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Individual consultation is required for all redundancies. The law also requires employers to undertake collective consultation for multiple redundancy situations where 20 or more posts may be affected. The timescales required for consultation with recognised trade unions or elected representatives depend on the numbers affected. For redundancies of 20 to 99 employees, you need to give at least 30 days’ notice and for 100 or more employees, you need to give 90 days’ notice. These timescales also apply to any requirement to notify the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR) of planned redundancies of this scale.

If you are required to consult collectively, it must be completed before notice of dismissal is given to any of the affected employees.

Remember that employers should begin consultation before they have reached a firm view as to whether redundancies should take place. It must be meaningful consultation about solutions to the problems. It is not enough to just to inform.

Consultation should cover: the reason for the proposed redundancy situation; why and how individuals have been selected; possible ways of avoiding redundancy; and possible alternative work.

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