Employee representative in collective redundancy

[CisforChristie]

Wondering if anyone can advise please.

The business that I work for (part of a large company that is making big cutbacks) is closing down. We are all being made redundant. We have been asked to elect an employee representative for the process however we have been told that we will all have individual consultation regardless of whether we elect a representative or not.

Do we need to elect a representative? Would we be at a disadvantage not to? None of us want to do it and tbh I don't think any of us have the credentials. If someone is elected then they will receive training but none of us want to do it. No union, we work in hospitality. Thanks in advance.

There will be individual consultations but having an employee representative means they can also communicate more quickly between those consultations.

Generally there are a set number of formal consultation meetings, in my experience 2, the first is to outline the reason for consultation and the expected timelines, the 2nd is to give you specifics about your redundancy package and the date you will leave.

They can't just throw extra meetings in to communicate with everyone especially if there are lots of you because it's not feasible to schedule those extra meetings, but they could meet with 1 person to collect a consolidated list of questions that people have lodged and provide answers to those which the rep could then communicate out to the rest of you.

No credentials are needed other than the ability to collate questions from the group, raise them with the management, collate the answers and disseminate them back to the group. They don't make any decisions on behalf of the group or formulate any agreements.

Employee representatives are just an extra to union representation. You collate questions for the consultancy meetings, submit alternative options that staff may present and feedback the outcome of each meeting.

As PP mentioned it's not a difficult role, although I've never volunteered to be one in my organisation because I didn't want to travel to London HQ frequently.

In our experience the unions were the ones challenging things and trying to negotiate better outcomes for people, like enhancements to the redundancy being offered such as training budgets. The employee reps were just eyes and ears in the meetings for people who weren't union members.

Sorry, just re-read and realised you don't have a union. In that case I'd definitely recommend having someone go to these meetings if only to act as a FAQ person because the business have set out that's their preferred way of handling things and you need to be kept in the loop.

If anyone feels brave enough to challenge the generosity of the redundancy terms (e.g. training budget) then all the better.

Thank you both. Tbh there isn't much to challenge. No transfer options or alternative roles. The reasons for the closure makes sound business sense. We will only get what we are legally entitled to, statutory redundancy, and notice plus any accrued holiday. A couple of people have something to challenge but those issues are personal and about what they are entitled to, not related to employees as a whole. They should be brought up at the individual meetings.

We have had one meeting to inform us that the business is closing and tell us the timeline. They have told us that we will have individual meetings to discuss our redundancies. We've also been told that we will be kept up to date with all info via email and if we have any questions then to raise them with HR or contact management. As far as I know no one actually has any questions. We've been given plenty of info already.

They have told us that they will provide workshops to help with cv writing and job hunting. And will also provide other support in those areas and with MH if we need it. This is a big company making large scale cutbacks. Ours is not the only branch to close.

As employees we very much see it as a case of 'make sure I know what I'm entitled to, go to my meeting, challenge any mistakes in what I'm owed, then get on with finding a new job'.