PRINCIPLES

1.0        The principles upon which this policy is written, following consultation with recognised trade unions, are with a view to:

Following consultation with recognised trade unions the University reserves the right to amend this policy from time to time.

SCOPE

2.0        This policy is intended to be used in cases involving redundancy of staff employed on open ended contracts, and those on fixed term contracts of a full-time or fractional nature. It is recognised that the expiry of a fixed term contract may impose the same legal obligations as any other redundancy.

POLICY

3.0        It is the policy of the University to aim to provide, as far as possible, security of employment for all staff through strategic workforce planning. However, it is recognised that there will be changes in the external environment, reductions in funding, increased competitive conditions, organisational requirements, changes to course portfolios and other developments which may affect staffing needs. It is consequently recognised that in order to maintain a climate of security of employment, flexibility may be required from staff in adapting to new staffing requirements, working methods, and organisational needs. Consequently it is the agreed aim of the University and its recognised trade unions to prevent or mitigate the effect of situations which threaten job security, and that where such reductions are inevitable, to reduce and mitigate the impact of any redundancies as far as is reasonable and practical to do so.

3.1        It is the University's aim to avoid the use of compulsory redundancy wherever it is practicable to do so. In full consultation with its recognised trade unions, it will therefore seek to minimise the effect of compulsory redundancies.  This will include the provision of support to assist in finding alternative vacancies for staff whose roles have been identified as redundant. In cases where compulsory redundancy cannot be avoided the University will make every endeavour to manage the redundancy in a fair and consistent and sympathetic manner.

LEGAL SAFEGUARD

4.0        Nothing in this procedure shall reduce the entitlements of staff or the obligations of the University under the provisions of relevant legislation, should they be greater benefit than those stated in this procedure.

CONSULTATION

5.0        The University will consult with affected groups of staff and their recognised trade union representatives at the earliest practicable opportunity whenever there appears to be a situation which could lead to any redundancies of twenty staff or more over a period of ninety days or less. 

5.1        The University will consult with appropriate representatives as early as practicable.  Formal consultation will begin at least 30 days before the first dismissal takes effect if between 20 and 99 employees are to be made redundant (over a period of 90 days or less); and 90 days before the first dismissal takes effect if 100 or more employees are to be made redundant (over a period of 90 days or less). In such cases, the HR Department will submit Form HR1 to the Secretary of State for Employment, with a copy to the relevant regional and local trade union officers. These statutory requirements will be regarded as the minimum and the University will aim whenever possible to begin consultation more than 90 days before the first dismissal takes place in the case of redundancies of 100 staff or more.

5.2        The University will provide in writing to the recognised trade union representatives the following information concerning any proposed redundancies as part of the consultation process. This information will be provided where twenty or more redundancies are anticipated in any period of 90 days or less and before any dismissals take effect. 

• the reasons for the proposals (the business case); 
• the numbers and descriptions of the employees it is proposed to dismiss as redundant;
• the total number of employees of this description employed by the University; 
• an impact assessment for the area where redundancies are proposed;
• the way in which employees will be selected for redundancy;  
• how the dismissals will be carried out, and over what period; and
• the formula to be used for determining severance pay.

5.3        The University will give serious consideration to any practical proposals and representations put forward by the trade unions, and during the consultation period and will reply in writing, within the timescales specified for consultation.

5.4        All parties will ensure that the consultation between the University and recognised trade unions will be meaningful and will seek to reach agreement on ways to avoid or minimise the number of redundancies.

MEASURES TO AVOID OR MINIMISE REDUNDANCY

6.0        The University will seek to avoid or minimise redundancies wherever practicable to do so by means of such of the following measures as are deemed appropriate by the University in the particular circumstances:

• by undertaking strategic workforce planning
• by assessing the effect of normal staff turnover to make use of natural wastage
• by restricting recruitment of permanent staff  
• by limiting the engagement of temporary staff or agency staff
• by seeking volunteers for voluntary severance on a strategic basis 
• by filling vacancies from amongst existing employees by redeployment, transfer and/or retraining, where appropriate
• by eliminating as far as practicable overtime working     
• by investigating in consultation with the Unions, the use of alternative working arrangements and contracts, working practices, terms and conditions and contracts of employment; including part-time working, reduced hours, and job-sharing.

