News that British business expects still more redundancies in coming months brings no cheer anywhere. We may have suffered fewer cuts in 2009 than might have been expected but that is partly due to constructive initiatives by employers to keep people in work on shorter hours. It now seems likely that the public sector which has so far suffered fewer personnel cuts than the private sector will be shedding numbers.
Employees need to be firm in the face of proposals, whether from public or private sector employers, for staff reductions and be sure to take an active part in consultation from the earliest possible stage to ensure that the employer hears any suggestions to mitigate redundancies. Just making one’s presence felt might be the difference between being selected for redundancy or not. If your employer produces a compromise agreement to try to tempt you to accept better than basic terms that you may be entitled to under UK laws be critical yet realistic from the outset. There may be more available or it may be that if you resist the employer will keep you on. See “Compromise Agreements” on Services dropdown on home page.
