10 Redundancy Pitfalls and how to avoid them in your Day Nursery, Pre-school or Club

With the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (Furlough) changing from 1st July (employers are not able to claim 80% only 70% and will have to pay the 10% themselves) more and more employers who have continued to use furlough will be considering restructuring and redundancies. So what are the redundancy pitfalls and how do you avoid them?

Here’s my 10 redundancy pitfalls and how to avoid them in your Day Nursery, Pre-school or Club:

1. Failing to plan ahead 

Don’t be reactive if you can at all avoid it. If you know you will need to reduce your headcount in September plan now and start consultation with affected staff.

2. Not considering alternatives

You should be open to other ways you can avoid a redundancy which include; recruitment freeze, overtime ban, cutting other costs, short time and lay off.

3. Failing to consult

This is a biggie. Far too many employers fail to recognise the value from consultation. We’ve had people volunteer to go, people ask for part time working and also people come up with solutions that the employer could not have found themselves.

4. Doing it at 90 miles an hour

No redundancy should be rushed. If you are planning a redundancy, look at the diaries of the key people to be involved. If there is going to be an issue with their availability can the process be delayed until they are available.

5. Failure to think about those who survive a redundancy

Those who may suffer from survivor syndrome and feel unsettled as a consequence of the redundancy. This pitfall can be avoided by consulting with those impacted by the redundancy and offering support once the redundancy has occurred.

6. Not working out the payments

There are various online resources to assist the employer to calculate their redundancy payments. Consider whether the employee will be working their notice and if they do not (which may be best for those concerned) what will be the cost of covering their role.

7. Having an unfair selection criteria

This redundancy pitfall must be avoided as it can lead to claims of unfair dismissal.  Above all make sure the selection criteria, where applied, is largely objective and has been scored by two people independently.

8. Naff communication

This redundancy pitfall can impact all your stakeholders, from parents, children, to the wider community. It’s important to make sure that you communicate fairly and that you do not prejudge the process of consultation. Remember staff are at risk until nothing can be found to avoid a redundancy, then they are given notice.

9. Failing to train managers to handle the process

It’s important to make sure managers are given structures to follow and understand what steps are involved. Don’t set them up to fail.

10. Treating people as if they have done something wrong

No one wants to be made redundant, but how you treat people can impact them and their colleagues that remain. Remember not to treat those selected at risk of redundancy as if they have done something wrong. They haven’t and you need to be mindful that treating them right will lead to them feeling better overall about the process.

If you need to consider redundancies our fixed price redundancy process is here to help.

If you need any assistance, please call us on 01527 909436.