Redundancy Policy

PURPOSE

Wilson Vale Catering recognise the importance of maintaining a stable and valued workforce. However, it is recognised that re-organisations and redundancies may become necessary at times in line with the business’ needs. The purpose of this policy is to outline how Wilson Vale Catering will approach these situations to ensure affected employees are treated in a fair, consistent, and non-discriminatory manner

This policy does not form part of an employee’s contract of employment and Wilson Vale Catering may amend this policy at any time.

OBJECTIVES

This policy aims to:

Mitigate redundancies wherever possible
Provide a clear structured framework for managing redundancies
Ensure that employees impacted by redundancy are treated in a fair, consistent, and sensitive manner
Ensure full compliance with employment and equalities legislation

INTRODUCTION

There will be times Wilson Vale Catering will have to make changes to the organisational structure. This may result in changes within the workforce due to several reasons including, but not limited to budget efficiencies, organisational reviews, restructuring, loss of a contract, changes in legislation, demobilisation of a project or changes to service delivery.

Redundancy is defined in law whereby an employee is dismissed by reason of redundancy if the dismissal is wholly or mainly attributable to the fact that:

The employer ceases to carry on the business in which the employee was employed
The employer ceases to carry on that business in the place where the employee was employed
The needs of the business for employees to carry out work of a particular kind cease or diminish; or
The needs of the business for employees to carry out work of a particular kind in the place where the employee was employed cease or diminish

This is the definition that is relevant for the purposes of determining whether a dismissal is fair and whether or not the employee is entitled to a redundancy payment.

MEASURES TO AVOID OR MINIMISE REDUNDANCY

Where redundancies are proposed, consideration first will be given to some or all of the following approaches at the relevant time, as appropriate to the situation:

Natural wastage i.e. non replacement of leavers
Restrictions on recruitment
Reduction or elimination of overtime and agency workers
Consideration of flexible working arrangements
Consideration of voluntary redundancy requests where deemed appropriate

COMMUNICATION

The initial announcement of proposed redundancies will mostly be face to face or in groups. However, in some circumstances (such as an individual working alone at a remote location) it may be necessary to communicate with the individual by phone/ Microsoft Team’s video call. Following any announcement, the details of what was discussed will be shared with employees.

The HR department must be continually advised and updated of the situation and will ensure that opportunities for collaboration on mitigating the impact of redundancies are explored, such as redeployment for example.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Selection criteria will not be applied in situations where a unique job with only one job holder is at risk of redundancy.

Where redundancies impact a number of employees they will be placed in an appropriate pool for selection. All employees who fall within the pool will be subsequently evaluated against fair and reasonable criteria to select those individuals who will be made redundant.

Wilson Vale Catering may also follow a selection process involving open, competitive interviewing for determining who should be appointed to any vacant positions (whether existing or new roles). Interview questions will not be shared prior to the interview process. This process may be used instead of, or in addition to, redundancy selection criteria.

Where selection matrices are used, prior to the scoring process being completed, individuals in the pool should be provided with a copy of the proposed selection criteria and offered the opportunity to comment on the criteria. The criteria used to select individuals for potential redundancy should reflect the skills required to meet the current and future needs of the business. The comments of all individuals in the pool can be taken into consideration (where appropriate) in producing the final criteria and a copy of the final (blank) scoring matrix circulated to all individuals in the pool prior to the selection criteria being applied.

Employees will be offered the opportunity to discuss their scores as part of the consultation process, however the scores of other employees in the pool will not be disclosed.

COLLECTIVE CONSULTATION

In certain circumstances there is an obligation for collective consultation. There is no statutory time limit for how long the period of consultation should be, as long as the process is fair and reasonable, but the minimum is:

20 to 99 redundancies - the consultation must start at least 30 days before any dismissals take effect
100 or more redundancies within a 90-day period at a single establishment - the consultation must start at least 45 days before any dismissals take effect

NON-COLLECTIVE CONSULTATION

In the case of non-collective redundancy, the consultation process will be explained at the initial meeting, including the proposed content of the subsequent meeting(s).

Employees will be informed of the reason for the individual consultation and advised of their right to representation at the discussions.

VOLUNTARY REDUNDANCY

Volunteers may be sought to avoid compulsory redundancies during a redundancy process. Wilson Vale Catering will retain the option to accept or decline volunteers on the basis of business need.

In the event of excessive numbers of volunteers coming forward, a selection criterion will be applied objectively. In the event of insufficient volunteers coming forward, consultations may continue to explore other options before proceeding to compulsory redundancies.

Please always discuss with the HR Department should you wish to explore the option of offering voluntary redundancies.

REDUNDANCY WHILST ON STATUTORY LEAVE

Employees who are on any form of statutory leave such as maternity, paternity, adoption and / or shared parental leave are afforded special protection under the law in relation to redundancy scenarios. Employees on statutory leave, who are put ‘at risk’ must be formally notified in the same way as any other employee. The reason that the employee is on some form of statutory leave will not in any circumstances be used either directly or indirectly as a selection criterion for redundancy.

Managers will ensure they keep in touch with employees on leave and ensure that they are considered for any potentially suitable redeployment opportunities.

Any criteria used for selecting employees for redundancy will not disadvantage those who are on statutory leave.

