The Office for National Statistics put UK redundancies at 113,000 in its latest three-month estimate, a rate of 3.8 per 1,000 employees [1]. Where 20 or more of those dismissals are proposed at one establishment within 90 days, the employer must consult collectively for at least 30 days, or 45 days once the proposal reaches 100 employees [2] [3].
Getting the consultation period wrong has become far more expensive. Since 6 April 2026, an employment tribunal can order a protective award of up to 180 days' pay for each affected employee, double the previous 90-day ceiling [4] [5]. The award is calculated per head, so a failure on a large programme can cost more than the redundancy payments themselves.
This guide sets out when collective and individual consultation apply, how the 30 and 45 day clocks run, what must be disclosed in writing, how employee representatives are elected, how the HR1 notification works, and how a protective award and the wider redundancy package are processed through payroll.
Key takeaways
- Collective consultation applies when 20 or more redundancies are proposed at one establishment within 90 days: at least 30 days for 20 to 99, at least 45 days for 100 or more.
- Consultation must begin in good time and before the first dismissal takes effect, with a view to reaching agreement on avoiding, reducing and mitigating dismissals.
- The maximum protective award doubled from 90 to 180 days' pay per employee for dismissals taking effect on or after 6 April 2026.
- Form HR1 must reach the Redundancy Payments Service 30 or 45 days before the first dismissal, and failing to notify is a criminal offence.
- Below 20 redundancies there is no statutory minimum period, but fair individual consultation remains essential to a fair dismissal.
- A protective award is earnings for Class 1 National Insurance, while its income tax treatment depends on when it is paid.
When the redundancy consultation period applies
The duty to consult is triggered by a proposal, not by a decision. Section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 requires an employer "proposing to dismiss as redundant" 20 or more employees at one establishment within 90 days or less to consult the appropriate representatives [3].
Collective consultation thresholds
The minimum period depends on how many dismissals are proposed. The table below sets out the statutory minimums before the first dismissal can take effect.
| Proposed redundancies at one establishment within 90 days | Minimum consultation before first dismissal | HR1 deadline before first dismissal |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 19 | No statutory minimum | Not required |
| 20 to 99 | 30 days | 30 days |
| 100 or more | 45 days | 45 days |
There is no maximum length, and consultation does not have to end in agreement [11]. Acas notes that an employer must also consult collectively where a workplace policy or collective agreement requires it, even below the statutory trigger [4].
What counts as an establishment
The threshold is measured site by site. The GOV.UK guidance on the HR1 form defines an establishment as the site where an employee is assigned to work, and an employer operating from several sites treats each separately for notification and consultation [8]. Where redundancies span more than one establishment, section 188(4) requires the employer to give totals across the business and details of each site [3].
The establishment test is due to be supplemented by an organisation-wide trigger. The government's implementation timeline lists a collective redundancy organisation-wide threshold for April 2027, subject to parliamentary process [7]. Section 188 already refers to a new threshold provision inserted by the Employment Rights Act 2025, which is being brought into force in stages [3].
Counting the 90-day window
The 90 days run across proposals, so an employer cannot avoid the duty by splitting one programme into several smaller rounds. Employees already covered by an earlier HR1 notice are not counted again towards the totals [9]. Acas frames the trigger simply: an employer proposing 20 or more redundancies within a 90-day period must consult collectively [10].
How the 30 and 45 day periods run
The statutory minimum is a floor rather than a target. Consultation must begin "in good time", and in any event at least 30 or 45 days before the first dismissal takes effect [3].
Starting the clock
The clock starts when genuine consultation with representatives begins, not when an internal decision is taken. The HR1 form will not accept a consultation start date in the future, which reinforces that the notification follows the real start of consultation [8]. Where no representatives exist, the time needed to run an election comes before the consultation clock, so employers that delay elections compress their own timetable [12].
Notice of dismissal and the consultation period
Notice of dismissal can be served during the consultation period, provided the dismissal itself does not take effect before the minimum period ends. Section 193 requires the HR1 notification to be given before any termination notice is issued for 100 or more redundancies [9]. Individual notice then runs on top: statutory notice rises from 1 week to a maximum of 12 weeks with service, and the employer pays normally through it or pays in lieu where the contract allows [24]. The companion guide to the statutory notice period explains how that notice is calculated and paid.
A worked timeline helps. An employer proposing 60 redundancies that starts consultation on 1 March cannot let any dismissal take effect until 31 March at the earliest, 30 days later, and its HR1 must be submitted at least 30 days before that first dismissal [2] [8].
What collective consultation must cover
The statute sets both the purpose of consultation and the information that must be put on the table. Both are tested by a tribunal if a complaint is made.
The three statutory purposes
Section 188(2) requires consultation about ways of avoiding the dismissals, reducing the number of employees to be dismissed, and mitigating the consequences, and it must be undertaken "with a view to reaching agreement" [3]. Acas adds that the employer does not have to accept suggestions, but must seriously consider any that could avoid or reduce redundancies [4].
