Redundancy
Redundancy consultation: individual, collective and the protective award
Before anyone is dismissed for redundancy the employer has to talk, and once ${R.collectiveThreshold20} jobs are in play the law sets the timetable and the price of skipping it.
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Collective consultation is compulsory when an employer proposes to dismiss 20 or more employees as redundant at one establishment within 90 days or less, under section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. It must start at least 30 days before the first dismissal takes effect for 20 to 99 proposed redundancies, and at least 45 days before for 100 or more. The employer consults a recognised trade union or, where there is none, elected employee representatives, about ways to avoid the dismissals, reduce their number and soften their effect, aiming for agreement. It must also file form HR1 with the Redundancy Payments Service by the same deadlines and before any notice of dismissal goes out. If it fails to consult, a tribunal can order a protective award: since 6 April 2026 up to 180 days’ pay for each affected employee, twice the earlier 90, with no two-year service condition. Below 20 redundancies the law sets no minimum period, but a fair dismissal still needs individual consultation.
How soon can the first redundancy take effect?
First dismissal can take effect from
1 December 2026
| Minimum period before it | 30 days |
| HR1 to the Redundancy Payments Service | By 1 November 2026 at the latest |
| Maximum protective award | 180 days’ pay each |
HR1 must also go in before any notice of dismissal is handed out.
Below 20: individual consultation
When fewer than 20 redundancies are proposed at an establishment, no statute sets a timetable. That does not make consultation optional. Acas expects the employer to inform and consult each person at risk individually, with at least one private meeting, before any decision is final (Acas, How your employer must consult). A dismissal made without it is likely to be unfair even if the redundancy is genuine. You can ask to bring a companion; Acas notes the employer might not agree, though your contract or the employer’s policy may give you that right.
From 20: the collective rules
Section 188 applies when the employer proposes to dismiss as redundant 20 or more employees at one establishment within 90 days or less. An establishment is the unit to which employees are assigned, which can be a whole company or a distinct site within it. Three small sites each losing a dozen jobs may fall below the threshold one by one; Acas warns that staggering cuts to avoid it can lead to a protective award (Acas, Collective consultation).
| Proposed redundancies at one establishment | Consultation must begin | HR1 must reach the RPS | Example: consultation from 2 November 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 20 | No statutory minimum | Not required | Individual consultation only |
| 20 to 99 | At least 30 days before the first dismissal | At least 30 days before, and before any notice | First dismissal on or after 2 December 2026 |
| 100 or more | At least 45 days before the first dismissal | At least 45 days before, and before any notice | First dismissal on or after 17 December 2026 |
Who is consulted
If the employer recognises an independent trade union for the employees concerned, it consults the union’s representatives. Otherwise it may use existing employee representatives with authority to be consulted on redundancies, or arrange an election. Affected employees can vote and stand. If they are invited to elect representatives and fail to do so within a reasonable time, section 188(7B) makes the employer give the written information to each affected employee instead. Representatives must be given access to the staff they represent and appropriate accommodation and facilities (section 188(5A)).
What must be put in writing
Section 188(4) lists what the representatives must receive in writing:
- the reasons for the proposals;
- the numbers and descriptions of employees it proposes to dismiss, and the total of each description employed;
- the proposed method of selection;
- the proposed method of carrying out the dismissals, including the period over which they take effect;
- how any redundancy payments other than the statutory ones will be calculated;
- the number of agency workers in use, where they work and the type of work they do.
Consultation must cover ways of avoiding the dismissals, reducing the numbers and mitigating the consequences, and be carried out “with a view to reaching agreement”. Agreement is not required, but going through the motions after the decision is made does not count.
Form HR1
Section 193 adds a duty to tell the Secretary of State, in practice the Redundancy Payments Service, through the online HR1 form (GOV.UK, HR1 guidance). The form goes in before any notice of dismissal is given and at least 30 or 45 days before the first dismissal. A copy goes to the representatives being consulted. One form is needed per site with 20 or more proposed redundancies, though a multi-site division managed as one may file a single form with a list of sites. Failing to notify without good cause is a criminal offence for the company and its officers, punishable by a fine. The notice also lets Jobcentre Plus offer help to the staff affected.
The protective award
A tribunal that upholds a complaint of failure to consult can order the employer to pay “remuneration for the protected period” to each employee in the group (section 189). The protected period starts on the earlier of the first dismissal and the date of the award, and lasts as long as the tribunal finds just and equitable given how serious the failure was, up to a maximum. That maximum doubled on 6 April 2026, from 90 to 180 days, under the Employment Rights Act 2025.
Section 190 pays a week’s pay for each week of the protected period, pro rata for part weeks. For a sense of scale: an employee on £560 a week who receives the full 180-day award is owed about £14,400. The award is separate from redundancy pay and from notice pay, and Acas confirms it does not depend on two years’ service.
The complaint must be presented before the last of the dismissals takes effect or within six months of that date, unless that was not reasonably practicable. Early conciliation through Acas comes first.
Your part in the process
- Ask for the written reasons and the selection criteria, and check your scores.
- Raise alternatives: reduced hours, voluntary redundancy, redeployment into a suitable vacancy.
- Once notice is given, use your right to paid time off to look for work.
- Note the dates: consultation start, notice, last day. They decide your payment, which the calculator works out.