At the point at which an employee on statutory leave is selected for redundancy, Wilson Vale Catering will take all reasonable steps to identify suitable alternative employment (in the same way as all other employees). Where suitable alternative employment is identified, in accordance with current legislation the job will be offered to an employee on statutory leave in preference to another employee who is not on such leave but, whose job is also redundant. The fact that the employee is not ready to return to work at the time their job is made redundant will be disregarded when considering whether or not to offer an alternative position.

If an employee is on statutory leave and receiving some form of statutory and is made redundant, their leave will come to an end when their employment ends however they will continue to receive the statutory payment for the rest of their period. Any statutory redundancy pay will be calculated using a normal week’s pay or average week’s pay received before the leave period started.

REDUNDANCY WHILST PREGNANT

Employees who are pregnant are afforded special protection under the law in relation to redundancy scenarios. While pregnant employees can be declared at risk of redundancy, their pregnancy must not in any circumstances be used either directly or indirectly as a selection criterion for redundancy.

Pregnant employees will be notified and consulted with in the same way as other employees.

Any criteria used for selecting employees for redundancy will not disadvantage those who are pregnant.

At the point at which an employee who is pregnant is selected for redundancy; Wilson Vale Catering will take all reasonable steps to identify suitable alternative employment (in the same way as all other employees).

Where suitable alternative employment is identified pregnant employees do not have the automatic right to be offered any suitable alternative work in preference to other employees. They will be considered for alternative work like other employees.

If a pregnant employee qualifies for statutory maternity pay and is made redundant before going on maternity leave, but after the beginning of the 15th week before the baby is due, they will be entitled to receive their statutory maternity pay (SMP) as well as any redundancy payment.

SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVE WORK

Employee preferences may be considered when looking at redeployment opportunities, for example:

Readiness and ability to relocate
Type and nature of options they are prepared to consider
Extent to which the individual is prepared to modify their remuneration package

The process for notification of internal vacancies and application procedure will be discussed as part of the consultation meetings. Where appropriate, consideration will be given to internal candidates who are at risk prior to vacancies being advertised externally subject to them meeting the core requirements of the job specification.

SUITABLE ALTERNATIVE WORK

It is assumed that only positions of an equal level of seniority and rate of pay or above will be categorised as suitable alternative employment; job content, status, hours, location, days of work and qualification and experience requirements will also be considered. In the case of an employee declining an offer of suitable alternative employment, no redundancy pay will be payable. Where there is uncertainty about whether a role is classed as suitable alternative employment, advice should be sought from the HR Department.

However, employees at risk can apply to be considered for any other junior posts on the basis that they would receive the associated salary and benefits, which may be lower.

Employees at risk of redundancy have a legal right to a minimum four-week trial period in any alternative role. If at the end of the trial period the employee declines the alternative role, they will need to put forward a justification as to why they have declined this, and the reasons will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

If the reasons are found to be justifiable the employee will be entitled to redundancy pay. If they accept the role, they will not be entitled to redundancy pay.

Where possible support will be given to employees to assist their re-employment, for example preparation of CVs, interview skills etc.

TIME OFF FOR TRAINING AND INTERVIEWS

Reasonable paid time off will be given to attend interviews and job training opportunities during notice periods. Arrangements must be agreed with the affected employees line manager.

REDUNDANCY ENTITLEMENT

Wilson Vale Catering employees will be eligible for statutory redundancy payment as defined in this policy.

REDUNDANCY PAYMENT FACTORS

Statutory redundancy payments are calculated in accordance with legal entitlements and as published by the government.

The statutory redundancy entitlements are as follows:

1.5 weeks’ basic pay per complete year of service after age 41
1 weeks’ basic pay per complete year of service after age 22
0.5 weeks’ basic pay per complete year of service up until age 22

Entitlement is based on whole years’ service with a minimum of 2 years and is capped at 20 years’ service.

Basic weekly pay is defined as follows:

As stated in the employee’s terms of contract at termination date i.e. basic weekly pay for basic weekly hours
Or salaried employees, it is annual salary divided by annual paid weeks

Please note that the weekly pay entitlement for statutory redundancy is also capped by the government and this tends to be reviewed and updated on an annual basis.

BENEFITS

Relevant employee benefits will be treated as follows:

Pensions - pensionable service calculated to actual termination date, benefits in accordance with terms of pension scheme
Life assurance - terminates at actual date of termination of employment
Wilson Vale Catering equipment - to be returned on last day worked
Holiday entitlement - calculated as normal leaver based on actual date of termination
Private health insurance - terminates at actual date of termination of employment (if applicable)
Cars - continued use as per contract until expiry of contractual notice period (if applicable).

NOTICE PERIODS

Where employment is terminated due to redundancy, employees will be entitled to statutory or contractual notice (whichever is longer). The notice period will normally be worked.

Employees released from their contractual obligations before the expiry of notice at their own request will forfeit their entitlement to the balance of any outstanding notice payments.

Should it be requested that the employee finishes work prior to the end of their notice period, they will be paid in lieu of notice in their final wage, which will be subject to normal tax and National Insurance deductions.

APPEALS PROCEDURE

Employees selected for redundancy may appeal against their selection for redundancy to a predefined Manager (the outcome letter will highlight who this will be). The appeal should be in writing, stating the reason(s) for lodging it, within five working days of receipt of their formal notice of redundancy.

Where selection criteria have been applied, an employee has the right to see their assessment and to challenge its results during the consultation process and may appeal against the final decision to terminate employment using the appeals procedure.

The outcome of the appeal is the final stage of this process, and the individual will have no further right of appeal.