1. Whilst it is the policy of the School to avoid compulsory redundancies wherever reasonably practicable, it is possible that circumstances may make them unavoidable from time to time. The purpose of this procedure is to set down the processes that must be followed in potential redundancy situations, so that the School's interests are protected and members of staff at risk are treated fairly.
2. Since separate legal requirements exist in relation to redundancies affecting 20 or more employees, this procedure is applicable only to cases of individual redundancy, or to collective redundancies affecting 19 or fewer employees in any 90-day period.
3. This procedure does not apply to academic staff; the appropriate procedures for this group are contained in the Academic Annex.
Defining redundancy
4. An employee is dismissed by reason of redundancy if the dismissal is wholly or mainly due to:
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the fact that an employer has ceased, or intends to cease, to carry on the business for the purpose of which the employee was employed, or has ceased or intends to cease to carry on that business in the place where the employee was employed;
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the fact that the requirements of that organisation for employees to carry out work of a particular kind or for employees to carry out work of a particular kind in the place where they were so employed, have ceased or diminished or are expected to cease or diminish.1
5. This could mean:
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making a post redundant and substituting it with a job of a substantially different nature;
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distributing its duties between other members of staff;
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merging two posts into one.
6. It is therefore, not the employee who becomes redundant; it is the post that he or she holds. The employer, in this context, is the School. Managers acting on behalf of the School in cases of potential redundancy are required to consult the Personnel Division before taking any action in connection with such redundancies.
1 Section 139(1), Employment Rights Act 1996.