it. An appeal is the cheapest chance to put a mistake right before it becomes a claim.
The judgement calls in a redundancy
The process above is the easy part to describe. These are the decisions where experience of managing redundancies counts, and where most of the time in our redundancy HR support goes.
Who is in the pool
A pool of one is sometimes right, for example when a role is genuinely unique. However, where others do similar or interchangeable work, a tribunal will usually expect them in the pool too. The pool should reflect how the work is really done, not the organisation chart.
Scoring someone on leave or after absence
Absence linked to pregnancy, maternity or a disability must not count against anyone, so attendance criteria need care. Someone on maternity leave also has priority for any suitable alternative vacancy, and that protection now runs until 18 months after the birth.
Whether you have reached 20
The collective rules start at 20 proposed redundancies at one establishment within 90 days. Splitting a restructure into separate stages, or counting each site on its own, can miss the threshold by accident. The count also includes anyone you propose to dismiss and re-engage on new terms.
What is changing
The Employment Rights Act 2025 also brings a second, organisation-wide trigger for collective consultation, expected in 2027, sitting alongside the existing one. The government has consulted on the threshold but has not yet confirmed it. We follow these changes for our clients, so you do not have to.
Statutory redundancy pay and notice: the figures for 2026/27
Employees with at least two years' continuous service are entitled to statutory redundancy pay. It depends on age, length of service and a week's pay, and the limits change every April. You can check an individual payment with the GOV.UK redundancy pay calculator.
- 2 years continuous service to qualify
- 20 years the most service counted
- £751 limit on a week's pay
- £22,530 largest statutory redundancy payment
| Item | From 6 April 2026 |
|---|---|
| Pay for each complete year of service | Half a week's pay for each year under 22, a week's pay for each year aged 22 to 40, and one and a half weeks' pay for each year from 41 |
| Tax | Redundancy payments, statutory and enhanced, are normally tax-free up to £30,000 in total. Notice pay and holiday pay are taxed as earnings. |
| Statutory minimum notice | One week after a month's service, then one week for each complete year from two years, up to 12 weeks |
| Which limits apply | The limits in force when the employment ends, not when the process started |
Last reviewed: 30 October 2026. Updated every April when the statutory limits change.
Many employers pay enhanced redundancy terms, either under the contract or as a goodwill gesture. Enhanced schemes need the same care over consistency and discrimination as statutory ones, so we model the full cost before you commit.
Collective redundancy consultation: 20 or more roles at risk
If you propose 20 or more redundancies at one establishment within 90 days, you must consult collectively. That means a recognised trade union or, where there is none, employee representatives elected for the purpose. You must also tell the government on form HR1 before giving anyone notice.
| Proposed redundancies | Consultation starts, and HR1 goes in, at least |
|---|---|
| 20 to 99 | 30 days before the first dismissal takes effect |
| 100 or more | 45 days before the first dismissal takes effect |
Failing to submit the HR1 is a criminal offence. Collective consultation also runs alongside individual consultation rather than replacing it, so every affected employee still needs their own meetings.
Redundancy support across London, the South East and beyond
We are based in Guildford, Surrey, and provide redundancy support for employers across London, the South East and beyond. Your consultant can be in the room for consultation and outcome meetings, or join by video, wherever you are in the UK.
Why employers choose our redundancy support
Someone in the room
Your assigned HR consultant is CIPD-qualified and can be with you in the meetings, on site or by video.
Same-day help
When something has gone wrong, we can usually give redundancy advice the same day.
Legal input when needed
We give employment law advice and work with partner employment solicitors when a case needs legal input, including a tribunal claim.
The people side too
We help with morale and the team that stays, not just the paperwork. We have supported employers since 2005.
We are very pleased that the project was completed on time and within budget with no Employment Tribunal claims.
Common questions
How long does a redundancy process take?
For a small number of redundancies, allow at least two to three weeks for meaningful consultation, then the notice period. Where 20 or more roles are proposed at one establishment, consultation must start at least 30 days before the first dismissal. For 100 or more, it is 45 days. Rushing is the most common cause of claims, so build in time from the start.
Can I make one person redundant?
Yes. To make someone redundant fairly, there must be a genuine redundancy and you must follow a fair process, including individual consultation and a look at alternatives. If other people do similar work, you may need a wider selection pool even though only one role is going. That is the point employers most often get wrong.
Can I make an employee redundant while they are on maternity leave?
Yes, if the redundancy is genuine, but she must not be selected because of pregnancy or maternity. She also has priority over other at-risk colleagues for any suitable alternative vacancy, until 18 months after the birth. These cases carry a high risk, so take advice before you start.
What is an at-risk letter?
It is the letter telling an employee that their role is provisionally at risk of redundancy. The letter explains the reason, how selection will work, the timetable and the consultation arrangements. It should make clear that no decision has been made yet.
How much statutory redundancy pay do I have to pay?
It depends on the employee's age, length of service and weekly pay, counting up to 20 years' service, and only employees with two years' service qualify. The current limits are set out on this page, and we can work out the figures for you.
Can I offer a settlement agreement instead of a redundancy process?
Sometimes. A settlement agreement can give both sides certainty, but the employee has to enter into it voluntarily, and the conversation needs careful handling. We draft and negotiate the agreement for you. The employee then takes independent legal advice from their own solicitor before signing, which is what makes it binding.
What happens if I get the redundancy process wrong?
An employee with enough service can claim unfair dismissal, and anyone can claim discrimination. A failure to consult collectively can also lead to a protective award of up to 180 days' pay each. From 1 January 2027 unfair dismissal protection starts after six months' service and the compensatory award has no cap. A fair, documented process is the best protection.
Do you only work with businesses in Surrey?
No. We are based in Guildford, Surrey, and work with businesses across London, the South East and beyond. Support can be on site or remote, whichever suits the work and your business.
Can you help with a single redundancy?
Yes. Many employers come to us for one redundancy or one restructure, paying as they go or agreeing a fixed price for the project. Clients on an HR support plan use their plan hours. If you are new to Bespoke HR, you can start with a free 30-minute call. Book free HR advice.
Facing a redundancy?
Talk to us before you announce anything. If you are new to Bespoke HR and need redundancy support for employers, the first call is free, and we can usually help the same day.