5. Redundancy Not all organisational change will result in redundancy. Employees are only dismissed as redundant if their dismissal is entirely or mainly because: The Council has or will cease carrying out the service/business for which the employee was employed; The Council has or will cease carrying out the service/business in the place where the employee was employed; The Council’s need for employees carrying out work of a particular kind has or will cease or diminish; or The need for employees to carry out work of a particular kind in the place where they are employed has or will cease or diminish. In practice redundancies occur where a re-organisation of a department, section or job results in a reduction in the number of employees required to do that work, or in a significant change to the nature of the work performed by the affected employees. Redundancy may also occur when a fixed term contract, or a series of temporary contracts, expires without renewal. 6. Selection for redundancy It may on occasions be necessary to reduce the numbers of a particular type of job, or where many employees have similar skills. In such cases it will be necessary to select which employees are to be made redundant. When selecting staff for redundancy, the Council will take the steps set out below. Not all the steps will be applied in every case. This will depend upon the most appropriate application according to the circumstances of the redundancy situation. Employees in schools and centrally employed teachers have a separate consultation timetable and selection procedure. Ask for Volunteers Whilst this seem the most reasonable way to select employees for redundancy, there are a number of disadvantages that must be taken into account. Volunteers may be the very employees the employer would most like to keep in terms of skill and experience; Voluntary redundancy can be expensive, because longer-serving employees are likely to volunteer thus attracting higher redundancy payments; If more employees volunteer than are required, the selection procedure applied amongst the pool of volunteers must also be fair. Assess according to Skills, Qualifications or Competencies It is essential that a balance of skills, qualification or competencies remain within the workforce to satisfy future business needs. As regards selection criteria for redundancy, it is not feasible to use Performance Development Review outcomes for this purpose. There is an element of subjectivity and possible inconsistency between different managers’ assessments that make it difficult to rely on Performance Development Review scores.
5. Redundancy Not all organisational change will result in redundancy. Employees are only dismissed as redundant if their dismissal is entirely or mainly because: The Council has or will cease carrying out the service/business for which the employee was employed; The Council has or will cease carrying out the service/business in the place where the employee was employed; The Council’s need for employees carrying out work of a particular kind has or will cease or diminish; or The need for employees to carry out work of a particular kind in the place where they are employed has or will cease or diminish. In practice redundancies occur where a re-organisation of a department, section or job results in a reduction in the number of employees required to do that work, or in a significant change to the nature of the work performed by the affected employees. Redundancy may also occur when a fixed term contract, or a series of temporary contracts, expires without renewal. 6. Selection for redundancy It may on occasions be necessary to reduce the numbers of a particular type of job, or where many employees have similar skills. In such cases it will be necessary to select which employees are to be made redundant. When selecting staff for redundancy, the Council will take the steps set out below. Not all the steps will be applied in every case. This will depend upon the most appropriate application according to the circumstances of the redundancy situation. Employees in schools and centrally employed teachers have a separate consultation timetable and selection procedure. Ask for Volunteers Whilst this seem the most reasonable way to select employees for redundancy, there are a number of disadvantages that must be taken into account. Volunteers may be the very employees the employer would most like to keep in terms of skill and experience; Voluntary redundancy can be expensive, because longer-serving employees are likely to volunteer thus attracting higher redundancy payments; If more employees volunteer than are required, the selection procedure applied amongst the pool of volunteers must also be fair. Assess according to Skills, Qualifications or Competencies It is essential that a balance of skills, qualification or competencies remain within the workforce to satisfy future business needs. As regards selection criteria for redundancy, it is not feasible to use Performance Development Review outcomes for this purpose. There is an element of subjectivity and possible inconsistency between different managers’ assessments that make it difficult to rely on Performance Development Review scores.
SCC-TAC-HRP-OrgChangeMgtPol.docx