The role has changed or disappeared
This may be a genuine redundancy even if some duties remain and are shared between other people. Focus on the business's need for the role, then check the selection pool, consultation and available alternatives.
Ending employment · UK business guide
Ending Employment: Dismissal and Redundancy in Great Britain
Thinking about ending someone's employment? Start here. Work out whether you're dealing with redundancy, misconduct, poor performance, ill health or another dismissal route, and what to do next.
Jurisdiction: England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland has separate employment legislation.
Start here
- 01
Work out why employment may end
Is the role disappearing, is there a performance or health issue, or has something happened? The answer determines the process.
- 02
Follow the right process
Gather the facts, explain the issue, listen to the employee and consider alternatives before making a final decision.
- 03
Finish the exit properly
Check notice, holiday, redundancy pay, final documents and the employee's right to appeal.
The first decision
Do not choose the process until you know the reason
Most employers land here knowing an employment relationship may need to end, but not yet sure what to call it. Is the role no longer needed? Is the employee struggling to meet the job's requirements? Has there been misconduct? Is ill health affecting their work? That first distinction matters because each route needs different evidence, conversations and documents.
This guide helps employers in England, Wales and Scotland make that first decision, understand what a fair process involves and avoid common mistakes before a dismissal or redundancy is confirmed. It also covers the practical end of the process: alternative roles, notice, holiday pay, redundancy pay and appeal rights. Northern Ireland has different legislation and qualifying rules, so check the local position before acting.
If the issue follows a business sale, outsourcing or a change of service provider, check whether TUPE applies before selecting employees, dismissing anyone or changing terms. The transfer itself cannot be the reason for dismissal. A genuine economic, technical or organisational reason involving workforce changes may allow a dismissal, but the usual fairness and redundancy rules still matter.
What to do next
From the first concern to the final decision
Start with the reason employment may end. Then use the section that fits your situation. Keep an open mind and a written record as you go.
- 01
First, be clear about why the job may end
Name the real problem before you pick a process. Each route needs different evidence, conversations and documents.
- Redundancy. The business has a reduced need for employees to carry out work of a particular kind, or no longer needs the role. It is not a way to deal with underperformance.
- Capability. Performance and skills issues usually sit here. Ill health can too, but it needs medical evidence and can raise separate disability duties.
- Conduct and other routes. Behaviour falls under conduct. Other routes may apply if continued employment would break the law or there is another substantial business reason.
- Check the facts. Describe the concern neutrally. Check the contract, the employee's actual role and what has happened so far.
A termination clause or willingness to pay notice does not make a weak reason or process fair. You are choosing the route, not deciding to dismiss.
What to check
- Can you explain the problem without assuming dismissal is the answer?
- Does the concern relate to the role, the employee's ability, their conduct or something else?
- Is there any link to disability, pregnancy, family leave, whistleblowing or another protected event?
- 02
Give the employee a fair chance to respond
A fair process is more than a meeting held after the decision is already made. The employee must be able to answer the case.
- Investigate first. Gather the facts, share the concern and relevant evidence, give the employee time to prepare and listen to their response before deciding.
- Consider alternatives. Ask whether there is a reasonable alternative to dismissal. Conduct and performance cases should follow the Acas Code where it applies.
- Gross misconduct. Even a gross misconduct allegation needs a fair investigation and hearing before dismissal without notice can be considered.
- Health and disability. Get appropriate medical evidence, speak with the employee and consider reasonable adjustments.
- Separate the roles. Where practical, use different people to investigate, decide the outcome and hear any appeal.
What to check
- Have you gathered the facts from records and the people involved?
- Does the employee understand the concern and have the information needed to answer it?
- Have you genuinely considered their explanation, any mitigation and reasonable alternatives?
- 03
If the role is disappearing, run a real redundancy process
Consult while the proposal can still change. A redundancy decided in advance is rarely a fair one.
- Consult early. Explain the business reason, listen to ways the business could avoid or reduce redundancies and look for suitable alternative roles.
- Fair selection. If more than one employee does similar work, define a sensible selection pool and use objective criteria you can support with evidence.
- Protected absences. Exclude disability-related, pregnancy and maternity absence from attendance scoring. Never select someone because they exercised protected family-leave rights.
- 20 or more roles. Proposing 20 or more dismissals at one establishment within 90 days means collectively consulting the appropriate representatives and notifying the Redundancy Payments Service.
- Timing and penalties. Collective consultation must begin in good time: at least 30 days before the first dismissal, or 45 days where 100 or more dismissals are proposed. A tribunal can award up to 180 days' pay per affected employee.
These are the current establishment-based rules. A further organisation-wide trigger is scheduled for 2027, but its threshold and start date have not been set. Check the current position before a multi-site exercise.
What to check
- Can the business reason, proposed pool and each selection score be explained with evidence?
- Have employees had a real opportunity to question the proposal and suggest alternatives?
- Do collective consultation, representative elections and HR1 notification apply?
- 04
Close the process carefully
Check the alternatives one last time before confirming the outcome, then get the payments and paperwork right.
- Alternatives first. Ask whether another role, an adjustment, more support or a lesser sanction could solve the problem before confirming dismissal.
- Priority rights. In a redundancy, look for suitable vacancies. Priority rights apply during protected periods for pregnancy, maternity, adoption, shared parental leave, neonatal care leave and bereaved partner's paternity leave.
- Trial periods. An employee who accepts alternative work normally has a four-week statutory trial. It can be extended for training by written agreement made before the trial starts.
- Final pay. Work out statutory or contractual notice, wages, accrued holiday, contractual commission or bonus, benefits, expenses and any statutory or enhanced redundancy pay as separate items.
