Employers must deal fairly with staff at risk of redundancy

The usual procedures may need to be revisited in these strange times, says

To be treated fairly is often all that any of us can ask for, particularly in some of life’s most challenging situations.

But when it comes to issues surrounding potential redundancies, it’s not just morally right for us to ensure that everyone is treated fairly – it’s a legal necessity.

Over the past five months, employers have generally proved themselves to be fair when dealing with the different circumstances in which employees have found themselves, whether those circumstances have been due to positive cases of Covid-19, shielding or the demands of balancing work with home learning for children.

The focus on fairness, however, may soon step up a level – fuelled, in a number of ways, by the furlough factor.

None of us can have avoided hearing the predictions that many companies will find themselves in a situation where they are bringing forward proposals for redundancies when the Westminster government’s Coro - na virus Job Retention( furlough) Scheme comes to an end next month.

And no-one should lose sight of the fact that fairness and transparency are the principles which effectively underpin any redundancy process.

Yet the question of how to ensure fairness if you have affected staff who are on or who have had a period of furlough leave adds a new dimension to this and is something that I would urge all companies in this position to carefully consider – and seek advice