6.1        Trade unions accept the need to encourage staff to take advantage voluntarily of such initiatives as redeployment, retraining or transfer to prevent redundancy.

SELECTION FOR REDUNDANCY AND PROCESS OF DISMISSAL

7.0        In the event of a function, activity or course ceasing to operate or a unit closing down, then those staff directly affected would be identified as potentially at risk of redundancy.

7.1        Wherever possible the University will seek to apply voluntary means to achieve the required reductions in staff numbers or in costs. Volunteers will not be unreasonably refused, but the decision as to whether to accept volunteers and the selection from those who do volunteer shall be for the University alone. The University and the Trade Unions recognise that it is necessary to have a balance of skills and experience amongst staff to carry out its future commitments. Consequently in the event of circumstances where entirely voluntary means cannot be used, consistent, objective and non-discriminatory selection procedures will be adopted. The selection criteria used may vary according to circumstances, but may include for example such considerations as:

7.1.1     Qualifications, competencies, skills, and experience in relation to current and future the University's strategic and operational requirements .

7.1.2      Other objective criteria which may be used to provide a fair basis for selection on grounds of performance or merit [but see paragraph 7.2 below] . 

7.2       Redundancy will not be used to deal with cases of misconduct or poor performance, for which other procedures exist. However, where a genuine redundancy situation has already arisen, and there is a requirement to identify candidates for redundancy selectively from within a pool of employees, it is appropriate to consider overall work performance where this is demonstrable by reference to objective criteria.

7.3        Before any employee is issued with notice of dismissal, the University will act in accordance with the procedure stipulated in paragraphs 15.2.1 and 15.1.2 of the Schedule to the Instrument and Articles of Government of the University (as approved by the Privy Council in October 2010). In this section 7, the person afforded power to dismiss in accordance with the said paragraph 15.2.1 shall be referred to as the “dismissing manager”.  The dismissing manager shall be supported by a member of the University’s HR department in the conduct of the process described below. 

7.4        The employee who is at risk of dismissal shall be asked to attend a meeting at which his/her possible dismissal by reason of redundancy will be considered.  The employee will be given at least five working days notice of that meeting, and shall make every effort to attend the meeting.  The employee may be accompanied by a workplace colleague or trade union representative at the meeting. 

7.5        At least five days prior to the meeting, the employee will be sent such documentation as the dismissing manager considers is relevant to the determination of whether the employee should be dismissed.  If the employee wishes to submit further documentation, he/she must do so at least two working days prior to the meeting.  If the employee wishes to call such witnesses to the hearing, the names and details of the witness, along with a written statement as to the nature and relevance of their evidence, shall be sent to the dismissing manager at least three working days prior to the hearing.  The dismissing manager will then take a view as to whether he/she would benefit from hearing that witness, and whether his/her evidence is sufficiently relevant, and if they decide they would benefit then the witness will be called to give evidence.

7.6        The outcome of the meeting shall be communicated in writing to the employee as soon as reasonably practicable after the meeting.  If the decision is to dismiss the employee by reason of redundancy, the employee shall be told of his/her right to appeal that decision, and any appeal will be dealt with in accordance with section 8 below.

7.7        The role of the companion of the employee shall be (and shall be restricted) to put the employee’s case, sum up that case, and respond on the employee’s behalf to any view expressed at the hearing, and confer with the employee.

APPEALS

8.0        Any employee (referred to as “the appellant”) who has been issued with notice of termination of employment by reason of redundancy has the right of appeal against the decision. The period of notice should continue to run during such an appeal. The redundancy should not take effect until the internal Appeal process has been completed.

8.1        The appeal will be conducted in accordance with paragraph 15.2.3 of the Schedule to the Instrument and Articles of Government of the University (as approved by the Privy Council in October 2010). An appeal committee shall be constituted for this purpose by the Court of Governors: its decision shall be final.  A committee constituted for this purpose may include persons who are not members of the Court of Governors and, for the avoidance of doubt, such a committee may be comprised entirely of persons who are not members of the Court of Governors. The Vice-Chancellor or the Dismissing Manager involved in the decision to dismiss shall not be a member of the committee. In the case of an appeal against a decision to dismiss, the dismissal shall not take effect until the appeal has been determined.   

