How to deal with employees on adoption leave, or who are adopting a child, in a redundancy situation

Author: David Jones

Summary

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• Bear in mind that employers can make employees redundant when they are on, or intend to take, adoption leave, provided that the adoption leave is not the reason for selection for redundancy.
• Remember that the dismissal of an employee because of adoption leave will be an automatically unfair dismissal and there is no requirement for the employee to have the normal qualifying service to bring a claim.
• Use redundancy selection criteria that do not put employees on adoption leave at a disadvantage.
• Ensure that employees on adoption leave are engaged in the redundancy consultation exercise.
• Offer any suitable alternative employment to employees who are on, or have recently returned from, adoption leave and to others in a protected period.
• Calculate statutory redundancy payments on the employee's normal pay and not on their adoption leave pay.
• Calculate payment during the notice period based on either the employees' normal pay or adoption leave pay, depending on the terms of the contract.
• Be aware that if an employee qualifies for statutory adoption pay they remain entitled to it after dismissal for redundancy.
• Provide written reasons for dismissal to employees who are made redundant while on adoption leave.