The Acas Podcast

With Christmas 2020 looking very different this year, we ask what managers can do to support their people at this time of year. Robbie Hurley is joined by Acas head of mental health and wellbeing, Francoise Woolley, and Acas workplace adviser, Susan Raftery, to uncover: 

• What’s unique about this time of year for our wellbeing
• Why leave, keeping in touch and (remote) Christmas parties matter
• What to do if you think senior managers will not support Christmas fun 

Episode Resources

Holiday, sickness and leave advice

Coronavirus and mental health advice

Webinar: Managing mental health (for managers)

Talk to an Acas adviser about your workplace challenge

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Transcript to follow

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Resilience - our ability to bounce back after (or during) difficulties - has a significant impact on how we work and how we feel at work. It's not something you either have or don't. For most of us, there are choices we can make, which will either strengthen or weaken our ability to cope during the coronavirus pandemic. Francoise Woolley, head of mental health and wellbeing at Acas, shares her insights into the small but powerful steps we can take to strengthen our resilience.

Episode notes 

Acas mental health resources for employers, line managers and everyone during the coronavirus pandemic 

Acas mental health advice

Acas training on supporting positive mental health in the workplace 

Acas webinar on mental health at work - current challenges 

Our experts can also help your team or organisation with tailored support

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Transcript available at www.acas.org.uk/podcast

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As a manager, keeping in touch with people working from home might seem like a simple thing - but it comes with challenges. Drawing on her experience in high-conflict situations, Acas deputy chief conciliator Marina Glasgow shares her techniques for holding effective and successful remote conversations. If you’re a manager wondering how you can prevent isolation, demotivation and disconnection, this is the episode for you. 

Episode resources

Acas advice on working from home

Acas podcast on employee voice 

We can work with you to provide tailored support and practical solutions to address challenges at your workplace. Find tailored support for your workplace. 

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Transcript available at www.acas.org.uk/podcast

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Whether or not you’re up to date with the language around neurodiversity, ADHD, autism, dyslexia and other terminology, most workplaces include people who think differently, and who might be part of a neurominority.

To help us demystify neurodiversity and get proactive, we’re joined by Dr Nancy Doyle, CEO and founder of Genius Within, Adrian Ward, Head of Disability Partnerships at the Business Disability Forum and Erin Fulton-McAlister, Acas workplace adviser. We look at: 

• What neurodiversity is 
• Why we need to pay attention to it 
• Creating a workplace that celebrates and capitalises on neurodiversity 

Episode resources 

Acas neurodiversity guidance

BDF & Genius Within Commissioning framework and how to commission guide

Contact an Acas adviser for a free advisory conversation

Related Acas podcast - disability

Organisations: 

Acas

Business Disability Forum 

Genius Within 

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Transcript available at www.acas.org.uk/podcast

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With the pandemic likely to have a disproportionate impact on disabled staff, we ask how workplaces and individuals can respond successfully. Joined by Jane Hatton, CEO and founder of Evenbreak, and Acas workplace adviser Caroline Sandy, we look at:

• What a good conversation around disability looks like 
• Common myths 
• How to ask for adjustments, especially when you think your workplace may not be supportive

Episode resources: 

Evenbreak

Access to work

Reasonable adjustments

Improving equality, diversity and inclusion in your workplace

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Transcript available at www.acas.org.uk/podcast

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What does a diverse business have that a less diverse one does not? How do organisations address race equality in the workplace, and sustain it to deliver long term benefits? In our latest podcast we address these issues, and more. This frank and open discussion draws on the insights and experiences of Susan Clews, Acas Chief Executive; Julie Dennis, Acas Head of Diversity and Inclusion; and Afifa Kiran, Co-Chair of the Acas Race Equality Network and Acas workplace adviser, with Nike Siffre asking the questions. We look at: 

• Why invest in change? What’s in it for organisations?
• Making change long term, rather than tokenistic
• How to handle uncomfortable conversations about race
• Tips for small businesses

Episode resources:

Webinar: Race inequalities in the workplace

Advice: Improving equality, diversity and inclusion in your workplace

Tailored support for your workplace:

We offer tailored support for workplaces wanting to improve their equality, diversity and inclusion. Call us on 0300 123 1150, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm or fill in our enquiry form.