8.2        The appellant shall send his/her notice of appeal to the person specified in the notice of dismissal, within the timescale specified, setting out his/her grounds for appeal.  Save where otherwise provided in paragraph 8.3 below, the appeal will normally be conducted by way of a review of the decision to dismiss, as opposed to a rehearing.  That is, the appeal will involve a determination as to whether the decision to dismiss was one which a reasonable person could have made, on the basis of the evidence and arguments which were presented to that decision maker.  It will not involve a reconsideration of all of the issues in a case, or the presentation of new evidence or documents (save where provided in paragraph 8.3), or the submission of arguments which could have been but were not advanced previously.  Subject to this Policy, the Chair of the appeal committee has the discretion to make any decision on the conduct of the appeal, for example on calling witnesses, making adjournments etc. 

8.3        In the event that the appeal committee has proper reason to believe that there may have been a failure by the dismissing Manager who made the decision to dismiss to follow appropriate and fair procedures, the appeal may, at the discretion of the appeal committee be heard by way of a rehearing rather than simply a review.  Furthermore, the appeal committee may allow the appellant to submit new evidence and/or arguments, if but only they are satisfied that the appellant had no reasonable opportunity to present that evidence/arguments before the decision to dismiss was made.  It is envisaged that this will only be in exceptional circumstances. This will be decided by the Chair of the committee.

8.4        The appeal committee shall fix the date for the appeal hearing, and will expect the appellant to make all reasonable efforts to attend at the date stipulated.  If the selected companion of the appellant may have difficulty in attending the hearing on the date stipulated, the appellant shall inform the appeal committee (or the appointed secretary to the committee) of this, and the committee shall cause the University to take such steps as may be appropriate to release that companion from such other responsibilities as may be causing him/her to be in difficulty in attending the appeal on the stipulated date.  If this still fails to enable the companion to be available, the appellant may request a postponement of up to five days, but shall when doing so specify such times and dates in the following five days when both he/she and the companion is available, giving as many time slots as possible. The Chair of the appeal committee has the authority to decide if there are any exceptional circumstances that should be considered before he/she makes a decision to agree to a postponement of the hearing on the basis of the appellant’s unavailability; this is because the appellant will still be an employee of the University and subject to the University’s direction and control.

8.5        The appellant shall prepare and send to the secretary to the appeal committee, to reach him/her at least five working days prior to the appeal hearing, full written details of the basis for the appeal, the arguments in support of the appeal, and the preferred solution should the appeal be successful.  The appellant shall at the same time send such accompanying documents as he/she deems appropriate.  Save in exceptional circumstances, and where a good reason is provided by the appellant, the appellant will not be permitted, at the appeal hearing, to set out arguments or grounds for appeal which were not set out in the said written documentation or to submit further documentation which had not been provided beforehand.  The appeal hearing will be conducted such as to allow the appellant to develop orally his/her submissions, and to respond to queries which may be raised by the appeal committee.

8.6        The appeal committee will make its decision as soon as reasonably practicable after the appeal hearing, and will communicate that decision in writing to the appellant; their decision will be final.

REDEPLOYMENT

9.0        Once staff are identified as potentially redundant and have been served with notice of termination, the University will actively seek suitable alternative vacancies for them from across the University prior to their redundancy taking effect.  This will not apply where the individual is a volunteer for redundancy or declines the opportunity for redeployment. This consideration will take into account the individual's skills, competence, levels of responsibility and seniority, and career aspirations. The University will seek to offer a post of comparable status, terms and conditions where possible but this will be subject to vacancies which arise at that time. Consideration will be given to some reasonable retraining where practicable in order to facilitate with redeployment into alternative work. Offers of alternative work to employees under notice of redundancy will be made in writing, specifying any differences in terms and conditions which may result, the length of any trial period, and any other conditions. Efforts at redeployment will be much assisted by the active co-operation and involvement of the employee.

9.1        Except in the case of redundancies caused by the need to reduce salary costs, staff redeployed into a post one grade lower than the redundant post will be protected on a personal basis against loss of earnings for a period of twelve calendar months. These staff will not be eligible to any incremental increases during this period.

9.2.       Staff redeployed to a post more than one grade below will not have their pay protected on a personal basis but will be appointed at the top of the applicable new scale, or in the case of senior appointments to the median of the senior management grade. 

9.3        Staff who are transferred to another location will not receive assistance with relocation or travel expenses unless they are eligible to do so under an existing University policy.