GOV.UK lists practical measures that commonly feature in that discussion [14]:
- asking for volunteers for redundancy or early retirement;
- inviting flexible working requests;
- ending contractor, freelance and casual labour;
- limiting recruitment and cutting overtime;
- redeploying staff into vacancies elsewhere;
- short-time working or temporary lay-offs.
Voluntary redundancy must still be run through a fair and transparent process, and early retirement offers must be made across the workforce rather than to selected individuals [15].
The written disclosure under section 188(4)
The employer must disclose specific information in writing to the representatives. The table below maps each statutory item to its practical content.
| Section 188(4) item | What the employer provides |
|---|---|
| (a) Reasons | The business case for the proposals |
| (b) and (c) Numbers | Numbers and descriptions of employees affected, and the total employed in those roles |
| (d) Selection | The proposed method of selecting employees |
| (e) Process | How dismissals will be carried out and over what period |
| (f) Payments | How any non-statutory redundancy pay will be calculated |
| (g) to (i) Agency workers | Numbers of agency workers, where they work and what they do |
The method of calculating payments matters for payroll from the first day of consultation. Where an enhanced scheme is proposed, the payroll team needs the formula early enough to model costs and the tax position of each package [28]. For employers running payroll in-house, HMRC-recognised UK payroll software holds the service dates, ages and average weekly pay those formulas depend on.
Employee representatives and elections
Consultation is with appropriate representatives: a recognised trade union where one exists for the affected employees, otherwise existing elected representatives or newly elected ones [11].
Running a compliant election
Section 188A sets the conditions for a valid election. The employer must make the arrangements fair, decide the number of representatives and their constituencies, fix a term long enough to complete consultation, allow every affected employee to stand and vote, and secure a secret ballot with accurate counting so far as reasonably practicable [12]. The law does not set a fixed number of representatives, and Acas advises ensuring there are enough to represent everyone affected [10].
If affected employees fail to elect representatives within a reasonable time after the employer has invited them to do so, the employer gives the required information to each affected employee directly [11] [3].
What representatives do
Representatives gather employees' views, meet the employer, agree a collective response and report back on the outcome [10]. Each representative must receive a copy of the HR1 notification, and the declaration on the form asks the employer to confirm that copies have been given [8] [9].
Individual consultation
Collective consultation does not replace the individual process. Below 20 redundancies there are "no set rules", but GOV.UK describes full consultation as good practice, and in practice it underpins the fairness of each dismissal [2].
Meetings and the length of individual consultation
No statute fixes the length of individual consultation [4]. Acas recommends meeting each affected employee in private at least once, allowing phone meetings only where both agree and there is a clear need, and considering a request to bring a companion [10]. Individual consultation covers why the employee is at risk and the alternatives to redundancy [11].
Fair selection
Selection criteria are discussed during consultation and must be objective. GOV.UK lists skills, performance, attendance and disciplinary record as fair criteria, while length of service used alone is likely to amount to age discrimination [16]. Selecting someone because of pregnancy, family leave, representative activity, part-time or fixed-term status or a protected characteristic is automatically unfair [16] [29].
Suitable alternative employment and protected employees
The employer must look for suitable alternative work, and an employee offered a different role has a 4-week trial period, extendable in writing for retraining, without losing the right to redundancy pay [13] [17]. An employee who unreasonably refuses a suitable offer may lose statutory redundancy pay [17].
Employees who are pregnant or returning from maternity, adoption and some shared parental, neonatal care or bereaved partner's paternity leave have priority for suitable vacancies. Since 6 April 2024 that protection generally lasts 18 months, for pregnancy running to 18 months after the date of birth [18] [17].
The HR1 notification to the Redundancy Payments Service
Collective consultation runs in parallel with a separate duty to notify the government. Section 193 requires the employer to notify the Secretary of State, which in practice means submitting form HR1 online to the Redundancy Payments Service [9] [8].
Deadlines and content
The HR1 must be submitted at least 30 days before the first dismissal for 20 to 99 redundancies and at least 45 days before for 100 or more [2]. The notice identifies the representatives and states when consultation began [9]. A separate form is needed for each establishment with 20 or more proposed redundancies, and the confirmation email does not include a copy, so the employer should save the completed form before submitting it [8].
Penalties for failing to notify
The HR1 duty carries criminal liability. GOV.UK states that an employer can be fined an unlimited amount for failing to notify the Redundancy Payments Service [2], and the HR1 guidance confirms that failure without good cause may lead to prosecution of the company and its officers [8].
The protective award after 6 April 2026
The protective award is the main financial sanction for failing to consult. It is a tribunal order to pay remuneration for a "protected period" to employees dismissed or proposed to be dismissed [5].
