Redundancy

Your rights during a pipeline redundancy consultation

Updated 6 October 2026

You have the right to written notice that redundancy is being proposed, a meaningful window to respond, the selection pool and scoring matrix, time off to attend interviews, and a companion at every meeting. You also have the right to challenge the business case, to suggest alternatives such as reduced hours, and to receive a written statement of reasons for dismissal if you are selected.

What is a pipeline redundancy consultation

A pipeline redundancy consultation is the formal process an employer runs when a role or a group of roles is at risk of being removed. It is not the same as being dismissed, and it is not the same as being laid off. The employer has opened the pipeline and must consult before confirming any outcome.

From 6 October 2026, the statutory consultation period for a single proposed dismissal is set at a minimum of four weeks under the new collective framework, with longer windows where twenty or more roles are at risk at one site. The older thirty day and forty five day windows still apply for larger pools. You can check the threshold for your workplace in the redundancy consultation guide on GOV.UK at gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights.

A practical example: an employer with twelve staff at a single depot where two drivers are at risk falls under the four week floor, while the same firm with fifty warehouse assistants at risk across the same site must run at least thirty days. The site count, not the total head office count, is what governs the window in most cases.

What your employer must put in writing to you

You are entitled to a written notice that redundancy is being proposed, the reason for the proposal, the proposed date of any dismissal, the method used to select who is at risk, and the way redundancy pay will be calculated. The letter must name a contact person and explain how to respond.

If the employer offers a settlement or a pay in lieu of notice arrangement, that must be in a separate document and you must be given reasonable time to consider it. Under the settlement rules in force since July 2025, a settlement offer in a redundancy pipeline must be made on a prescribed form, and a failure to do so can make the offer unenforceable. The Acas code of practice on settlement agreements is at acas.org.uk/settlement-agreements.

How long the consultation should last in your case

Consultation is not a single meeting. It must be meaningful, which means long enough for you to consider the proposal, ask questions, suggest alternatives, and for the employer to genuinely consider your response. For one role, four weeks is the floor. For twenty to ninety nine roles, the floor is thirty days. For one hundred or more, the floor is forty five days.

If your employer tries to compress the process into a single meeting and a same week outcome, that is a procedural failure and can shift the compensatory award in a tribunal by up to twenty five percent. The EAT decision in Polkey v AE Dayton Services remains the leading authority and is summarised on the gov.uk employment tribunal guidance pages.

Your right to see the selection pool and the scoring matrix

If selection is by some form of scoring, you have the right to see the criteria, the weighting, the scores, and who else was in the pool. An employer cannot withhold the matrix on the basis that it is commercially sensitive once a redundancy pipeline is open.

Request the matrix in writing. If the employer refuses, write back noting the refusal and ask for the specific business reason. That exchange is disclosable later if a tribunal claim becomes necessary. The CIPD guide on fair selection in redundancy is at cipd.org/uk/knowledge/factsheets/redundancy-factsheet.

Your right to suggest alternatives, including reduced hours

You are entitled to put forward alternatives and to have them genuinely considered. Common alternatives include a reduction in hours, a move to a different role at the same grade, retraining, a sabbatical, or a mutual exchange of duties between two affected employees.

Put your alternative in writing, dated, and keep a copy. If the employer rejects it, ask for the reason in writing. A recorded rejection of a reasonable alternative is useful evidence if you later argue that the dismissal was not fair. For instance, a four day week proposal that saves the role should be answered with a costed response rather than a flat no.

Your right to be accompanied, and what counts as a companion

You have the right to be accompanied at every consultation meeting by a trade union representative or a work colleague. The companion can address the meeting, ask questions, and respond on your behalf, but cannot answer questions on your behalf without your consent.

You do not have a statutory right to a lawyer or a family member in the room, but the employer can agree to it. If the chosen companion is not available on the proposed date, ask for the meeting to be moved by up to one week. The statutory right of accompaniment is set out in section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999, summarised at legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1999/11/section/10.

Time off to look for work and to attend interviews

Once you have been given notice of redundancy, you are entitled to a reasonable amount of paid time off to look for new work, to arrange training, or to attend interviews. There is no fixed number of hours. Two paid days per week during the notice period is treated as a reasonable baseline where the role is being advertised as at risk.

Ask for the time off in writing, naming the date and the activity. If the employer refuses, raise it in the consultation meeting and note the refusal in the minutes. The statutory right is in section 52 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, available at legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/section/52.

What to do in the meantime

Reply to the redundancy letter in writing within seven days, even if your response is that you need more time. Ask for the selection matrix, the pool list, the proposed timeline, and the redundancy pay calculation. Keep every email and a dated note of every meeting. Start Acas early conciliation at the first sign that the process is a formality, because the six month time limit runs from the date of dismissal, not from the date of the consultation letter. The early conciliation step by step is on 9 to Life at 9tolife.co.uk/how-to-start-acas-early-conciliation-step-by-step.