Collective Redundancies: Consultation on changes to the rules
Open date: 21 Jun 2012
Closing date: 19 Sep 2012
The consultation seeks views on reforms to improve the quality of consultation over large scale redundancies.
Effective consultation over large-scale redundancies helps to ensure that employers make better decisions and that employees have a chance to have their say about the proposals. However, a recent Call for Evidence on the current rules on collective redundancy consultation showed that they are confusing, do not fit the current labour market and are contributing to bad quality consultation. The proposals on which we are consulting look to address these issues.
The proposals on changes to the collective redundancy rules aim to:
- improve consultation quality;
- improve the ability of employers to respond to changing market conditions; and
- to balance the interests of the employees who are made redundant with those who remain.
To achieve this, we believe an effective collective redundancy regime must have three components:
- A straightforward legislative framework;
- A good relationship between employer and employees’ representatives;
- Mechanisms to allow appropriate Government intervention.
To create a more effective collective redundancy regime, we are consulting on a package of reforms, based around:
- Reducing the 90-day minimum period for large redundancies;
- Issuing a new, non-statutory, Code of Practice which will address a number of key issues affecting redundancy consultations; and
- Improving guidance for employers and employees on the support on offer from Government
Download the consultation