How the award is set
The tribunal sets the protected period at what is "just and equitable", having regard to the seriousness of the employer's default, up to the statutory maximum [5]. The rate is a week's pay for each week of the protected period, and no award is due for any period in which the employee was still employed and paid under the contract or statutory notice rules [21]. Employees do not need 2 years' service to receive one [10].
The table below compares the rules before and after the Employment Rights Act 2025 changes.
| Feature | Previous rule | New rule | In force from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum protected period | 90 days | 180 days | Dismissals taking effect on or after 6 April 2026 |
| Time limit to present a claim | 3 months | 6 months | 1 October 2026 |
| Qualifying service | None | None | Unchanged |
As a worked example, an employee earning £600 a week whose employer failed to consult at all could be awarded 180 days, roughly 25.7 weeks, worth £15,428.57, against £7,714.29 under the old 90-day ceiling [5] [21]. Multiplied across 50 affected employees, the example reaches £771,428.57.
Transitional rules and the special circumstances defence
Regulation 5 of the commencement regulations states that the increase "does not apply in relation to dismissals taking effect before 6th April 2026" [6]. Where a programme straddled that date, the employer should take advice on which ceiling applies to each employee [4].
An employer can argue that special circumstances made full compliance not reasonably practicable, but the burden is on the employer to show both the circumstances and that it took all reasonably practicable steps [5]. The tribunal decides on the facts whether that burden has been met, and the special circumstances defence does not extend the minimum periods themselves [3].
Payroll during and after consultation
Consultation decisions flow straight into payroll, often across several pay periods. Each stage has its own treatment.
Time off and pay during notice
An employee under notice of redundancy with 2 years' continuous service has a statutory right to reasonable time off to look for work or arrange training [19]. Acas explains that pay for that time off is limited to 40% of a week's pay: in its example, an employee earning £500 a week who takes 5 days off is paid £200 [20].
The redundancy package
Statutory redundancy pay uses a week's pay capped at £751 for redundancies on or after 6 April 2026, giving a maximum statutory payment of £22,530 [25] [26]. Statutory and enhanced redundancy pay share a £30,000 tax-free allowance, above which tax and employer Class 1A National Insurance apply, while notice pay is taxed as earnings [28]. The guide to statutory redundancy pay works through the age-banded calculation. A separate guide explains whether redundancy pay is taxable once a package passes the threshold. Where notice is not worked, the guide to payment in lieu of notice covers the PENP formula.
Processing a protective award
A protective award has an unusual split treatment. For Class 1 National Insurance it is treated as earnings, so the gross amount enters the NICs calculation [22]. For income tax, HMRC treats it as not being earnings: it is a cash benefit taxed through PAYE where the employee is still employed or left in the same tax year, and a termination payment within the £30,000 rules where the dismissal fell in an earlier tax year [23].
Where the award is paid after the P45 has been issued, the employer uses code 0T on a week 1 or month 1 basis, reports it on the next Full Payment Submission with the original leaving date and the payment after leaving indicator, and does not issue a second P45 [27]. Accountants processing redundancies across several client schemes can keep these indicators consistent from a multi-client payroll dashboard. HR platforms that embed the leaver logic through a UK payroll API can apply the same rules inside their own product.
Conclusion
The redundancy consultation period is a sequence of linked clocks rather than a single deadline: elections, the 30 or 45 day minimum, the HR1 notice, individual notice and the time off rights that run inside it. Each depends on accurate data about how many people are affected, where they work, how long they have served and what they earn.
The financial stakes have moved sharply. A protective award ceiling of 180 days, a six-month window to claim and an organisation-wide trigger planned for April 2027 all point in one direction: consultation failures will be costlier and easier to bring. Employers that plan the timetable early, document every stage, and let payroll model the package before notices go out are best placed to restructure lawfully and predictably.
Frequently asked questions
Can redundancy consultation be shorter than 30 days?
Not where 20 or more redundancies are proposed at one establishment within 90 days. The first dismissal cannot take effect until at least 30 days after consultation began, or 45 days for 100 or more [3]. Consultation can end earlier in the sense that agreement is reached, but the dismissals still wait for the statutory minimum [2].
How long should individual redundancy consultation last?
There is no statutory minimum for individual consultation [4]. Acas recommends at least one private meeting with each affected employee, and many employers hold two or more so that the employee can respond to the proposal and to the selection scores [10]. The right length is the time needed for meaningful consultation.
How much is a protective award?
A protective award is a week's pay for each week of the protected period set by the tribunal [21]. For dismissals taking effect on or after 6 April 2026 the maximum protected period is 180 days, double the previous 90 days [6]. The tribunal reduces the period where the employer's failure was less serious.
Does an employer need to consult if fewer than 20 employees are at risk?
There is no collective consultation duty below 20 proposed redundancies at one establishment, and no HR1 is required [2]. Individual consultation is still expected, and a dismissal without it risks being found unfair once the employee has the qualifying service, a period the government plans to cut to 6 months from 1 January 2027 [7].
