Age Discrimination Legislation

Redundancy - reduce damage

"By 2010, almost 40% of the workforce will be aged 45 or over."

Source - " Age Diversity in Employment", Department for Education and Employment, 1999

Using age as a condition when selecting people for redundancy can lead to the uneccessary loss of vital corporate skills and abilities. Employers should make unbiased job-related decisions, based on important factors such as performance and skills, when choosing people for redundancy.

Are you forward thinking?

• Do you involve employee representatives in planning and drawing up procedures for handling redundancy long before they are likely to be put into practice?
• Are all employees aware of the agreed procedures and aware that decisions will not be based on age?

Compulsory redundancies can demoralise workers and may damage an employer's reputation. It often pays to be creative when looking for other options.

Have you considered:

• asking for volunteers;
• part-time working;
• secondments;
• natural wastage;
• career breaks;
• job sharing;
• retraining; or
• moving people to other departments or teams, or even to other companies?

You can get more information on redundancy in the Arbitration and Conciliation Advisory Service (ACAS) booklet, "Redundancy Handling", and in the Department for Trade and Industry booklet, "Redundancy, Consultation and Notification".