Redundancy consultation: what actually happens, and how to handle yours

This January, a poster on Mumsnet's Work board described being told her role was going while the rest of her team moved to another manager, and admitted she'd never been through anything like it before. Another, on the Overclockers UK careers forum, described being put at risk one day and into a 30 day redundancy consultation the next, with poor communication and almost nothing to go on.

If that's roughly where you are, this guide is for you. Not the employer's version of the process, and not a legal textbook. What a redundancy consultation actually involves, what the people who've been through one wish they'd known, and what you can genuinely influence while it's running.

What a redundancy consultation is (and what it isn't)

A redundancy consultation is the formal period where your employer must explain why your role is at risk, consider ways to avoid or reduce redundancies, and listen to your questions and suggestions before any final decision is made. Acas is clear that consultation must be genuine and meaningful: your employer has to explain the reasons, consider alternatives, and properly respond to what you raise.

What it isn't: a guarantee you're leaving. Being "at risk of redundancy" means your role is in a pool being considered, not that you personally have been dismissed. On Mumsnet, "At risk of redundancy, does this always mean you'll go?" is a whole thread precisely because the answer is no: plenty of people are put at risk, sometimes more than once, and stay.

It also isn't a redundancy notice. Dismissal can only be confirmed after the consultation has run its course. If your employer presented the outcome as final on day one, that's worth challenging, and worth writing down.

How long does a redundancy consultation period last?

The redundancy consultation period depends on how many redundancies are proposed at your workplace:

• Fewer than 20 redundancies: no fixed legal minimum, but the consultation still has to be fair and meaningful. In practice that usually means at least a week or two.
• 20 to 99 redundancies within 90 days: at least 30 days of collective consultation before the first dismissal takes effect.
• 100 or more redundancies within 90 days: at least 45 days.

Those minimums come from gov.uk's redundancy consultation guidance. For larger rounds, your employer must also consult with elected employee representatives or a union, not just with you individually.

One thing worth knowing: you're expected to keep working normally through the consultation and any notice period. Frustrating as that is, walking out early can put your redundancy pay at risk.

"They've already decided." Is the consultation a done deal?

This is the fear that dominates every forum thread on the subject. On the Overclockers thread, the most upvoted reply said it plainly: expect a box ticking exercise, because they've likely already decided who's going. A poster who went through redundancy in 2020 agreed, describing meetings that just repeated the original announcement, and a selection scoring document he was only allowed to see over screen share.

That cynicism is earned in a lot of workplaces, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest. But it's not the whole picture. On the Mumsnet thread above, one reply described successfully overturning a redundancy decision twice at two different companies, without any legal background, by writing up an alternative proposal: showing the new structure was under-resourced, that roles had been mapped against out-of-date job descriptions, and that a version of the plan had been tried before and failed. In her first company the challenge saved several colleagues' jobs as well as her own.

The honest summary: you can't force a business to keep a role it has decided to cut, but consultations do get things wrong in ways you can challenge. Selection pools drawn too narrowly. Scoring criteria applied inconsistently. Alternatives never seriously costed. The people who shift the outcome are almost always the ones who put a specific, written counter-proposal on the table rather than a general objection.

What to ask in your redundancy consultation meetings

You're allowed to ask questions, and the answers shape whether the process is fair. These are the redundancy consultation questions worth putting in writing, drawn from what people who've been through it consistently recommend:

1. Why is my role at risk, specifically? The business reason should be concrete, not boilerplate.
2. What is the selection pool, and who is in it? If someone else does substantially the same job, they should normally be in the pool too. Pools of one are sometimes legitimate, but they deserve scrutiny.
3. What are the selection criteria, and can I see my scores? Ask for the scoring matrix and your own assessment in writing, before the meeting where it's discussed. One forum poster was only shown his scores via screen share in the meeting itself; don't accept that.
4. What alternatives have been considered? Redeployment, reduced hours, retraining, vacancy freezes elsewhere in the business.
5. What support is on offer if I do leave? Enhanced redundancy terms, and whether the company provides outplacement support to help you into your next role.

Two practical rules sit underneath all of these. Get every answer in writing, even if that just means a follow-up email summarising what was said. And you're entitled to be accompanied at consultation meetings, so take a colleague or union rep who can take notes while you think.