9.4        Staff who that are redeployed to alternative jobs will be subject to a mutually agreed trial period. The length of this trial period will normally be at least four weeks and no more than twelve weeks, but will depend upon the nature of change of duties (and any retraining) involved. For example teaching staff would normally have a trial period of two terms (24 weeks), whereas for professional support staff three months would normally be sufficient. It is the joint responsibility of both the individual and the line manager to ensure that any identified training takes place.

9.5        Staff who elect not to accept the alternative job during or at the end of the trial period will still be entitled to receive their redundancy payments; however they will not be entitled to a further period of notice. This would also apply if the line manager was unable to confirm an employee in post following an agreed trial period. If the employee works beyond the agreed trial period the right to redundancy payments will be lost, as they would have been deemed to have accepted the new employment. 

9.6        A redundant employee who wishes to leave the University before the expected redundancy date but is under notice of redundancy will, subject to agreement by the University, be permitted to leave and to be paid their redundancy payment and the balance of their contractual notice period.

ASSISTANCE WITH JOB SEEKING

10.0      The University will grant employees who are under notice of redundancy reasonable time off with pay to seek alternative work subject to consultation in advance with the respective line manager.  Every effort will be made through the HR department to provide reasonable support and access to facilities, guidance through an outplacement programmes and to make reasonable recommendations and arrangements regarding suitable training.

SEVERANCE PAYMENTS

11.1      Severance payments will normally comprise the following elements, if and insofar as they are appropriate to the particular circumstances:

• a statutory redundancy payment;     
• payment in lieu of outstanding annual leave entitlement, if any; (although the University reserves the right to require an employee to take accrued leave during his/her notice period); and
• payment in lieu of any part of contractual notice which the employee is asked not to serve. The University reserves the right to require the employee to work for all or part of the notice period.

The University may on occasion elect to make payments additional to those referred to above.  Such payments made be made if the University so decides, after appropriate consultation with trade unions.   A decision by the University to make any such additional payments on one particular occasion does not require the University to make them on a subsequent occasion.

11.2       Any staff who are paid a severance payment on either a voluntary or compulsory basis that exceeds the statutory minimum payments required under legislation (and, where applicable, payment in lieu of contractual notice and accrued but unused holiday) will be required to sign a statutory compromise agreement as a condition of securing that enhanced severance payment.   

11.3       Employees who are made redundant (either on a voluntary or compulsory basis) will not be required to repay any relocation or training expenses normally recovered on termination. Any outstanding loans (e.g. season ticket) or University property must however be repaid/returned before termination takes effect.

12.0      RE- APPOINTMENT FOLLOWING REDUNDANCY

12.1      In the event that an employee leaves the University due to their post being made compulsorily redundant or their application for voluntary severance being accepted, and they subsequently apply and are offered a new post, the following conditions would apply to that offer:

12.2      If the new appointment was to commence within one month after the previous employment ended, then the offer of employment would be on the condition that the employee must reimburse the University in full for any redundancy and/or voluntary severance payments. The employee would would retain their continuous service.  The employee would not be required to reimburse the University for payment in lieu of notice or for any payment in respect of accrued but unused holiday pay.

12.3      If the new appointment was to commence within two to six months after their previous employment ended, they would have the choice between either (i) keeping the redundancy/severance payment and starting afresh with a new service start date, i.e. no continuous service (interim period treated as unpaid leave), or else (ii) reimbursing the University in full for any redundancy and/or voluntary severance payments, and retaining continuous service.  The employee would not be required to reimburse the University for payment in lieu of notice or for any payment in respect of accrued but unused holiday pay.

12.4      If the new appointment was to commence more than six months after their previous employment ended, they would retain the redundancy/severance payment.  They would not retain continuous service and would be considered to be a new employee. Any employee reappointed to the University after their post being made compulsorily redundant or the application for voluntary severance being accepted would be on the condition that they satisfied the usual recruitment and selection criteria.

13.        REVIEW

13.1      This Policy was reviewed in April 2011 after consultation with the trade unions. Any further changes made will be subject to prior consultation with the University's recognised trade union representatives.

13.2      This policy supersedes all previous agreements relating to redundancy in the University or its predecessor organisations.

Human Resources

Approved by Court of Governors on 9 May 2011