Notification of collective redundancies to the government

As well as consulting employee representatives, the employer is legally obliged to notify the Secretary of State for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) of all proposed redundancies of 20 or more employees. This is done by completing an HR1 form and sending it to the Redundancy Payments Service, a division of the Insolvency Service and part of BEIS. The form asks for information on why redundancies are being proposed and on the number of staff, by occupational group, likely to be affected. The employer also has to set out the proposed selection and consultation procedure.

This must be done within the same timeframe as the consultation: at least 45 days before the first redundancy covered by the notice takes effect for proposed redundancies of 100 or more; 30 days for 20 to 99 redundancies. The employer must give a copy of this notification to employee reps. Failure to notify BEIS of collective redundancies can result in prosecution and a fine of up to £5,000 for the company and/or its officers.