A Jamie HR manager's guide

The manager's guide to redundancy

A practical guide for managers and small businesses on running a fair redundancy process: genuine redundancy, selection pools and criteria, individual and collective consultation, the protective award, statutory redundancy pay, notice and trial periods.
Fair selection
Collective consultation
Protective award

Redundancy is a genuine reason for dismissal in law, only when its tests are met.

This guide sets out when a dismissal counts as a genuine redundancy, how to run a fair selection process, individual and collective consultation duties, the protective award for failing to consult properly, and how statutory redundancy pay, notice and trial periods work. It reflects the collective consultation and protective award changes that took effect under the Employment Rights Act 2025 on 6 April 2026.

What's inside
What makes a genuine redundancy3
Choosing a fair selection pool4
Setting objective selection criteria5
Individual consultation6
Collective consultation: thresholds and timing7
The protective award8
Statutory redundancy pay: eligibility and calculation9
Notice during redundancy10
Suitable alternative employment and trial periods11
Getting redundancy right12
How Jamie HR helps13

What makes a genuine redundancy

Redundancy is a specific legal reason for dismissal, defined in the Employment Rights Act 1996.
  • A dismissal is by reason of redundancy where it is wholly or mainly because the business has ceased, or intends to cease, trading altogether.
  • It is also redundancy where the business has closed, or intends to close, the specific workplace where the employee worked.
  • It is also redundancy where the need for employees to carry out work of a particular kind has ceased or diminished, or is expected to.
  • Only one of these three grounds needs to apply for a dismissal to be a genuine redundancy in law.
  • A role can be redundant on the third ground even where the business as a whole is not shrinking, if the need for that particular kind of work has gone.
Manager tip
Record the business reason for the closure, move or reduced need for work in writing before starting the process.

Choosing a fair selection pool

Where a redundancy situation affects some but not all employees doing similar work, ACAS guidance says a selection pool should be used.
  • ACAS guidance recommends including all employees whose roles are the same or similar within the pool.
  • Consider roles with comparable skills, experience or duties across different teams when deciding who belongs in the pool.
  • Decide the pool before choosing the selection criteria.
  • Review the pool again if the shape of the business need changes during the process.
Manager tip
Write down how the pool was decided and keep that record with the rest of the redundancy file.

Setting objective selection criteria

ACAS guidance says selection criteria should be as objective and measurable as possible.
  • Base criteria on facts that can be measured, not on personal opinion.
  • ACAS guidance gives standard of work or performance, skills, qualifications or expertise, attendance record and disciplinary record as example criteria.
  • Exclude disability-related and maternity-related absence from any attendance-based scoring.
  • Apply the scoring criteria in the same way to every employee in the pool.
  • Consider the impact of the criteria on employees with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 before finalising scores.
Watch out
Selection criteria that are indirectly discriminatory, for example scoring down part-time workers or those who have taken family-related leave, can lead to a discrimination claim. Take advice before scoring is finalised.

Individual consultation

Every employee at risk of redundancy has the right to be individually consulted before a final decision is made, whatever the size of the redundancy.
  • Hold at least one private meeting with each affected employee, in addition to any collective consultation.
  • Cover the changes needed and why, ways to avoid or reduce redundancies, the selection criteria used, and any concerns the employee raises.
  • Discuss support such as time off to update a CV, attend interviews or arrange training.
  • Allow the employee to bring a companion to the meeting if they ask to.
  • There is no statutory minimum length for individual consultation, so check any internal policy or agreement that sets one.
Manager tip
Hold individual consultation before any final decision on that employee, not as a formality once the decision has already been made.

Collective consultation: thresholds and timing

Where you propose 20 or more redundancies at one establishment within a 90-day period, collective consultation duties apply in addition to individual consultation.
  • The collective consultation duty is triggered by proposing 20 or more redundancies at one establishment within any 90-day period.
  • Consult a recognised trade union representative, or where there is no recognised trade union, an elected employee representative.
  • For 20 to 99 proposed redundancies, the minimum period before the first dismissal takes effect is 30 days.
  • For 100 or more proposed redundancies, that minimum period is 45 days.
  • Notify the Redundancy Payments Service using form HR1, submitted online, within the same 30 or 45-day timescale before the first dismissal.
Manager tip
Start collective consultation as soon as redundancies are proposed, so the 30 or 45-day minimum period is not compressed by a late start.