For podcast and event updates sign up to our free email newsletter

Transcript available at www.acas.org.uk/podcast

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In this episode, we take a big-picture look at employee voice: why it matters now and what we need to do to strengthen it. As workplaces grapple with unprecedented change, what role should voice play in helping us to navigate the present and future challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic?

We’re joined by Neil Carberry, Chief Executive of the REC, Paul Nowak, Deputy General Secretary of the TUC and Gill Dix, Head of Policy at Acas to discuss:

-         What good voice really looks like

-         What mechanisms workplaces need to harness it

-         And what happens when they do - or don't

Episode resources:

Policy paper: Building back – making working lives better

Policy paper: Consultation – a voice lost in a crowd

Tailored support for your workplace:

We offer tailored support for workplaces facing specific challenges. Call us on 0300 123 1150, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm or fill in our enquiry form.

For podcast and event updates sign up to our free email newsletter

Transcript available at www.acas.org.uk/podcast

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With many employers looking at changing contracts as a way of avoiding redundancies, we ask Acas advisers Mark Makin and Helen Robinson how to do it well. We explore:

-         The best way to change employment contracts

-         Why consulting staff matters

-         How to do this well remotely

-         What your rights are as an employee

Episode Resources

https://www.acas.org.uk/changing-an-employment-contract

Transcript

Sarah Guthrie

Welcome to the Acas Podcast. We're talking today about changing an employment contract with Acas advisors, Helen Robinson and Mark Makin, and I'm Sarah Guthrie. This is topical at the moment because lots of employers are looking at changing contracts as an alternative to making people redundant. So employers are asking, how can we do that? And members of staff might be asking us, can my employer do this? So Helen, let's start off with employers. What's the best way of going about changing an employment contract?

Helen Robinson

There's a number of different ways that an employer can can consider changing somebody's contract or varying the terms and conditions. But I think the best way from an Acas perspective would be where possible to do so by agreement. If an employer speaks to a member of staff, and they are able to get their agreement to make a change to their terms and conditions, then ultimately that is going to be the best way for conducive working relationship moving forward.

Mark Makin

To echo what Helen said there, taking the workforce with you - informing, explaining consulting, discussing, providing feedback - that sets the tone for the relationship once the change comes into effect, because the trust and the goodwill will need to be there to take the organisation forward afterwards. And if we make changes without agreements, there's a big possibility that that trust and goodwill won't be there, which is going to create problems with itself.

Helen  

Building on that, I mean, what some employers are choosing to do is to see whether they can make these changes on a temporary basis because staff might be more willing or accepting to the changes there. And I've also spoken to an employer recently who has offered an incentives so the change that they were looking at making was a 10% pay cut and that was across the board 10% pay cut for all staff. That was a measure to look at avoiding redundancy. And what the employer said almost as an incentive was that if this didn't work, and if actually they did need to make any redundancies within the next 12 months, their redundancy pay and their notice pay would be calculated at their original wage so that the wage that was slightly higher, and so that that was something that went some way for for stuff agreeing to that change. 

Sarah  

Yeah, I can see why that would really help because we've heard stories of people who have agreed to a temporary pay cap with a perception that then they won't be made redundant and get made redundant and then also have their redundancies as calculated on their most recent pay, which is half of what they were being paid. So I guess it, it sounds like thinking through in detail how your staff will respond to the changes you're proposing both in the short term and the long term is really important here. Some people listening to this podcast might be thinking, Well, can employers change a contract? What are my rights? I wondered if you could give us an insight into that.

