Acas Chief Executive Susan Clews has worked in Acas frontline operations and as Director of Strategy and Chief Operations Officer.
As Sir Brendan Barber made clear in his recent discussion paper about building better working conditions based on compassion, many predictions for the future of work present a very bleak picture indeed. And for an increasing number of people, this future has arrived with many organisations announcing large-scale redundancies.
While the focus for some will be on the here and now, it’s important to take a long-term benin phone number library approach when planning redundancies. I have been listening to the insights and experiences reported by some of the senior advisers in Acas as recounted in the recent.
Acas podcast on redundancy
My colleague Faye Law, a senior adviser based in London, rightly advises that employers should ask themselves: “what do I want this organisation to be like after this process has finished?” Leaders need to consider the needs of the business and future structures, but they also need to consider the welfare of their staff, those leaving and those remaining.
It’s not surprising that handling redundancies has been such a hot topic on our also because unlike other options national helpline (with an increase of 160% over the past 2 months compared to the same period in 2019).
Although many employers, HR managers and unions will be familiar with both the adb directory law and good practice, the current environment throws up some unique challenges.
It’s all happening so fast
Another colleague, Maggie Steven, a senior adviser based in the Midlands, warns of companies and employees who have been caught out by the speed of change brought about by the health crisis. For example, an employer may initially be planning to make 15 employees redundant, but new circumstances could mean that the number increases steadily. In such cases, there is a danger that they may fail to comply with employment law on collective redundancy procedures, which apply when employers are planning to make 20 or more staff redundant within 90 days.