Redundancy and failure to consult

[TeamOrders]

Hoping for some advice. Following a restructure my role has ceased to exist as my work has been assigned to a different department. This has happened over a few months and there has been no consultation although I've raised the issue a number of times. My HR department accepts that there is a problem and will offer a settlement which takes into consideration the failure to consult. I'm not sure how this should be calculated, and if I need to take legal advice before they make the offer. I have been told unofficially that the compensation they will pay for failure to consult is 90 days pay on top of the statutory redundancy calculation. Does this sound about right?

By law you'll need to get an employment solicitor to look over any settlement agreement and confirm they've talked you through it. Many firms cover this cost up to a certain amount as part of the settlement. Best to go through this with that lawyer when you have it all in writing.

There is no minimum consultation period for under 20 employees. When I’ve seen an employee go as a one off redundancy it has been consultation of a month or less. So 90 days would be a good outcome in comparison. But the key question is whether consultation would have achieved anything - would it have avoided your redundancy?

If you get a decent employment lawyer (which as Loraline mentioned you will need anyway) if they offer you below standard they can look to negotiate upwards.

When I’ve seen an employee go as a one off redundancy it has been consultation of a month or less. So 90 days would be a good outcome in comparison

Sorry, maybe I've not made myself clear. I'm not asking for consultation now, my job has gone, it's a done deal. There should have been 'meaningful consultation' prior to the decision being made. Therefore the process has not been followed. I was asking whether an extra 90 days pay is about the right sort of compensation for them to settle the claim.

They will pay £500 legal fees so hopefully this will be enough to review the offer and potentially negotiate it up.

‘Meaningful consultation’ for single redundancies only involving one person could easily take no more than a couple of weeks, so if they’re offering 90 days’ pay to compensate for not consulting that sounds pretty good to me, if it is clear that it’s a genuine redundancy decision and it was a technicality of process that was missing rather than something which fundamentally could have changed the outcome.

When you go and see your solicitor, he/she should be able to advise you whether in your circumstances that’s a reasonable offer.

Protective award for failure to consult in a collective redundancy situ is max of 13 weeks’ pay so 90 days is around the same