Helen  

If a member of staff agrees to a change, then absolutely a change can be made to that contract, whether it's on a temporary or a permanent basis. I think it's very, very important when we're looking at agreements and agreeing to a change that an employer is very open and honest about what this change is going to be. How long is it going to last for? Is it going to be permanent? Because employees need to have that information so that they can make an informed decision about whether they are happy to agree. But I also think it's equally if not more important for employers to be open about the reason behind the change. Because if they approach their staff and they speak about Okay - we will use the 10% pay cut as an example - we're looking at giving you a 10% pay cut, if that's all the information that staff have, then it's highly unlikely that they're going to be happy about that or agreed to it. Whereas if an employer approaches staff and says, Okay, look, we're looking at a 10% pay cut and the reasons are because x y z, people still may or may not be happy about it, but they might be more likely to respond to that say, Okay, yeah, I can understand the reasons why. And yes, I will accept that change.

Sarah  

So keeping very clear communication around the reason why and also how long it's likely to be for and what the long term consequences of that might be. And, Mark, what have you seen from employers about good practice in this area?

Mark  

I think it is the communication as early as possible, as open and transparent as possible. And it's two way. Feedback is given. I think that's something that is often missed in this type of process, where the employer may well go into this type of situation. And they will listen to what people have to say, but they don't provide the feedback. And the feedback may be that was a great idea. But we can't do it, because in some cases, it may be that's a great idea we haven't thought about. Let's discuss in some more detail how we might be able to implement that.

Helen  

Just remember that if you are looking at changing the contract of 20 or more people, there are additional consultation requirements on you, and that you would need to collectively consult. So that would mean either involving trade union representatives if you recognise a trade union, or giving staff the opportunity to appoint employee representatives to almost act as a go between and have conversations with employer and staff themselves.

Sarah  

And that two way communication is very different at the moment for most workplaces than what we would have encountered in the past. Do you have any insight into the challenges of doing this remotely and how people have been overcoming them?

Helen  

I think there are I should say that added challenges. And I think sometimes it's very important for employers to remember that actually, people have got other stuff going on at home. At the moment, yes, they may be working from home. But it might be that they need to schedule a specific time to have important conversations such as these when I don't know if they've not got children at home or the partner is able to look after children at that particular point or other caring responsibilities. So being very, very clear about what's going to be spoken about in a specific meeting or specific virtual meeting. But making sure that that person is in the right frame of mind with minimal distractions to have this conversation because it is an important conversation. Just because people are working remotely or we may have people furlough that we need to speak to, there still needs to be a good level of communication. And what I mean by that is not just an email chain, it's a conversation that would usually be had and it should be a conversation, have it as a conversation, whether it's a video call, whether it's a telephone conversation, not just an email to all and saying this is happening or we're proposing this how. Have a conversation.

Sarah  

So you mentioned Mark that one of the things people often miss is the two way feedback and the need for that. What other mistakes have you seen employers making? And why do you think those mistakes are being made? 

Mark  

There's sometimes an assumption that I've made this decision for the good of the business. So people will automatically accept that it's the right decision. So one of the mistakes that is often made is that that communication, early communication doesn't take place. A decision has already been made, and the employer presents it to the staff almost as a fait accompli, and then is shocked and surprised when they get objections to that, or when people have concerns about it. Or when there is a long list of questions about well, how will this impact me? What does this mean for me? When is it gonna happen? It's it's almost like the employer sometimes jumps the gun and makes the decisions for good reasons, but misses out that communication stage consultation stage.

Sarah  

One thing that's really struck me about doing this process well is that it can take quite a lot of time. And I wonder what you would say to somebody who's thinking, well, that all sounds great, I don't have time to do this.

Mark  

Ultimately, the decision is the employers. But the conversation that I would have with them would be centred around not just the legal risks that they might face if they get this wrong - so there might be breach of contract claims there might be constructive dismissal claims, there might be claims centred around the failure to consult properly if they are in a collective situation. But I'd also talk about some of the less obvious risks, the impact on your workforce, in terms of morale and motivation, the goodwill and that trust and confidence that needs to exist between the employer and the workforce in order for them to function properly.

Sarah  

And so what rights do you have as a member of staff who's going through this process? Perhaps there's been a proposed change, perhaps your employer has or hasn't handled it well? Could you just talk us through what rights you have?

Helen  

It's not an uncommon question from from an employee to say, Okay, well, you're talking about agreement to change, but actually, I don't want to agree to it for whatever reason, and it may be that an employer has done absolutely everything that Mark and I have spoken about. They've consulted they discussed, they've been very open about the the reason behind this change, but the change doesn't suit the member of staff and that is a real life situation. And I think in all circumstances, there's absolutely no obligation on a member of staff to agree to a change. But I do think it's, it's worth being aware that ultimately, if they don't agree to change, there are other options that are available to their employer. For example, if an employer feels that they've got absolutely no option, but to make this change, and their business may go under otherwise, for example, then they do have the option of actually ending the existing contracts by giving notice. And then re-engaging their staff at the end of that notice period on new contracts. What I would say is that it's not a risk free thing for an employer to do. It is still technically a dismissal, you dismissing somebody from their existing role, from their existing contract. And with that in mind, an individual would have the option, if they chose to, to appeal against the decision. They'd also potentially have the option of actually treating that notice as notice of dismissal. And if they felt it was unfair, and they weren't engaged in the new contract, they could potentially look at making a complaint to an employment tribunal around that. So it's not risk free for an employer. It's an option but it's not not a risk free one.

Mark  

As well as the agreement route to vary a contract, and the dismissal and reengagement route to varying contracts, some employers already have flexibility clauses built in to their contracts, which they can invoke. Just a word of caution around flexibility clauses: they do need to be well written, they need to be quite specific, and they need to be reasonable in order them for them to be to stand up and and be operative. And you usually find them around place of work, job role, job function, hours of work. Even if flexibility clauses already exist in a contract before invoking them, I think it's good practice for the employer to speak to staff and explain the circumstances such that they feel they need to invoke the clause. Here's the reason why I feel a need to involve the clause and here's the fine detail about about when and how and what it might mean for you. But then leave the door open for the staff to come back with questions, concerns and objections of other suggestions and ideas. There is another option, unilateral variation, which involves the employer simply making the change and imposing it on employees. But it is fraught with risk and it should be only used as a very, very last resort. It opens the door to legal challenges, it doesn't go down well with the workforce, it will damage goodwill, it will remove any discretionary behaviour that might have been the previous layer, and it just doesn't make for good employment relations as well as the the big legal risks that come along with imposing changes on your workforce.

Helen  

And I think if I if I just add to that, I did some work with an organisation last year - so we're talking pre COVID pre pandemic. And the employer had done exactly this, they had basically informed all of their workforce that as of next week, they were going from a five day to a four day working week, and the pay cut that that attracted as well. Now as Mark said, they lost a lot of goodwill from their staff with that, but what also happened was they lost within about the following month, four members of staff left and went working for another organisation. But what had actually happened, these four particular members of staff were quite specialist, so they had to be replaced. So there's all these then additional costs that the employers got of losing experienced, knowledgeable members of staff, and then having to go through recruitment again to replace them when they were already struggling with money, which is why this this going to four day working week had come in in the first place.

Mark  

And I can see in a situation like that Helen where, if the employer had spoken to people in advance, early, been open about the need to make the change, staff may well have agreed to that once they understood the full picture. 

Helen  

Absolutely, yeah. And I think at the end, the employer in his particular circumstance, had done exactly what we were talking about earlier. He'd fallen into one of those traps where they felt they had consulted because they themselves had thought about all these different measures or different ways and come up with the solution. But they'd done it on their own. They hadn't involve their staff during that thought process.

Sarah  

I'm just thinking of people who are listening to this and thinking my employer is not doing this well. They haven't consulted very well. They haven't listened to that feedback. What would you advise someone in that position about how they can help their whole workplace go through this process more smoothly? 

Helen  

I think in the first instance, and this would be true of any concern that any member of staff has within a workplace, we would be advising them to raise that and to raise that internally. I think it's very important for both employers and members of staff to see whether a situation can be resolved internally before they think. Okay, well, is there any sort of external complaints I could make? And part of the reason for that is something that Mark mentioned earlier on, it's about the fact that hopefully, a working relationship is going to continue. And the more that that can be resolved internally, and informally wherever possible, the more likely it is that that working relationship will continue and will continue to be positive. 

Sarah  

Thanks. That's been really helpful. I wondered if you could leave us with a key insight that you've had to during your work on this topic. 

Helen  

The key thing - and Mark and I have referenced this throughout our conversation today - is to communicate and to communicate as early as possible.

Mark  

And to keep communicating. I've seen situations, certainly in collective situations where there are laid down consultation periods that the employer must observe. But I've seen situations where we get to the end of that 30 days or 45 days, depending on the numbers, and the employer decides that's it job done, when it would have made so much more difference if they just kept that talk in that communication going for a few more days, because they were making progress. Things were developing yet, they'd come to the end of the statutory consultation period, and they felt that's it. That's the green light to move ahead now. So don't be bound by any limits. If things are moving ahead. If progress is being made, keep talking. 

Helen  

Absolutely. Yeah. 

Sarah  

It's a great thing to remember for all workplace relationships, not just varying a contract, changing your contract. And so thanks very much for your insight today.

Helen  

Thank you. 

Mark  

Okay.

Sarah  

You've been listening to the Acas podcast. You can find full details about what you need to know about changing an employment contract on our website at www.acas.org.uk Thanks for listening. 

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Acas adviser Chau Doan covers the main questions employees have been asking about redundancy and rights. We look at:

• What to do if you think you’ve been made redundant unfairly
• How to encourage your employer to look at alternatives to redundancy (if they aren’t already)
• Your rights around changing contracts
• Pay and notice periods

Plus why checking your contract, communicating early and following the process is so important. It's a huge topic and we couldn't cover everything - but watch this space for more content about redundancies involving large numbers of staff.

Episode links

Your rights and redundancy: https://www.acas.org.uk/your-rights-during-redundancy

Redundancy pay calculator: https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-redundancy-pay

Acas helpline: 0300 123 1100

Coping with redundancy: https://www.mind.org.uk/workplace/coronavirus-and-work/coping-with-redundancy/

Transcript

Sarah Guthrie 

Hello and welcome to The Acas podcast. I'm Sarah Guthrie, part of the communications team here at Acas and today, I'm joined by Chau Doan, who's part of our helpline team working incredibly hard at the moment to advise employers and employees on everything to do with the workplace. Today, we're looking at redundancy, what employees are particularly ringing us about the moment. We've seen calls on the helpline about redundancy go up by more than double. And I wonder Chau, if you could just start off by giving us an insight into what kind of questions you've been getting from employees around redundancy at the moment?

Chau Doan  

Hi, Sarah. So yes, we have been receiving a lot of calls regarding redundancy, especially now the news has just been announced that we're going through a recession at this moment in time. So we've been getting a lot of people actually worried about their job status. So they're concerned that whether if they're on furlough now, whether there's still a job for them to return back to. Or if they're going through consultation at this moment in time, what their rights are, or essentially if the employee has already given formal notice of the redundancy, what they can do to address that situation that they're in as well.

Sarah Guthrie  

Okay, so let's start off with that point you just mentioned there about what can you do if you've been given notice of redundancy but you feel like it's been unfair or you don't think the decision has been the right decision. What do you do about that as an employee?

Chau Doan  

So we would advise that if they have any concerns regarding their redundancy, or they believe that the redundancy was not genuine as such, then we would advise them to speak to the employer first to raise that concern to them. Now, it might be the case that if they have been given formal notice of the redundancy, the employer should also inform them how to appeal that decision as well. There might be certain instructions that the employer has to follow to go for that the appeals process to that but we normally advise that you should be best practice for the employer to allow the employees to appeal that decision if they disagree with their redundancy. If it's the case that the employer does accept the appeals process to that then they should then invite the employees to an appeal meeting to discuss that between them during that period of time and in essence that would be their opportunity to bring anything forward to the table that they're having concerns about. And they would normally have the right to be accompanied by another work colleague or Trade Representative in that appeal meeting between them and employer as well.

Sarah Guthrie  

Okay, so usually your employees should have let you know that if you disagree with a decision you can appeal and how to do it and even bring someone along to that. That sounds like quite a stressful, obviously, discussion for everybody involved, what advice would you have for employees who are in that position about how to conduct that appeal really well?

Chau Doan  

So again, the first thing we'd also advise them to do is check the contracts. So there's a clear process that both the employee and the employer has followed as part of the appeals process, check the guidelines to that as well. So in a way, both employees and the employers know what to expect in that meeting where they attend that meeting. And then also if they are a member of any trade unions as well, it might be advisable to get in contact with them as well to see if they can represent them in that meeting as well if they haven't consented either attending that meeting by themselves or if they wish to have another work colleague attend that meeting with them. Because it can be a stressful situation. And especially if you've just lost your job and you're trying to argue, to either try and get your job back or you disagree with the way that you've been essentially made redundant, then it might be beneficial to have someone there to support them as well in that meeting.

Sarah Guthrie  

So both for the emotional support, and I guess because you were just saying that the contract is almost the guide through this process, and you both should be following the contract and the process, policy, that your organisation sets out, that that can be really helpful as well for another person to hold those details and that structure in their heads almost. So after that meeting, your employer says either yes or no. If it's a no to the appeal and you still feel like there's some unfairness there, what could you do with that as an employee?

Chau Doan  

Then ultimately, if you believe that you've been unfairly dismissed by the employer, so technically a redundancy is also classed as dismissal from your job, then if you do have two year's length of service, you would have the right to be able to bring a claim against the employee for an unfair dismissal due to your length of service. We will still advise you, rather than treating that claim straightaway, if you can, go for that appeals process first and see what the outcome of that would be. But yes, if it's the case that you believe that you've been unfairly dismissed, due to either redundancy not being a genuine one as such, and you have that two years of service, you would have the right to pursue a claim to an employment tribunal. If you're considering doing that, you can call one of us on the helpline to help you potentially go through the steps that you can take if you should pursue that claim further.

Sarah Guthrie  

And in what kind of situations might a dismissal of any kind be unfair? Could you describe that for people who might be wondering, well, is this unfair or not? How do I tell?

Chau Doan  

In the case of any unfair dismissal, it would mean that they believe that in essence, they've been dismissed unfairly. So for example, if they believe that the employer is not followed through with a correct procedure first or they've been unfairly selected for redundancy, then as long as they have that two years length of service they can bring that claim. The other exception would be it's classed as an automatic unfair dismissal. So that would mean that normally the employer's essentially done something against their statutory rights. So for example, if they felt that they've been discriminated in any way as part of their redundancy. So if for example, you were pregnant, and you believe that you were only put forward for redundancy because of your pregnancy, then technically that would be classed as automatically unfair dismissal instead. So there's no length of service required for the employer essentially terminating your employment due to a statuory right.

Sarah Guthrie  

Okay. So if you're worried about a discrimination case, if you feel like perhaps you've been on furlough, you've been looking after children or you've about to go on maternity leave, and that might be why you're being made redundant, then actually, you don't need to have been in your job for two years to raise a concern about that. You're right to apply however long you've been in the job, is that right?

Chau Doan  

Yes, that's correct. So as part of the employment act of 2010, the nine protective characteristics that are protected against discrimination, where there's no length of service required to bring a claim to an employment tribunal for that. And if you believe that, you've been unfairly dismissed due to those reasons as part of your redundancy, then there's no length of service prior to being that claim. But we would still advise you to go through any appeals process first, or potentially raise that as a grievance to your employer, because ultimately, if you were to bring that claim to the employment tribunal at a later date, the courts or the judge might also ask you as well, have you tried to follow the correct procedures yourself? So the benefit of doing all of this first, if you still can, is that you're showing that you've tried to follow the procedures yourself. But also you tried to actually speak to your employer to try and resolve that issue before you brought that claim to the courts.

Sarah Guthrie  

So it sounds like following procedures and making sure that you've gone through the process and paid attention to the contract will help you at a later date, if it does escalate to court.

Chau Doan  

Yes, that's correct. So at least you can show that you've done everything correctly yourself. So regardless what your employer does, you're showing that you followed the procedures yourself as well.

Sarah Guthrie  

Thanks, Chau. That's really helpful. So moving on from that, I'm thinking about employees who might actually have some ideas in their heads of alternatives to redundancy. Their workplace might be considering making reduncies, but actually they've thought of alternatives to it - that might be changing contracts. What happens if you can see something as an employee, but your employer isn't considering any of those alternatives? How could you influence them in this process?

Chau Doan  

So speak to your employer, raise your concerns, and if there's something that you believe that they've either neglected or not taken account of, bring that forward to the employee, though, we do advise that if they can have that informal discussion first with the employer, if it's an idea that they think that we could bring to the table that could either help them with their jobs or keep their jobs, and it's something that could be rolled out throughout the company, then that would be their opportunity to do so.

Sarah Guthrie  

So be proactive, don't wait for them to come to you. And do you have any advice for employees about how they might broach that conversation and things that they should keep in mind as they do that?

Chau Doan  

Again, it can be a bit of a sensitive subject as well if you're discussing your employment, or you're having fears about that you might be losing your job. But until you have that conversation you might not know what the outcome of that would be. Yeah, sometimes you have to have a bit of confidence to do that. And if you're worried about it, then we advise you to try and speak to your employer. So you have a quiet conversation with them at the sidelines to say, well actually, there's an idea that I thought about that could keep my job or keep everyone's job as well. Are you willing to consider that? Every employee should take that in consideration and essentially come up with the ideas themselves. Or if it's the case that they cannot meet fully the considerations that the employees have suggested, then it might be the case that they could also try and negotiate with them as well come to compromise.

Sarah Guthrie  

So perhaps starting informally, to kind of sound out and suggest ideas rather than perhaps assuming that everything's done and dusted?

Chau Doan  

Yes and the reasons why we advise them to do that as well - to the employers - is ultimately if they don't, they might potentially cause some doubts within employees' minds to that. So I've actually spoken to people in the helpline before where they said, well, actually, we believe that the employee already had made a decision in their mind. Even though they're going through the process with us, they felt that they've actually already been decision. Though, again, by the employer not allowing to have that open discussion, it might be the case that they're already causing that tension beforehand. And then when it does come to the consultation stage, they've already built up that barrier between both parties. So if both parties can be open about it in the very beginning, it makes the process a lot easier and a lot smoother for everyone to go through.

Sarah Guthrie  

And speaking of consultation, what about if your employer is thinking of changing your contract, but they haven't consulted you? What would you do as an employee in that situation? That's another question that we've had.

Chau Doan  

So we would again, suggest to them to check their contracts of employment to see whether there's any clauses that allows the employer to do that. So for example, if there's a flexibility clause in there that allows them to make any changes to their contract as such, so for example, reducing their wages, reducing the hours or changing their job roles, then technically, if that clause is already in a contract, the employer could also reserve the right to make those changes. But at the same time, we would still advise it would be best practice for the employer to consult with the employees first before they make any changes to that. So again, we've talked about the communication aspect before, reasons why we advise that the employer communicates with them first is essentially, they explain to them why they're wishing to propose any changes to their contracts, and essentially, what effect it would have upon the employer as well. Because if they don't, then again, it's creating further tension between them and the employees. And it might be the case that they run the risk of potentially having a grievance against them in relation to that by them not consulting with the employees first. Now if there isn't one in there, and if the employer wishes to make any changes to that, we were still advise that they need to consult with employees first and get them to either agree to those changes as such. Or the other option is they could essentially just, unilaterally just make the change to that. But again, the risk of them doing that is ultimately if they were to dismiss any employees on any old contracts and then re engage in a brand new one is if the employer has been working with them for more than two years, they could also potentially pursue a claim against the employer for any unfair dismissal as a result of that as well. So the caveat that we warn to employers is if they do that, then they could also risk a claim to the courts as well.

