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An At Risk of Redundancy Letter is used to formally and considerately explain to an employee that their job may be at risk due to redundancy. At Risk of Redundancy Letters help employers ensure that proper procedure is followed when making redundancies, in compliance with the law. For more information, read Redundancy.
This document is GDPR compliant.
Use this At Risk of Redundancy Letter:
if you are planning to make one or more (but less than 20) employees redundant
after you’ve informed staff about potential redundancies via a meeting
as an early step in the redundancy process when multiple people are at risk of redundancy (eg because you are making multiple people redundant or you are selecting someone for redundancy from a pool)
You do not need to use this Letter if you are just making one employee redundant when the employee is in a unique role and there is no element of selection.
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Dear ,
Following today's meeting, I regret that I am writing to inform you that as a result of , we are considering our business premises at , .
As a result, I'm sorry to tell you that it is proposed that
I should stress that this is only a proposal and no final decision will be made until the matter has been discussed fully with you and you have had the opportunity to make representations on your situation. In addition, will continue to try to identify ways in which your redundancy can be avoided and throughout the redundancy process will continue to try to identify suitable alternative employment within
I am sorry to have to address this letter to you and I appreciate that this news will have a serious impact. If you have any questions or comments about the situation or the process that is being followed then please address these to the .
We treat personal data collected during the redundancy process in accordance with our data protection policy. Information about how your data is used and the basis for processing your data is provided in our employee privacy notice and other policies.
Yours sincerely,
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This At Risk of Redundancy Letter template covers:
the business reason for the proposed redundancy
the nature of the redundancy
the fact that the recipient of the letter is at risk of redundancy
redundancy pooling (if relevant)
selection criteria (if relevant)
an invitation for the employee to comment on the selection process
confirmation that individual consultation will occur
confirmation that alternatives to redundancy will be sought and considered
inviting volunteers for redundancy (if relevant)
Informing employees that they are at risk of being made redundant is an important step in the redundancy process. Doing so shows that an employer is following a fair, consistent, and legally compliant redundancy procedure and that they are concerned about employee welfare.
At Risk of Redundancy Letters also ensure that employees are aware of a redundancy situation at an early stage of the process and give them the chance to explore alternative options before being made redundant.
For more information on the redundancy process, read Redundancy, Redundancy pooling and selection, and How to make someone redundant in a small business.
This Letter cannot be used to communicate a final decision on redundancy. As such, after it’s sent, alternative employment solutions can and should still be looked for throughout the whole redundancy process. For example, you may be able to reduce some workers’ hours or reallocate staff instead of making redundancies.
Once employees have been informed that they’re at risk of being made redundant, the redundancy process should continue. For example, you should make sure that employees have information about your redundancy process, identify your selection criteria, evaluate staff for redundancy, and hold individual consultations with employees.
Exactly what constitutes a fair procedure when carrying out redundancies depends on the unique facts and circumstances of an employer and a redundancy situation, but it’s essential that a fair procedure is always followed. For more information, read How to make someone redundant in a small business and Redundancy pooling and selection.
Making your At Risk of Redundancy Letter online is simple. Just answer a few questions and Rocket Lawyer will build your document for you. When you have all the information about your processes prepared in advance, creating your document is a quick and easy process.
You’ll need the following information:
The employer and the employee
What is the employer’s name, address, and legal structure? If it’s a company:
What is its company number?
Is it part of a group of companies?
Who is the employer’s signatory, if it’s a company or a partnership? This is the person who will sign the Letter on the company’s or partnership’s behalf.
What is the address of the employer’s business premises being affected by redundancy (if this is different from its usual address)?
What is the job title of the person who employees should contact with questions or concerns about redundancy?
What are the name, address, and job title of the employee at risk of redundancy?
Reasons for redundancy
Why is the employer considering making redundancies? You must have a valid reason. For example, a change to the structure of the business.
Does the redundancy involve closing one of the business’ premises or reducing the number of employees in certain roles?
The role and selection processes
Is the role that’s being considered for redundancy going to:
Stop existing?
Be modified or merged with another role? If so, which role will replace the employee’s current role? Will a selection process be involved for the new role? If so, will candidates be selected from other roles as well as the relevant employee’s?
Be performed by fewer people? If so, how many people currently perform the role and how many will in future? Will candidates for redundancy be selected from the other roles as well as the employee’s role?
Or, is it based at premises that are going to close?
If you’re considering employees from multiple roles for redundancy, which roles are being considered?