- Outcome letter. Explain the reason, termination date, payments, return of property, continuing obligations and the appeal route.
A settlement agreement must be voluntary and the employee needs qualifying independent advice for it to validly waive claims. It is not a shortcut around a fair process.
What to check
- Have you recorded the alternatives considered and why they would or would not work?
- Have notice, wages, holiday, benefits and redundancy pay been checked separately?
- Does the outcome letter explain the decision, payments, final date and right to appeal?
Which situation are you dealing with?
The same concern can lead to very different legal routes
Start with the situation that looks most like yours. It will point you towards the right process and the detailed guidance below.
The employee is not meeting expectations
This is usually a capability issue, not redundancy. Make sure expectations are clear, discuss the gap, provide reasonable support and time to improve, and follow a fair performance process.
There has been a serious allegation
Protect people and evidence where necessary, but do not jump straight to dismissal. Use suspension only where it is reasonable and usually on full pay. Investigate first and give the employee a fair hearing before deciding whether misconduct happened and how serious it was.
Ill health is affecting the role
This may become a capability process, but dismissal should be a last resort after appropriate medical evidence, consultation and consideration of reasonable adjustments or alternative work. Disability discrimination risks can arise regardless of service.
Guides for each route
Go deeper once you know what kind of issue this is
These guides take you through dismissal, misconduct, ill health and redundancy in more detail. Use the official sources to confirm the current rules before acting.
Fair and unfair dismissal for employersCompare potentially fair reasons for dismissal with the procedure an employer should follow before making a final decision.Gross misconduct employer checklistOrganise the immediate response, investigation, hearing and decision after a serious misconduct allegation.Examples of serious misconductSee how potentially serious conduct differs from the evidence and context needed to assess a real case.Long-term sick leave dismissalsWork through health evidence, reasonable adjustments and capability issues before considering dismissal.How redundancy works for employersFollow the employer process from the business rationale and consultation through to the final redundancy decision.Calculate statutory redundancy payCalculate statutory redundancy pay using the employee's service, age and the applicable weekly pay limit.TUPE when a company changes handsCheck whether employees may transfer to another employer during a sale, outsourcing or service change.
Primary sources
- Employment Rights Act 1996
Read the primary legislation for dismissal, redundancy, notice and other employment rights in Great Britain.
- GOV.UK fair dismissals
Government guidance confirming potentially fair reasons and the basic employer dismissal process.
- Acas disciplinary and grievance Code
The official Code for planning conduct or capability procedures and assessing procedural fairness.
- Acas redundancy consultation guidance
Official guidance on individual and collective consultation while redundancy proposals remain open to change.
- Acas alternative employment guidance
Official guidance covering vacancies, priority rights, offers and statutory trial periods during redundancy.
- Employment rights implementation timetable
Check this timetable before relying on future-dated reforms, including the planned qualifying-period change from 1 January 2027.
Source links checked 2 August 2026. Confirm the current rule before acting.
Before you act
Questions employers often ask us
The answer can change with the employee's service, circumstances and employment documents, so treat these as a starting point.
How do we know whether this is redundancy or poor performance?
Ask what has changed. If the business has a reduced need for employees to carry out work of a particular kind, redundancy may apply. If the role still exists but the employee is not meeting reasonable standards, the issue is more likely to be capability or conduct. The evidence and process should match the real reason, not the outcome the business would prefer.
Can we dismiss someone with less than two years' service?
An employee's length of service is only one part of the risk. For dismissals taking effect before 1 January 2027, ordinary unfair dismissal protection in Great Britain normally requires two years' service. Discrimination claims, many automatically unfair dismissal claims and wrongful dismissal claims do not require two years. The published timetable reduces the ordinary qualifying period to six months for dismissals from 1 January 2027, so check the current law before acting. Northern Ireland currently has a separate one-year threshold.
Can gross misconduct mean immediate dismissal?
Gross misconduct may justify dismissal without notice, but it does not justify dismissal without a fair process. Investigate the allegation, hold a hearing, consider the employee's response and apply your disciplinary rules consistently before deciding.
Do we need redundancy consultation if fewer than 20 roles are affected?
The statutory collective consultation timetable will not normally apply, but meaningful individual consultation is still important. Explain the proposal and any selection method, listen to the employee's response and consider alternatives before making a final decision.
Must we offer another job?
You should search for suitable vacancies and offer suitable alternative employment where it is available. Some employees who are pregnant or within protected periods connected with maternity, adoption, shared parental, neonatal care or bereaved partner's paternity leave have priority for suitable vacancies. An accepted alternative role will normally have a four-week statutory trial period.
What should final pay include?
Check wages, statutory or contractual notice or a valid payment in lieu, accrued holiday, contractual commission or bonus, benefits, expenses and any statutory or enhanced redundancy pay as separate items. Statutory redundancy pay normally requires two years' service. The contract, policies and payroll records may change the calculation.
Want a lawyer to check the route?
Get the process or documents right before you act
Tell us what is happening and how far the process has progressed. We can help you identify the right route, test the risks and prepare the documents you need.
Redundancy adviceBest for testing a proposed redundancy route, consultation plan, selection approach and legal risk.View fixed-fee serviceRedundancy document suiteBest for businesses that need coordinated consultation, selection and outcome documents for a redundancy process.View fixed-fee serviceEmployee termination documents suiteSuitable when the reason and process are settled and the employer needs clear documents to complete the termination.View fixed-fee serviceStaff handbookBuild consistent disciplinary, capability, absence and workplace procedures before a problem arises.View fixed-fee service
This guide gives general information, not legal advice. The right process depends on why employment may end, the employee's circumstances and service, the employment documents and the steps already taken.
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