Making an employee redundant

How to help redundant employees

People who have worked for many years in the same job or workplace can find redundancy a traumatic experience - even if they have received a redundancy payment above the legal minimum.

Where possible, you should try to find ways of helping employees come to terms with their situation. The practical and financial help you offer will of course depend on the size of your business and the seniority of any employee being made redundant.

It is good practice to do your best to help employees find alternative employment. To do this, you could:

• Contact the local Jobcentre to find out about suitable vacancies or training.
• Set up interviews onsite for redundant employees. You could consider using a specialist outplacement agency - outplacement counselling and retraining is tax deductible in respect of all redundant employees, including part-time workers.
• Contact other local employers who may have vacancies.
• Offer guidance on job application forms and interview techniques.
• Offer advice on how to search and follow up suitable vacancies in the press.
• Highlight the importance of being prepared to consider a wide range of jobs.
• Consider re-employment if business picks up, where this is appropriate.

You can also help with financial issues:

• Provide clear information on the financial effects of redundancy - amount of redundancy pay, effect on pension payments and state benefits.
• Point out the need for the employee to discuss the financial implications of redundancy with their family as early as possible.

If you have the budget, you could consider offering individual counselling. Alternatively you could train personnel managers, if you have them, to carry out this task.

Different laws govern Northern Ireland. For information call the Northern Ireland Redundancy Payments Helpline on Tel 0800 585 811.

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• What is redundancy?
• Avoiding redundancies
• Staff selection - non-compulsory
• Staff selection - compulsory
• The redundancy consultation process
• Rights of redundant employees
• How to help redundant employees
• Potential problems following redundancy

 

 Print This Page

Source - Business Link; Crown Copyright.