Can they offer me a different job instead? The alternative employment trap

A common worry, and the subject of a MoneySavingExpert forum thread from someone in their second consultation in a few years: if your employer offers you a different role and you turn it down, do you lose your redundancy pay?

The rule, per gov.uk, is that you can lose statutory redundancy pay if you unreasonably refuse suitable alternative employment. Both words carry weight. Suitability depends on how similar the role is to yours: pay, status, hours, location, and how the work compares. Whether refusal is reasonable depends on your personal circumstances, including health, family commitments and travel.

In the MoneySavingExpert case, the "alternative" split one team role into two bigger regional jobs, with more travel, an interview process to get one, and no extra pay. A role that different is unlikely to be "suitable" in the legal sense, and refusing it is unlikely to be unreasonable. You also have the right to a four week trial period in any alternative role: if you tell your employer during the trial that it isn't working out, your statutory redundancy pay is protected.

The money, briefly

If you're made redundant on or after 6 April 2026 with at least two years' service, statutory redundancy pay is calculated on your age and length of service, with weekly pay capped at £751 and the overall maximum at £22,530, per gov.uk. Redundancy payments up to £30,000 are tax free. Many employers pay more than the statutory minimum, which is one more reason to ask about terms early rather than at the end.

While you're under notice of redundancy you're also entitled to reasonable paid time off to look for work or attend interviews, once you have two years' service.

Start the search during the consultation, not after it

The advice that comes up in every thread, from people who kept their jobs as well as people who lost them: get your CV ready now, whatever happens. Even posters who survived their consultation described the aftermath as more work spread across fewer people, and the nagging question of when the next round comes. One wrote that he was putting off home improvements because the next round felt like it could arrive at any time.

The backdrop makes an early start matter more. According to the Office for National Statistics' June 2026 labour market overview, UK job vacancies fell to 707,000 in the three months to May 2026, the lowest level since early 2021, with unemployment at 4.9% (ONS, 18 June 2026). Fewer openings means more applicants per role, which rewards the people who start early with sharp, tailored applications rather than late with rushed ones.

A consultation period is, oddly, a protected window: you're still being paid, you have a legal right to time off for interviews, and you know the risk is real. The people who use those weeks tend to leave on their own terms. As one Overclockers poster put it after volunteering for redundancy with an offer already in hand: make the decision on your own terms.

Where Hireable fits

This is the work Hireable exists to do. While the consultation runs, Hireable builds and tailors your CV for each role, finds openings that actually fit, rehearses your interviews with honest feedback, and applies alongside you, so if the outcome goes against you, your search is already moving. Get seen, get heard, get hired: people who work with Hireable average 46 days from sign-up to offer.

And if your employer is running this process, the single most useful thing they can offer people leaving is proper, individual outplacement support rather than a template and a goodbye.

One poster summed up the strange dread of the whole process better than any guide could: "the thought of having to try and justify your own job doesn't sit well" (Overclockers UK forum). You didn't choose this process. But between the first at-risk letter and the final decision there's more room to act than most people use. Ask the questions, get the answers in writing, put your counter-proposal forward, and start the search before you need it.

Frequently asked questions

Does being at risk of redundancy mean I will definitely lose my job?

No. "At risk" means your role is in a pool being considered for redundancy, not that a decision has been made. The consultation must happen before any final decision, and people do come through consultations with their jobs, either because fewer roles were cut than proposed, because volunteers came forward, or because they successfully challenged the selection.

How long does a redundancy consultation period last?

There's no fixed minimum where fewer than 20 redundancies are proposed, though the process must still be fair and meaningful. It's at least 30 days where 20 to 99 redundancies are proposed within 90 days at one establishment, and at least 45 days for 100 or more.

Can I refuse a different job my employer offers and still get redundancy pay?

Yes, if the role isn't suitable or your refusal is reasonable given your circumstances. You only risk losing statutory redundancy pay if you unreasonably refuse suitable alternative employment, and you're entitled to a four week trial period in any alternative role before deciding.

What should I ask in a redundancy consultation meeting?

Ask why your role specifically is at risk, what the selection pool is, what the selection criteria are and how you scored, what alternatives to redundancy have been considered, and what support (including outplacement) is on offer. Ask for everything in writing, and take a colleague or union rep with you.