REDUNDANCY - 02.07.2020

Must you accept volunteers for redundancy?

97% fewer passengers

The company which owns Heathrow Airport has around 7,000 employees. However, like many businesses, it’s been severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, in May 2020 it experienced a 97% drop in passenger numbers against the same month the previous year.

On the horizon

As bosses at Heathrow don’t expect passenger numbers to return to their previous levels any time soon, they’ve decided to implement a voluntary redundancy programme. Although there’s no legal requirement to seek redundancy volunteers, this can be a good way of avoiding or reducing compulsory redundancies.

Good relations

A voluntary redundancy programme can also help to maintain good employment relations. This is partly because employees who choose to leave via voluntary redundancy are often comfortable with their decision.

Equally, those who remain employed don’t suffer from “redundancy survivor guilt” which can be a downside to compulsory redundancies.

You can decline

Let’s suppose that you’ve decided to seek redundancy volunteers. Are you be obliged to accept any employee who puts their name forward for voluntary redundancy? The short answer is “no” - you are within your rights to refuse.

Skills required

This might be the case where an employee has experience or skills that you wish to retain in your business. You can also switch over to a compulsory voluntary redundancy system if you so choose.

However, when you seek redundancy volunteers, make it absolutely clear that a redundancy is in no way guaranteed.

Accept or reject?

If you decide to reject a redundancy volunteer to help meet the needs of your business, you should write to them confirming the position and why you’ve reached your rejection decision (see The next step ).

Tip 1. In these circumstances, it’s good practice to offer to meet the employee to discuss the situation further as they may be unhappy about your decision to reject their voluntary redundancy application.

Tip 2. If you refuse a voluntary redundancy application but go on to select another employee for compulsory redundancy, the compulsory redundancy won’t automatically be unfair. However, you must have solid reasons for the decision, e.g. the volunteer had skills and experience you couldn’t afford to lose. This must be a genuine need, not a preference on your part.

For a rejection of volunteer for redundancy letter, visit http://tipsandadvice-personnel.co.uk/download (PS 22.14.03).