What should the employer and employee discuss at an individual redundancy consultation meeting?

The employer should meet with employees provisionally selected for redundancy for several individual consultation meetings. These will usually take place after the employer has provided the affected employees with general information, such as the reason for the proposed redundancies, and information about the selection process, either as part of the formal collective consultation, or in group meetings with the affected employees if no formal collective consultation is required.

At the individual meetings, the employer should ask the employee for any suggestions that they may have to avoid redundancies. It is important that the employer does not prejudge the outcome of consultation meetings; it should give serious consideration to any suggestions that the employee makes.

The employer should give the employee the opportunity to raise any objections to the basis for their provisional selection, for example by discussing the application of the selection criteria. It should discuss whether or not there is any suitable alternative employment for the employee, and explain what support is on offer if redundancy is confirmed, such as a reasonable amount of paid time off to look for new employment. The employer should explain the composition of any redundancy package and how the notice period will operate.

There is no set number of meetings that must be held during the individual consultation process, but it is likely that at least two meetings will be necessary to give the employee the opportunity to consider and respond to the information discussed. It may be necessary for the employer to hold further meetings, before redundancy is confirmed, to discuss any issues outstanding from the previous meetings.