3. Redundancies

[ch 3: page 27]

A good redundancy agreement will set out steps to be followed by the company, including consideration of other measures, before redundancies can be sought. It should go through a range of alternatives and cost-reductions with job losses as a last resort, alongside a package of redundancy support measures as well as redundancy pay. The examples detailed below show that unions are successfuly using a number of strategies to mitigate job losses.

The first thing negotiators can do is to question the employer closely as to why they believe redundancy is the only option, and to ask for evidence — in the form of financial plans, accounts, turnover and sales figures, and so on — as well as other supporting documentation from the company to support their case. Union reps can then go over these in detail to examine the rationale and try to identify whether it is justified or whether other options may be available.

To ensure employee representatives can play a full part in the consultation process over proposed redundancies the employer must disclose certain information in writing including:

• reasons for the proposed redundancies;

• numbers and descriptions of employees affected;

• proposed method of selecting the employees who may be dismissed;

• proposed method of carrying out the dismissals, taking account of any agreed procedure, including the period over which the dismissals are to take effect; and

• how redundancy payments, other than the legal minimum, will be calculated.