During redundancy and restructuring processes, special care should be taken by employers to ensure that the outcomes of these processes do not disproportionately affect staff with protected characteristics.
Reps should make sure that equality is considered at every stage of the process and challenge potentially discriminatory proposals and processes.
Scrutinising selection criteria
Selection criteria should be objective, transparent and fairly applied. Reps should challenge criteria that rely heavily on subjective judgements such as ‘attitude’, ‘flexibility’ or ‘adaptability’ which could lead to discriminatory outcomes. Examples of potentially discriminatory criteria include attendance records without adjustment for disability-related absence, assumptions about flexibility, or criteria that disadvantage part-time workers.
Reps should scrutinise scoring systems, request access to scoring guidance and seek anonymised workforce data to identify possible patterns of bias or unequal treatment.
Further guidance is available on the NEU website (see Resources).
Using equality impact assessments
Equality impact assessments (EIAs) can help identify whether restructuring proposals are likely to have a disproportionate impact on particular groups of staff. They should be completed while proposals are still being developed and before final decisions are made.
Reps should request any equality impact information produced by the employer and assess whether it properly considers the workforce impact. This information can provide valuable evidence that can be used to challenge the employer’s proposals.
Protecting vulnerable groups
Some workers may be particularly vulnerable during restructuring and redundancy exercises.
This can include part-time workers, those on fixed-term contracts, disabled staff and employees who are pregnant or taking family leave.
Reps should scrutinise proposals carefully to ensure these groups are not disadvantaged by selection criteria, redeployment arrangements or assumptions about working patterns and availability. Attention should be given to proposals that remove part-time roles, restrict flexible working arrangements or fail to consider reasonable adjustments.
Employees who are pregnant or on maternity, adoption or shared parental leave have specific legal protections in redundancy situations.
Reps should check that employers are meeting their legal obligations and encourage affected members to seek advice as early as possible.
Challenging discriminatory outcomes
Equality issues should be approached collectively. Where proposals appear to have a disproportionate impact on particular groups of staff, workplace groups should raise these concerns collectively
Evidence gathered through workplace meetings, surveys, member discussions and data requests can help identify patterns and collectively challenge potentially discriminatory processes.