Redundancy appeals, time off to seek alternative work, and outplacement support for employees who are being made redundant.

This week we complete our series of articles covering the redundancy process. You may remember that our blog two weeks ago covered the decision making process once the consultation period has closed, and then giving notice of redundancy to those who will be leaving the organisation. We also included a guide to appointing individuals into ‘suitable alternative’ roles if they can be found.

Today we look at the actions employers should consider once notice of redundancy has been served, including the appeal process against redundancy decisions, time off for redundant employees to seek alternative work during their notice period, and outplacement support should you choose to offer this.

We cover these three areas in more detail below but if you would like more information about redundancy appeals or redundancies in general please see our free guide 8 Steps to Making Redundancies

Alternatively, 186hr has produced a comprehensive guide to making redundancies that includes detailed explanations of how to carry out each stage of the process, model policy documents, letters and other documents that have been provided by ACAS and CIPD along with 2 hours of consultation with a highly CIPD qualified, highly experienced senior HR professional to help you tailor the process to your organisational needs.

Redundancy appeal process

According to ACAS an appeal against the redundancy decision or process followed must be allowed. Having said that, lawyers in a recent Tribunal case argued that this is not a legal requirement and are seeking to justify their decision not to offer an appeal.

We will wait to see what the judge decides regarding that case and I will update you regarding the outcome, but irrespective of what happens in that case we would strongly recommend that you allow redundant employees to appeal against the decision, both to comply with the ACAS Code (strongly recommended) but also it is clearly the fair thing to do, or ‘natural justice’. If the organisation has followed a fair process throughout, they should have nothing to fear from such an appeal.

As covered in previous articles, wherever possible the individual who hears any appeals against redundancy decisions should not have been involved in the process so far, especially not the final decisions to make individuals redundant. Otherwise their impartiality may be called into question.

In addition, the individual who hears any appeals should wherever possible be more senior than the redundancy decision maker as it may be difficult for a more junior employee to overturn a decision made by one of their seniors.

In smaller companies these requirements may not be possible. This is generally accepted legally and so the requirement to be as ‘reasonable’ as possible regarding who should hear the appeals would apply.

If there is no suitable senior employee in the organisation who is able to do this you may wish to ask an independent person to hear an appeal e.g. your solicitor, accountant or a director of another local business. Another option would be to appoint 186hr to hear any such appeals, at our normal consultancy rate of £300 per half day or £500 per full day plus vat and expenses.

The notice of redundancy letter should have specified who to appeal to, that the appeal must be in writing, and the timescale by which the appeal must be received – normally 7 days from receipt of the notice of redundancy letter.

On receipt of the written appeal, the appeal manager should write to the individual inviting them to an appeal hearing, which should take place within 7 days of receipt of their letter.

The purpose of the hearing is to understand the individual’s appeal, which may be about the decision itself, or the process followed that they feel was incorrect or unfair. The individual is entitled to be accompanied by a work colleague or union representative at the meeting.

Please see the above 186hr guide for further details of what should be included in a redundancy appeal hearing.

After conducting a full and fair investigation into the issues raised by the individual in the hearing, the appeal manager should confirm their decision in writing. As confirmed by ACAS in their redundancy guidance – see www.acas.org.uk/redundancy – the letter should include:

• Practical details of the hearing such as date, and the purpose of the meeting.
• Those present, including name and position in the company.
• Confirmation that the individual was given the opportunity to fully explain the reasons for their appeal.
• Either confirmation that the redundancy decision is upheld, with reasons / justification, or that the decision has been overturned, with reasons, and practical details about their return to work.
• If the decision is to uphold the redundancy, an explanation that the terms set out in the notice of redundancy letter of (date) remain unchanged.
• A statement confirming that this decision concludes the company’s appeal procedure and no further stages are available to them.

As per the above letter, there would normally be no further right of appeal against this decision unless your company policy specifically allows it (not recommended). If the individual does not agree with the appeal decision and wishes to take things further they would need to apply to a Tribunal within 3 months of their dismissal if they are claiming ‘unfair dismissal’. If they feel the company’s actions were discriminatory then they may have longer than 3 months to make a claim.

If, on the other hand, the appeal manager upholds the appeal and reinstates the individual but the individual has already left the organisation’s employment then they should return to work and be paid for the period in between dismissal and reinstatement.

Please see the above 186hr guide for the CIPD model letter inviting an employee to a redundancy appeal meeting and the CIPD model letter outlining a redundancy appeal outcome.You will be able to adapt the letters to the individual circumstances, and use some of the 2 hours of consultation with 186hr that come with the guide to discuss any queries you may have.

Time off for redundant employees to seek alternative work during their notice period

Once notice of redundancy has been served, if the employee has at least 2 years’ service they are entitled to take a ‘reasonable’ amount of paid time off work for the purposes of job interviews etc or for training to help them be ready for their next role.

It is often difficult to define what is ‘reasonable’ and it may differ from case to case, but if an individual takes more time off than 40 percent of a normal working week in total during their notice period for this purpose you are only required to pay them 40 percent of one normal week’s pay in total, irrespective of much time they take off.

Clearly employers can decide to pay more than this if they choose to do so but please bear in mind that whenever you move away from a statutory provision you risk claims for unfair dismissal or discrimination if an individual feels they have been treated less favourably than others.

Outplacement support

Although it is a silly name that gives no clue as to what it actually is, outplacement support is when an organisation helps individuals leaving their employment to find their next job. It takes various forms, some are free and there are other options you pay for.

Once an individual has been made redundant you have no legal obligation to provide outplacement support or support them further in any way, but many organisations do so as it is a very popular option with employees and helps the ‘psychological contract’, along with ‘survivor syndrome’ where, you may remember from previous articles, remaining employees judge the organisation on how well the redundancy process, and the new arrangements in the organisation / department post redundancy process, are managed.

Companies we work with often choose to provide no cost options such as engaging with the local Job Centre Plus or a recruitment agency and invite them into the workplace during the notice period to help those who are being made redundant to find their next role and also answer general queries e.g. re Universal Credit or any other benefits that may be available.

Organisations making redundancies also sometimes contact other local employers to see if they have any vacancies that may be filled by the redundant employees.

Another free service to consider would be to contact The National Careers Service. They can provide 121 consultations free within 12 weeks of an individual’s redundancy date, either before or after. If this is of interest please follow the link www.nationalcareers.service.gov.uk

The main paid for option for employers is to use an Outplacement company to help redundant employees such as LHH Penna. Outplacement companies are not recruitment agencies and do not actively look for other jobs for employees, they train and support employees in how to find their next role, how to set up as self employed etc.

Although it is an excellent service, Outplacement support can be expensive, often costing over £1,000 per employee. A lower cost option may be to consider the half day programme run by 186hr giving valuable information on CV writing, letter writing, use of social media and other networking techniques, all focused on helping individuals in their search for a new role.

For further details please either contact us or see ‘Management Training‘, then ‘Managing Redundancy and the Consultation Process’ for further details. All courses from 186hr cost £595 plus vat and expenses for a half day course for up to 12 people, or £995 for two half-day courses when they are delivered on the same day.

I have been made redundant twice in my career and each time I was fortunate that the employer paid for outplacement support for me. It helped me tremendously and I would strongly recommend paying for such a service for redundant employees.

One final point to consider regarding supporting employees who are made redundant is that some may struggle mentally with the process or the decision and therefore it is a good idea to offer counselling, either as a one off or as part of a company Employee Assistance Programme. It is not expensive to offer such support to employees and is often invaluable to them.

We hope this article has been useful. If you would like to discuss the redundancy process, or any other HR matters, further please do not hesitate to contact us