Collective redundancy changes

Current rules

Currently, employers who propose to make 20 or more employees redundant within a period of 90 days or less from one business site (which is usually referred to as 'an establishment'), must consult with representatives of the affected employees (either with any trade union or employee representatives), and notify the government (by sending form HR1) about it.

This must be done 30 days before the first dismissal (if 20 to 99 dismissals are proposed) or 45 days before the first dismissal (if 100 or more dismissals are proposed).

Changes to the current rules

The following changes are set to happen:

The number of redundancies triggering collectively consultations

The new rules have been made to stop employers with different business sites making large numbers of employees redundant without being required to undertake collective consultations.

The new requirement to start collective consultations (and notify the government) will be triggered if an employer proposes to make redundant, within a period of 90 days or less:

• 20 or more employees from one business site.
• At least a 'threshold number of employees' from across the whole business (and not just at one business site).

If the trigger is met, collective consultations must begin at least 30 days before the first dismissal takes effect, or 45 days before the first dismissal if 100 or more redundancies are proposed.

A consultation about how the threshold number of employees should be calculated ended on 21 May 2026. In it, the government proposed 2 methods for setting the threshold and stated its preferred approach is to set a single fixed number within the range of 250 to 1,000 proposed redundancies. It also intends to produce a Code of Practice on the new collective redundancy obligations.

The government has yet to announce its decision.

Consulting with appropriate representatives

Employers will not be required to consult different groups of representatives together and won't need to consult with the view of reaching the same agreement with all the representatives.

New information requirements if proposed redundancies will not be from one business site

If the employees at risk of redundancy are not all based at one site, employers must inform the appropriate representatives (in writing) of the total number of employees being proposed for dismissal and details of the locations where they're employed.

Increasing the period for collective consultations when proposing to dismiss 100 or more employees

Currently, consultations must continue for at least 45 days before the first dismissal takes place. The government wants to consult on increasing this to 90 days.