Redundancy consultation: what your employer has to do

Consultation is the stage employers most often get wrong, and it is where most unfair redundancy claims are won. The rule is simple: consultation must be genuine, which means it happens while there is still something to consult about. If the decision is already made, the meetings are theatre.

Individual consultation: always required

However small the business and however few the redundancies, your employer must consult you individually before deciding to dismiss you. That means:

• Warning you that your role is at risk, in writing or in a meeting, with enough detail to understand why
• Explaining the selection pool and criteria, if a pool applies
• Meeting you at least once to discuss ways to avoid the redundancy: redeployment, reduced hours, volunteers
• Genuinely considering anything you put forward

One quick chat where you are told the outcome is not consultation. If that is what happened, the dismissal is very likely unfair and worth challenging through ACAS early conciliation first.

Collective consultation: the 20-plus rules

When an employer proposes 20 or more redundancies at one establishment within 90 days, collective rules kick in on top of individual consultation:

• 20 to 99 proposed redundancies: consultation must start at least 30 days before the first dismissal
• 100 or more: at least 45 days
• Representatives: if there is no recognised union, the employer must arrange for employee representatives to be elected, and consult them about ways to avoid the redundancies, reduce numbers and soften the impact
• HR1 notification: the employer must also notify the government, and can be fined for failing to

These periods are minimums before any dismissal can take effect, not targets for when consultation meetings happen.

What consultation must actually cover

A genuine consultation, individual or collective, has to address:

• Why redundancies are proposed at all
• How to avoid them: recruitment freezes, ending agency contracts, reduced overtime, voluntary redundancy
• The pool: who is in it and why, which matters because a pool of one is often a red flag
• The criteria: objective, measurable and fairly applied. Length of service, skills and performance records are common; absence that is pregnancy or disability related must not count against you
• Alternatives: suitable vacancies elsewhere in the business, including group companies

You are entitled to see your own scores and how they were worked out. Ask in writing if they are not volunteered.

When employers skip it: the protective award

Fail to consult collectively and a tribunal can order a protective award of up to 180 days' pay per affected employee. That figure was doubled from 90 days by the Employment Rights Act 2025, which tells you how seriously this is now taken.

Skip individual consultation and the dismissal itself becomes unfair, with compensation on top. If the process is already underway and feels one-sided, raising a formal grievance at work creates a paper trail that protects you later.

Where this fits in the bigger picture

Consultation is one stage of a fair redundancy. Selection, notice and pay all have their own rules, covered in our redundancy rights guide, and the money side in redundancy pay.

If your employer is going through the motions with the outcome already written, a specialist employment solicitor can tell you quickly whether you have a claim and what it is worth. Start your enquiry and we will match you with one within 24 hours.