The protective award

If you fail to comply with collective consultation duties, affected employees can claim a protective award from an employment tribunal.
  • A protective award is compensation an employment tribunal can order for failing to comply with collective consultation duties.
  • The tribunal has discretion to award up to the maximum for each employee affected by the failure.
  • The maximum protective award was 90 days' pay per affected employee.
  • Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, that maximum doubled to 180 days' pay per affected employee, for employees dismissed on or after 6 April 2026.
Watch out
A protective award claim sits alongside any unfair dismissal or redundancy pay claim, and the maximum exposure per employee has now doubled. Run collective consultation properly from the start, and take advice as soon as 20 or more redundancies are proposed.

Statutory redundancy pay: eligibility and calculation

Employees with enough continuous service are entitled to statutory redundancy pay, calculated using age, length of service and weekly pay.
  • An employee needs 2 or more years' continuous service with you to qualify for statutory redundancy pay.
  • The calculation uses half a week's pay for each full year worked under age 22, one week's pay for each full year aged 22 to 40, and one and a half week's pay for each full year aged 41 or over.
  • Length of service is capped at 20 years for this calculation.
  • A week's pay is capped for this purpose. From 6 April 2026, that cap is £751, giving a maximum statutory redundancy payment of £22,530.
Manager tip
Check the weekly pay cap in force at the date of dismissal, not the date the redundancy process started, as it changes every April.

Notice during redundancy

Employees being made redundant are entitled to notice, at least in line with the statutory minimum.
  • The statutory minimum notice is 1 week once an employee has between 1 month and 2 years' continuous service.
  • Between 2 and 12 years' service, the statutory minimum is 1 week's notice for each full year worked.
  • At 12 or more years' service, the statutory minimum is capped at 12 weeks' notice.
  • Where the contract sets a longer notice period, give whichever is greater of the statutory minimum and the contractual notice.

Suitable alternative employment and trial periods

Where a suitable alternative role is available, the employee has a statutory trial period to try it without losing their redundancy rights.
  • An employee offered suitable alternative employment has the right to a 4-week statutory trial period in the new role.
  • The trial period can be extended for training if the extension is agreed in writing before the trial starts.
  • If the employee decides during the trial period that the role is not suitable, this does not affect their right to statutory redundancy pay.
  • If the employee does not give notice within the 4-week trial period, they lose the right to claim statutory redundancy pay.
Watch out
Diarise the exact end date of the 4-week trial period. A decision made even a day late can cost the employee their statutory redundancy pay entitlement.

Getting redundancy right

A summary of the essentials covered in this guide:
  • Confirm the redundancy is genuine: a business closure, workplace closure, or reduced need for work of a particular kind.
  • Decide the selection pool first, then apply objective, measurable criteria consistently across it.
  • Consult individually with every affected employee, and collectively where 20 or more redundancies are proposed within 90 days.
  • Meet the 30 or 45-day minimum collective consultation periods, and notify the Redundancy Payments Service on time.
  • Calculate statutory redundancy pay correctly, using the current weekly pay cap, for anyone with 2 or more years' service.
  • Give the correct notice, and manage any suitable alternative employment trial period to the day.

How Jamie HR helps

Jamie HR keeps redundancy pools, consultation records and pay calculations in one place, ready if a decision is ever challenged.
  • Consultation records that log every individual and collective meeting against the employee file.
  • Redundancy pay calculations using current age bands, service and the weekly pay cap.
  • Selection scoring held against each employee in the pool, with criteria applied consistently.
  • Notice and trial period tracking, so key dates do not slip.
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This guide is general information, accurate to the best of our knowledge as of 2026, and is not legal advice. Employment law changes and every situation is different, so for a specific case take professional HR or legal advice. Sources: ACAS, gov.uk, the Employment Rights Act 1996 (as amended) and the Employment Rights Act 2025.