This Is What Happens When You're Facing Redundancy

The coronavirus pandemic has caused redundancies to rise at their fastest rate since the 2008 financial crisis – and as was the case back then, young people now are being disproportionately affected. 

According to think-tank the Resolution Foundation, a third of 18 to 24-year-olds have already lost jobs or been furloughed this year, with more to come. This is because the industries hit hardest by the pandemic – like hospitality, retail, tourism and the arts – all have younger workforces than other industries which have fared better.

So: what happens if your job is at risk? 

Redundancy is an uncomfortable experience, but there are clear rules on what could and should happen. To help shine some light into the gloomy pit of employment advice, here’s what to expect if you are facing redundancy, with advice from experts and people who have been through the process already. 

The redundancy process varies, depending on whether you’ve been in your job for more than two years or less.

If you’ve been in your job for more than two years, your employer will need to follow a formal redundancy process. This starts with informing you that your job is at risk, then a consultation period where your employer should meet with you to discuss your redundancy and what options are available. 

Olivia McGregor, a 21-year-old from Glasgow, was recently made redundant from her job as a bar supervisor. Before it was confirmed, she had to go through the consultation process. 

“The meetings were two hours long and were quite frustrating at times, as we tried to find alternatives to our redundancy, but nothing really worked for all parties,” she says. “During the process I felt quite deflated, as I truly loved my job.” 

Employers are meant to approach the process with an open mind and, during the consultation period, you’re able to make suggestions to help avoid redundancies, like reducing your amount of hours or arguing that your role is still needed. “Don’t be afraid to ask questions you previously wouldn’t,” Olivia adds.

Your company can’t select people for redundancy based on irrelevant information, like your ethnicity or whether you have kids, and you can bring a union rep or an employee representative into your consultation meetings to help make sure everything is fair. Just because the pandemic means your meeting is on Zoom, doesn’t mean you can’t exercise your rights!

If your employer doesn’t follow the above steps, or you think you were chosen for redundancy on unfair grounds, you can make a claim to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal. It’s free to do this, though there’s a small chance you’ll have to pay your employer’s court costs if you lose. Don’t be put off, though, this eventuality is rare if you do things properly. Talk to a lawyer and go through the process step by step.

“I would recommend keeping a good record of events, discussions and communications from your employer,” says employment lawyer Sarah Hexter. “Confirm any decisions in writing where possible. Seek legal advice as soon as possible, as the timescales for taking action are very short.” 

If you’ve been in your job for less than two years, your employer does not need to follow the same consultation process, but they do still need to be making you redundant for a fair reason. 

If you’ve worked for your employer for two years or more, you have the legal right to statutory redundancy pay. After working for two years, you get half a week's pay for each full year worked if you're under 22, or a week's pay for each full year worked if you're between 22 and 41. So: not a lot. 

But you do also get paid for any unspent holiday and a bit of money for your notice period, which you may or may not have to work. 

Yes, but each company is different. Tara – a 22-year-old from Kent, who worked in events for 18 months until she was let go earlier this month – received a month’s notice pay, which is more than the legal minimum for the amount of time she had been in her job.

For Olivia, it was the statutory amount: just a week’s worth of redundancy pay, plus a two-week notice payment. “I did some work over furlough for them, so I’d gained some holiday pay also, but in the grand scheme it’s really not a lot,” she says.

You still have all the same rights, even if you’ve been furloughed on the government’s job retention scheme – and any time you have spent on furlough still counts towards your entitlement to statutory redundancy pay. 

Cameron Hitchcock, a 21-year-old from Dorset, was made redundant twice by the same events company this year. He was given the boot for the first time back in March, as the events industry tanked, but his employer agreed to take him back and stick him on the furlough scheme once it was announced. 

By getting onto furlough, Cameron reached two years in his job, meaning he qualified for a redundancy payout. Not that it mattered too much, as the statutory minimum sucks if you’re in your early twenties.

“To receive one week’s pay of already shit pay is not great,” he says. “At my age, there’s not many people who have been working two-plus years to qualify for it. And once you qualify for it, really, you are still being forgotten about. Nobody’s asking, ‘Are the 21-year-olds OK?’ during this.” 

The jobs market is looking bleak for the foreseeable, and economists are warning that a million more of us could lose our jobs by the end of the year. It might be a small consolation, but if you are facing redundancy at the moment, you’re definitely not alone. “I think, going through it, it’s important to remember other people are going through the same,” says Olivia.

Cameron reckons the best way to deal with losing your job is to find new stuff to focus on. For him, this meant spending more time on his art and photography: “It's very easy to get defeated and listless, especially as things all feel so bleak these days, and it's important to keep hold of a goal and try to keep moving forward.”

It’s sound advice – you can’t rely on the UK government to be much use to you once you’re out of work. A recent quiz released by the Department of Education – launched to inspire new job ideas – suggested, among others, careers in professional boxing, modelling and colon hydrotherapy. Decent work if you can get it.   

“The thought of starting from scratch in a new job, or even a new sector, is very daunting and makes me feel quite nervous,” says Olivia. Tara says she’s feeling apprehensive, too, as she encounters the dual hell of starting a universal credit application alongside looking for a new job. 

With coronavirus cases growing and the prospect of never-ending lockdowns, maybe it’d be weird not to be anxious or pessimistic about the future. But Cameron, who has landed a new job in digital events, is feeling altogether less apocalyptic. 

“The end of your job shouldn't have to feel like the end of your life,” he says. “yet so many of our work-life balances are so poor it can often feel like it.”

@HaydenVernon