We know that employment law and people issues are increasingly a strategic priority for boards, as they grapple with fast-moving legislative and regulatory changes in challenging economic conditions.
Our Quarterly Board Briefing includes a tracker, which aims to provide boards with a guide to key upcoming legal changes, including critical dates, suggested actions and an assessment of any risk/opportunities arising.
In the Spotlight section at the end of the document, we include additional notes for legal and HR teams on significant hot topics. In this quarter’s edition, we focus on “Tightening the Belt: Alternatives to Redundancy”. Given the current economic uncertainty and the raft of employee-friendly rights due under the Employment Rights Bill (many of which will come at a price for employers), it seems unlikely that there is a boardroom in the UK that will not have cost-cutting or efficiencies on its agenda in some way, shape or form over the coming months, with certain sectors more likely to be impacted than others. Further job losses are also expected as the unstoppable rise of artificial intelligence (AI) means that more tasks are being automated.
The irony is, of course, that cutting jobs can lead to more cost, rather than less, if the processes are not managed properly. Redundancy programmes, particularly those that trigger the collective consultation obligations, require a significant amount of managerial time and input, and may, certainly in the short term, have an adverse impact on morale and therefore productivity.
Of course, there are times when making redundancies is necessary, in which case it will be key to ensure that there is a properly planned, well-run and well-communicated process to mitigate any unnecessary costs/time. However, employers may wish to consider other options as an alternative to (or possibly in combination with) redundancies.
To assist with your strategic planning, we have prepared a guide to some of those alternatives, including a brief summary of the key commercial implications and legal risks involved with each option.