If you’re using a selection process for redundancy:
What are the selection criteria?
What’s the deadline by which employees should give feedback on the redundancy process?
Will a group meeting be held to discuss the redundancy process and criteria? If so, when?
Voluntary redundancy
Will the employer invite employees to apply for voluntary redundancy? If so:
Will this invitation be limited to certain categories or departments of staff?
What is the deadline for voluntary redundancy applications?
The At Risk of Redundancy Letter
On which date will the Letter be sent?
Will the Letter be printed on headed paper?
At Risk of Redundancy Letters communicate information about a redundancy process to an employee who is at risk of redundancy. To do this, this At Risk of Redundancy Letter template includes the following terms and sections:
The parties and addresses
The Letter has a traditional letter structure, addressed from the employer to an employee. It starts by setting out the names and addresses of both and the date of the Letter.
Re: Possible redundancies at…
The body of the Letter starts by identifying the subject of the Letter as the potential redundancies to be made in the business (ie the employer).
Following today’s meeting…
The Letter progresses by setting out the reason why redundancies are being considered. It references a meeting, in recognition that a meeting should generally be held to collectively inform staff about the possibility of redundancy before formal communications (ie letters) are sent.
As a result, I am sorry to tell you…
This section of the Letter identifies how the redundancy situation relates to the employee’s distinct role. For example, their role may cease to exist or fewer people may be required to perform it in future.
We will need to select between…
If a selection process will be involved in the redundancies (this is usually required unless, for example, only one individual is at risk), details about it will be set out here. These details include:
which roles make up the selection pool
the selection criteria to be used
whether a group meeting will be held to discuss the situation and, if so, when
At this stage, in order to try to avoid or reduce the need for mandatory redundancies…
If the employer is inviting employees to apply for voluntary redundancy, this invitation will be set out here. The invitation notes that the employer’s decision will still be final and that anybody selected for voluntary redundancy will receive an enhanced redundancy payment.
I should stress that this is only a proposal…
This section emphasises that, at this stage of the redundancy process, decisions have not been made and the employee’s input during the redundancy process can be important. It’s also highlighted that the employer will continue seeking alternatives to redundancy throughout the process.
We treat personal data collected…
This final section highlights the employer’s commitment to complying with data protection law when handling employees’ personal data, in general and throughout the redundancy process. The employee is signposted to relevant policies and similar, for example, the Employee privacy notice.
Yours sincerely…
The Letter ends with spaces for the employer to sign and date.
If you want your At Risk of Redundancy Letter to include further or more detailed provisions, you can edit your document. However, if you do this, you may want a lawyer to review the document for you (or to make the changes for you) to make sure that your modified At Risk of Redundancy Letter complies with all relevant laws. Use Rocket Lawyer’s Ask a lawyer service for assistance.
Always follow a fair redundancy procedure
Redundancy law is complicated and can be tricky to comply with. It can be particularly difficult to determine exactly what constitutes a fair redundancy procedure for a particular situation (eg it may differ based on how many people are being made redundant and why). It’s vital to always follow a fair procedure, else an employer risks their redundancies constituting unfair dismissal, for which employees may make legal claims against them.
For more information on fair procedure, read Redundancy, Redundancy pooling and selection, and How to make someone redundant in a small business. You can use our Redundancy advice service if you need help working out what constitutes fair procedure for your situation.
Follow the statutory consultation obligations if necessary
Employers are legally required to follow a more defined procedure when making redundancies in certain circumstances, primarily by carrying out a ‘collective redundancy consultation’. This is necessary when an employer intends to make 20 or more employees redundant within any 90-day period. It may also be required as part of a fair procedure if a collective agreement with a recognised trade union or a works council agreement is in place. The statutory consultation obligations include requirements that, in addition to upholding regular redundancy rights, employers:
consult with appropriate representatives (eg trade union representatives)
provide certain information to appropriate representatives, and
notify the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) of the redundancies
For more information, read the Government’s guidance. If you need to follow the collective consultation rules to carry out redundancies, you can use our Redundancy advice service for help.
Understand when to seek advice from a lawyer
In some circumstances, it’s good practice to Ask a lawyer for advice to ensure that you’re complying with the law and that you are well protected from risks. You should consider asking for advice if:
a woman on maternity leave is being made redundant
you need to make redundancies following the collective consultation rules
your employees who are at risk of redundancy are based outside of England, Wales and Scotland
You can also use our Redundancy advice service if you’d like guidance and support during the redundancy process.
