Getting closure

You do not state how many people are affected by your decision to close the branch. If it is 20 or more, you must consult for a period of at least 30 days. If it is 100 or more, you must consult for at least 90 days. Even where the number is below 20, you may have contractual terms that require you to consult with representatives in a particular manner.

Even if none of these issues apply, you still need to consult properly, if you are to avoid losing at tribunal. The purpose of consultation is to seek ideas to save jobs. You need to announce the redundancy situation as soon as possible in a written statement, setting out what the problem is, why it has arisen, and what attempts have been made to resolve the issue so far.

Make your position clear with regards to volunteers, and seek the ideas of the staff as to how the jobs and the branch could be saved. If no ideas are forthcoming, then you move to the second stage, which is the selection of those to be made redundant. Clearly, if you are closing the branch in its entirety, there is the simplicity that all of them are going.

However, you are required to look for any vacancies you might have elsewhere and make the employees aware of them. They may not necessarily want to go to another site. A suitable alternative would be described as work of a similar kind, hours, status, pay and location. If someone turned down one of those suitable alternatives, they would lose their right to a redundancy payment.

You have to consider all factors in determining whether the alternative is suitable. If the alternative is not suitable, the employee would retain their right to a redundancy payment. They would also have the right to try the new job for up to four weeks and still retain their right to redundancy payment, if things do not work out.

You cannot compel somebody to work at another branch - unless you have a contractual right requiring them to do so. Even then, you have no way of forcing them to. It would therefore make sense to attempt to persuade the people that the requirement to move is essential. You may have to offer inducements to make the offer more appealing to them.

You have to be extremely careful during the selection process, in determining which individuals you wish to retain. The selection must not be based on any form of bias. The situation is somewhat complex in its nature - it is advisable to take professional advice as soon as possible.