Consultation

11.1 The object of the consultation process is to discuss with a view to reaching an agreement with employees/relevant Trade Unions/Associations on how the redundancy process will be carried out. Any written proposals made by the relevant Trade Union/Associations or affected employees will be considered by the Redundancy Committee and a written response will be given.

11.2 All employees, including those absent from the school, e.g.  on maternity or adoption leave or long-term sickness must be consulted and kept informed about the redundancy situation.  It is automatically an unfair dismissal to select an employee for redundancy on the grounds of taking maternity or adoption leave.  Enhanced rights in any reorganisation and redundancy situation apply to pregnant employees from the point they inform their manager that they are pregnant on or after 6^th April 2024; and for employees returning from maternity leave, adoption leave or shared parental leave of at least six weeks on or after 6^th April 2024, until 18 months after the expected week of childbirth, date of the child's birth, or date of the adoption placement.   During the protected period, employees have the right to be offered suitable alternative employment in a redundancy situation. The employee will not need to be part of a selection exercise.

Failure to comply with this requirement will result in a finding of automatic unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal.

11.3 The timetable for consultation is as follows:

The number of employees to be dismissed through reasons of redundancy within a 90 day period.

11.4 There is no statutory set period for consultation laid down where redundancies involve fewer than 20 employees. In these circumstances a 35 calendar day consultation will apply unless agreed otherwise with all parties.

11.5  At the start of any collective consultation, the employer will provide the specific information under Section 188 (4) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. (See the Toolkit for details of what is required in this letter.) 

11.6 At the same time as the written notification is issued to the relevant Trade Unions, the Line Manager will inform employees of the situation and the date of the first group consultation meeting. Those invited to the consultation meeting should include all employees likely to be affected and the relevant Trade Unions/Association representative(s). A member of the Human Resources team should be consulted for advice prior to the meeting and invited to attend. There may be a need to hold more than one group consultation meeting for employees on different conditions of service, working patterns or at different locations.

11.7  The consultation process will include:

1. Strategies to try to avoid redundancy
2. Dates of any subsequent consultation meetings
3. The reasons for the proposed staffing reduction
4. Full budgetary information where the reason for the proposed staffing reduction is financial
5. The numbers and descriptions of employees whom it is proposed to dismiss as redundant
6. The total number of any such description employed by the school
7. The proposed procedure to be used
8. The proposed selection criteria for identifying the post(s) to be declared redundant (The Toolkit provides separate models for this for teachers and support staff)
9. The proposed selection criteria if there are too many volunteers for redundancy (See paragraph 12)
10. The timescale

11.8  Individuals identified as being ‘at risk’ of redundancy will be notified at the start of the consultation of their position. This will of course be subject to consultation and it is recognised that this situation may change.

11.9  Where it is decided by the headteacher that more time is needed to consult on any proposals, the consultation may be extended by a reasonable period. The revised timeline for consultation should be clearly communicated to all affected employees and the trade unions/Associations, with the end date clearly communicated.

11.10 At the end of the consultation period, the headteacher will arrange to meet and/or confirm, in writing, the outcome of the consultation to all affected employees and trade unions/Associations.

11.11 Outcomes may include:

• To implement the proposal(s) in line with the consultation
• To implement the proposal(s) with variation(s), arising from the consultation
• To withdraw the proposal(s)
• To significantly vary the proposal(s) which may necessitate a further period of consultation.