Redundancy Post 6 April 2009 - Back To The Future?

The Issue

The statutory dismissal procedures were abolished from 6 April 2009, and the new ACAS Code of Practice does not apply to redundancies, so what process should businesses be following to ensure a fair redundancy procedure under the new regime?

Subject to transitional arrangements (which continue to apply the statutory dismissal procedures if the business has issued a step 1 letter or held a step 2 meeting on or before 5 April 2009), we return to the good old days of pre-2004 in the case of any dismissals which are genuinely for redundancy where fairness will again be governed by the principles established by case law.

The Consequences

By way of general guidance on procedure, a redundancy dismissal will normally be unfair unless the business: