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Employers planning redundancies should be on ‘red alert’ for falling foul of employment law.

The Confederation of British Industry recently predicted that 2m Britons will be unemployed by Christmas, with many of them coming from small businesses.

If you are a self certified small business owner who is looking to cut down their workforce, there are several things that must be bared in mind.

Martin Edwards, head of employment law at Mace & Jones says: “Employers can walk into a minefield of costly and time consuming problems if they mis-manage the redundancy process.”

The law firm reminds small business owners to plan their redundancies thoroughly, take advice and make sure the cuts are purely for the good of the company. At-risk employees need to be consulted; those who are staying need to be looked after and the small businessperson needs to make sure that they can afford all the redundancy packages.

Edwards adds: “The process needs to be properly planned and there must be full consultation in line with the statutory rules. This is a highly sensitive process with a lot of legislation to negotiate. It requires considerable preparation and expert legal advice.”

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