New Acas guidance on consultation

The Acas guidance: How to manage collective redundancies, April 2013, includes a sample redundancy procedure which suggests the following areas for consultation:

• Commitment to keep local trade unions/employee reps informed as fully as possible about staffing requirements and any need for redundancies;

• How long consultation is to last;

• Who is to be consulted;

• What must be discussed;

• How the consultation should be conducted, focusing on the spirit of the consultation — with a view to reaching agreement and including a commitment to consider alternative proposals;

• What statutory information must be provided;

• Additional areas on which to consult, including:

◊ The effect on earnings, where transfer or down-grading is accepted as an alternative to redundancy;

◊ Arrangements for travel, removal and related expenses where a new role is on a different site;

◊ Arrangements for reasonable time off with pay to look for jobs or arrange training;

◊ Help with job hunting;

◊ Arrangements to transfer apprenticeships.

Measures to avoid redundancy can include:

• Natural wastage;

• Restricting recruitment of permanent staff;

• Reducing use of agency workers;

• Filling vacancies from among existing staff;

• Reducing overtime;

• Reducing hours e.g. by short-time working;

• Training, retraining and redeployment.