Sarah Guthrie  

That's interesting, because that actually relates to another question that we've had through a lot, which is about the law around making someone redundant and then hiring someone else. You're talking there about hiring the same person back over contract. But thinking about one of the questions we've had is, my employer has made me redundant and then hired someone else. Is this legal?

Chau Doan  

So potentially it can be, so it's a bit of a slightly grey area and in terms of employment law for that. Now, as long as the employee can show that there's a necessity for them to hire on another person to that role as such, or potentially if they've lost that contract for that role, and they've lost essentially the employees to that but then they gained another contract, but they need to hire the new employees in relation to that, then, in essence, the employee could show that there is a need for the employment for them to do so. But it might be best practice that they offer that employment first back to the original employee that was made redundant rather than hiring any new persons on. Because if they don't, then technically, if the employee felt that they've been unfairly dismissed as a result of that, or they believe that the redundancy was not a genuine one as such, as we mentioned before, if they have that two years length of service, they would also have that right to claim any unfair dismissal against the employee for that reason as well.

Sarah Guthrie  

Thanks, Chau. And we've had quite a few questions around pay and notice periods. It's quite confusing, I think, especially at the moment when people have been on furlough and working different hours. How can people work out what they are entitled to in terms of pay and notice periods if they are made redundant?

Chau Doan  

So if they are being made redundant, then the employer would then have to serve them notice for their redundancy as well. Now, they might need to check their contracts again to see if there's any contractual notice that they're entitled to. But if there is no contractual notice, then they will be given statutory notice in. And the statutory notice would normally be for every year that they worked they're entitled to one week's notice, up to a maximum of 12 weeks.

Sarah Guthrie  

Chau, I wondered, because this is a really stressful time for everybody involved, whether you could give our listeners who might be facing redundancy, perhaps a kind of key thing to keep in their mind that will help them go through this process really smoothly, and kind of navigate these complexities that most people don't often face around employment law. What could they take away with them that will help them go through this really well?

Chau Doan  

So the first thing I would advise to everyone who's potentially at risk of redundancy now is check their contract. So I cannot reiterate the importance of that. Your contract should always tell you what you're entitled to as part of your redundnacy procedures, so it should include your redundancy pay and any notice that you're entitled to as well. Now, if you have any concerns about essentially what you're entitled to exactly in your redundancy package, there's a really good redundancy calculator they can use on the government website as well. But at the same time, we would also advise that if you have any concerns regarding your redundancy, so either whether your at risk of it or either going through any consultation period at this moment in time, or you're just suspecting that you might be at risk of redundancies, have that open and honest discussion with the employer. So sometimes it might be the case that you take the first step rather than waiting for your employer to do that for you. So at least you're being proactive. So things do come arise later down the line, at least you try to address those concerns. And essentially, you've allowed the employer to prepare for that situation between yourselves as well.

Sarah Guthrie  

Thanks, Chau. So be proactive, have the conversation. First, look at your contracts, know it inside out. And you can use tools like our helpline and redundancy pay calculator, where you need to know what the details are and to work out what the correct processes.

Chau Doan  

These are just the basic guidelines that we give, but if anyone does have any concerns regarding the redundancy that they might be going through, they can always call us on the helpline. So if they have a specific question that we've not covered today. They can speak to one of our advisors and a helpline as well.

Sarah Guthrie  

Thanks so much. Thanks for joining me.

Chau Doan  

Thank you.

Sarah Guthrie  

This has been The Acas Podcast. I've put links to the redundancy pay calculator Chau mentioned, plus our free helpline number in the session notes for this episode. We're really aware that this is a stressful process at any time, but particularly at the moment, so I've also put a link to a resource from Mind, the mental health charity, about how you can take care of yourself if you are facing redundancy. Please feel free to share with anyone who you think find this podcast useful and thanks for listening.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

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Acas advisers Maggie Steven and Faye Law talk through the key things to keep in mind when managing redundancies. We look at communicating well and why it matters, maintaining trust, how to support the wellbeing of all involved and ensuring it’s a fair process.

Episode links:

www.acas.org.uk/redundancy

The Acas Helpline: 0300 123 1100 

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Transcript available at www.acas.org.uk/podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.