Making an only employee redundant

Making an only employee redundant

Author
Discussion

the cyclist

Original Poster:

5 posts

70 months

Sunday 23rd October 2022
quotequote all
i think this may be my first post so here goes,

my company employs one person and i am bout to loose a trade contract which will mean there will not be enough work to keep two people going,

a quick look on the government sites suggest a consultation period must be offered ,but this appears to refer to minimum of 20 redundancies,

Can any employment experts point me in the right direction.

many thanks

anonymous-user

61 months

Sunday 23rd October 2022
quotequote all

ITR1

195 posts

108 months

Sunday 23rd October 2022
quotequote all
You are still required to follow a consultation process with one redundancy, but there is no mandated period of time it needs to take. For one person it might look like three meetings : at risk, consultation, consultation and outcome. It depends on what is thrown up by your employee during the consultation process

ACAS is a usefuk starting point. If you've lost an account to a competitor TUPE might apply - your employee follows the work over to the new provider. It depends on the circumstances though.

Finally, if your employee is under two years employment with you then you may be able to act with even less risk of any legal issue due to ordinary unfair dismissal rights not kicking in until 2 years. If in doubt take legal advice....which this post isn't....good luck with it.


Jasandjules

70,505 posts

236 months

Sunday 23rd October 2022
quotequote all
How long have they been employed?

lizardbrain

2,471 posts

44 months

Sunday 23rd October 2022
quotequote all
I think notice is one week per year of employment.

Not sure of the law really, not an expert by any means, but this is what I would personally do with one employee. (I had a hr consultant write the letters in similar situation )

Offer them a meeting to discuss redundancy , invite them to bring an advisor if they wish. Explain the situation and the reason for the redundancy, explain their redundancy payments and timeline, probably one week notice per year of employment.

and explain they are not going to be replaced and the position is permanently redundant.

Apparently important to offer them subsequent meetings, and the chance to come back to you with any suggestions how it might be possible you can avoid the redundancy, for example perhaps they can suggest other viable roles on the company they may be suited for.

I’m sure there is other stuff I’m unaware of but my guess is, most of these rules are meant for larger companies and the risks reward of going deeper doesn’t add up.

Edited by lizardbrain on Sunday 23 October 20:47

the cyclist

Original Poster:

5 posts

70 months

Tuesday 25th October 2022
quotequote all
Thank you BSE,
that's a bit of better news that should make my life easier, i have seen the link to payments before but do you have any links to the "one person" being effected part of your reply,

many thanks for all the replies so far




lizardbrain

2,471 posts

44 months

Tuesday 25th October 2022
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Fair!

Also interested in the affected group of one thing.

Edited by lizardbrain on Tuesday 25th October 09:34

ITR1

195 posts

108 months

Tuesday 25th October 2022
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
That's not quite right. Notice entitlement does depend on length of service. If the contract provides for more than the legal minimum period of notice then the contractual notice applies. If the legal minimum period of notice is longer than the contract, then that applies. An example would be an employee who has 5 complete years of employment. The contract may say 1 months notice, but in this example the notice required is actually 5 weeks. If the contract said 2 months of notice then that is what would apply.

Tempting as it may be to just dismiss an employee with less than 2 years service you do sometimes need to tread carefully as not all types of claim require 2 years service to bring.

There has also been a case to do with consultations and a pool of one. Google "redundancy consultation pool of one" and look at the news tab for the latest.

HTH.

the cyclist

Original Poster:

5 posts

70 months

Tuesday 25th October 2022
quotequote all
2.5 years,

all is now in order as i've taken paid advise, thanks all the same folks

lizardbrain

2,471 posts

44 months

Tuesday 25th October 2022
quotequote all
What was the advice? Roughly

the cyclist

Original Poster:

5 posts

70 months

Tuesday 25th October 2022
quotequote all
Advised to go through the whole consultation process to be on the safe side even though it will be obvious what the outcome will be.

the cyclist

Original Poster:

5 posts

70 months

Tuesday 25th October 2022
quotequote all
yes,, i was fully advised,

Employment solicitor now working with me, and not too expensive .

lizardbrain

2,471 posts

44 months

Tuesday 25th October 2022
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Did you get paid advice? Maybe you could get a refund?


lizardbrain

2,471 posts

44 months

Tuesday 25th October 2022
quotequote all
I’ll take that as a no!

ITR1

195 posts

108 months

Tuesday 25th October 2022
quotequote all
lizardbrain said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Did you get paid advice? Maybe you could get a refund?
LOL

Sensible to get paid for advice for anything like this as the cost if it goes wrong can quickly escalate.