What Makes a Redundancy Legally Valid?
A redundancy is not just a business decision. It is a legal process with defined obligations on the employer at every stage. Failing to follow that process — even if the underlying business reason for the redundancy is genuine — can make the dismissal unfair and open the employer to an employment tribunal claim.
The legal requirements cover eight areas. Here is what each one means.
Employees with two or more years’ continuous service in Great Britain have the right to request a written statement of reasons for their dismissal within three months. If your employer refused to provide one, or provided reasons that do not hold up, that is a procedural concern.
Consultation must be meaningful and must take place before the final redundancy decision is made. A meeting that announces a decision already taken is not consultation — it is notification. There is no fixed minimum number of individual meetings, but a genuine consultation process involves real dialogue: hearing your views, considering alternatives, and giving you the opportunity to respond before the outcome is confirmed.
“My manager called me in and told me my role was being made redundant. There was one more meeting after that — but it was just to confirm what had already been decided. I assumed that was how it worked. I found out later it wasn’t.” — Reader, retail management sector, 6 years’ service
Where an employer proposes 20 or more redundancies at one establishment within a 90-day period, collective consultation with employee representatives must begin at least 30 days before the first dismissal. For 100 or more proposed redundancies, that minimum rises to 45 days. Failing to meet these timescales — or failing to consult collectively at all — can result in a protective award of up to 90 days’ gross pay per affected employee.
The criteria used to select employees for redundancy must be fair, objective, and applied consistently across the pool. Criteria that are vague, subjective, or disproportionately impact a protected group — such as part-time working status, pregnancy-related absence, or disability-related sickness — may be discriminatory. Last in, first out as a standalone criterion is no longer considered acceptable.
Before confirming a redundancy, employers are required to consider whether any suitable alternative vacancy exists — including within associated employers — and to offer it to at risk employees. Failing to consider alternatives, or failing to make an offer where a suitable role existed, is a procedural failure that can make the dismissal unfair.
Employees who are pregnant, on maternity leave, adoption leave, or qualifying shared parental leave, or who have recently returned from it, have significantly stronger protections. In Great Britain, eligible employees in these categories have priority for any suitable alternative vacancy — ahead of other employees — without the need for interview or competition. A redundancy that ignores this priority redeployment obligation may be automatically unfair.
If you had recently raised a formal grievance, made a protected disclosure, or blown the whistle before your role was placed at risk, the timing may raise serious concerns about the real reason for selection. A dismissal because of a protected disclosure can be automatically unfair regardless of length of service.
Selection for redundancy because of trade union membership, trade union activities, or participation in protected industrial action can be automatically unfair. If you held a trade union representative role at the time of selection, that context is worth examining closely.
What the Result Means
The legality checker produces one of three outcomes: no concerns identified, some concerns worth examining, or significant concerns that strongly warrant legal advice. A result showing concerns does not automatically mean your redundancy was unlawful — but it means the process has features that a tribunal would scrutinise, and that you should not accept the outcome without at minimum understanding your options.
Employment tribunal claims must be started within three months minus one day of the act you are complaining about. The clock is already running.
What to Do After You Get Your Result
Use the legality checker at myredundancyrights.co.uk/legality-checker to get your instant result Know your full rights before deciding on next steps — myredundancyrights.co.uk/my-rights Calculate what you are owed regardless of any legal challenge — myredundancyrights.co.uk/calculator If a settlement has been or is likely to be offered, read the negotiation guide before responding — myredundancyrights.co.uk/negotiate Get the Pro Letter Pack for ready-to-send formal challenge letters — myredundancyrights.co.uk/action-plan 👉 Check if your redundancy was legal: https://myredundancyrights.co.uk/legality-checker 👉 Know your rights: https://myredundancyrights.co.uk/my-rights 👉 Calculate what you’re owed: https://myredundancyrights.co.uk/calculator 👉 Negotiation guide: https://myredundancyrights.co.uk/negotiate 👉 Pro Letter Pack: https://myredundancyrights.co.uk/action-plan