Restructuring is a process. Get it wrong and it becomes a claim.
Redundancy is one of the few fair reasons for dismissal, but only if the pool, the selection and the consultation stand up. We match you with a specialist before the announcement, not after the ET1.
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A redundancy dismissal is fair only if there is a genuine redundancy situation, the pool and selection criteria are defensible, consultation is real rather than presentational, and alternative employment has been considered properly. Employers rarely lose these claims on the commercial decision, which tribunals do not second-guess. They lose on the process that delivered it.
The exposure scales with the number of people affected. Collective consultation obligations bite at 20 or more proposed redundancies at one establishment within 90 days, with a protective award of up to 90 days' pay per affected employee where the obligation is missed. Twenty individual conversations handled loosely can therefore become a single very expensive claim.
What a specialist checks before you announce
Almost every winnable redundancy claim is won in the planning, not the hearing:
- Is this a genuine redundancy: closure, relocation, or a reduced requirement for work of a particular kind?
- Is the pool defensible, and can you explain why it was drawn where it was rather than wider or narrower?
- Are the selection criteria objective, capable of evidence, and free of anything that maps onto a protected characteristic?
- Does the timetable allow genuine individual consultation, with the outcome not already fixed?
- Does the headcount trigger collective consultation, and if so are representatives in place and the timetable long enough?
- Have suitable alternative vacancies been searched for across the whole business, including any trial periods?
- Are employees on maternity or family leave given the priority the law requires for suitable alternative roles?
Where restructures turn into claims
The most common failure is a consultation that was never capable of changing anything. Where the selection matrix is scored before the first meeting and the outcome letter is drafted in advance, employees notice, and so do tribunals. Consultation does not have to change the decision, but it has to be able to.
The second is scoring that cannot be evidenced. Criteria like "attitude" or "flexibility" are not unlawful in themselves, but if the scores exist only in a manager's head, they collapse under cross-examination, and any correlation with age, disability-related absence or part-time working turns an unfair dismissal claim into a discrimination one with no cap.
The third is treating a restructure as a way to remove a particular individual. If a role is retitled and refilled, or the pool is drawn around one person, the redundancy label will not hold, and what began as a process question becomes a credibility question about the business.
Not sure where you stand?
Two minutes of questions, and a specialist tells you what your options actually are.
⏱ Collective consultation starts before the decision, not after itWhere 20 or more redundancies are proposed at one establishment within 90 days, consultation with elected or recognised representatives must begin in good time and at least 30 days before the first dismissal (45 days at 100 or more). The protective award for getting this wrong is up to 90 days' pay per affected employee.
What the framework allows
Up to £123,543
Unfair dismissal compensatory award cap, or 52 weeks' gross pay if lower
Up to 90 days
Protective award per affected employee where collective consultation is not carried out
Uncapped
Where selection or process gives rise to a discrimination claim
Figures are the statutory framework, not a prediction for your case. Legal fees and management time usually matter as much as the award itself. A specialist will give you a realistic range once they know the facts. Today an unfair dismissal award is capped at £123,543 or 52 weeks' pay. From January 2027 that cap is removed entirely, and discrimination awards are already uncapped.
How MatchMySolicitor helps
We are a referral service, not a law firm. You tell us about the claim once, and we match it to a firm whose practice is genuinely respondent-side employment work rather than general litigation with an employment sideline.
Every firm on the panel is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Your details go to one matched firm, never several, and the first conversation is free with no obligation to instruct. Many panel firms offer fixed-fee packages for the response and early stages, and if you hold legal expenses insurance we can match you with firms that work with your policy.
1.Tell us about the situation in a two-minute form. No documents needed yet.
2.We match you with a respondent-side specialist, same day where a deadline is urgent.
3.The solicitor contacts you within 24 hours for a free initial assessment and your options.
Planning a restructure?
Tell us the shape of it and we will match you with a specialist before you announce anything. Free, confidential, no obligation.
Redundancy and restructuring FAQs
How long does a redundancy process need to take?
Long enough for genuine individual consultation, which usually means more than one meeting and a real gap for the employee to respond. Where 20 or more redundancies are proposed, statutory minimum periods apply before the first dismissal can take effect.
Can we make someone redundant while they are on maternity leave?
Yes, if the redundancy is genuine, but employees on maternity leave have priority for suitable alternative vacancies, and protection extends beyond the leave itself. Dismissals in this area are high-risk and should not be run without advice.
Do we have to use last in, first out?
No, and using it alone is risky because it can correlate with age. Most defensible matrices combine objective, evidenced criteria such as skills, qualifications and documented performance.
Can we skip consultation if the outcome is obvious?
No. A dismissal following a process that could not have changed anything is likely to be unfair even where the redundancy itself is genuine, and compensation can be uplifted where the ACAS Code was not followed.
Is a settlement agreement a better route?
Sometimes, particularly for a small number of senior roles, and it can be combined with a fair process. A specialist will tell you where the negotiated route is cheaper and where it creates precedent you do not want.
What if someone raises a grievance mid-process?
It needs handling properly and in parallel, not deferred until after the dismissal. Grievances raised during restructures often become the backbone of a later claim.
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