Genuine redundancy: consultation, redeployment and documentation risks

A documented business case — operational drivers, options considered, financial position — is the foundation for everything that follows.

The business case should be capable of being explained to affected employees in plain language. A case that cannot be explained tends not to survive consultation or later scrutiny intact.

Consultation should occur at the right point, with the right people, in a way that allows feedback to genuinely influence decisions.

Consultation that is announced rather than entered into — where the decision is already settled and the conversation is about implementation — is a recurring source of dispute. Genuine consultation requires the conversation to be capable of changing the outcome.

Redeployment assessment should be evidenced — roles considered, criteria for suitability, outcome for each affected employee — not assumed.

Suitable-alternative analysis should also consider modified arrangements: part-time, hybrid, location flexibility, role restructure. Limiting the analysis to direct replacement is rarely sufficient.

Role design and workforce alternatives should be considered before final decisions, with the reasoning captured for each option.

Workforce alternatives may include voluntary arrangements, deferred timing, partial workforce reductions or transitional support. Where alternatives are considered and not adopted, the reasoning should be recorded.

Communication should follow a planned sequence and be calibrated to the seriousness of the message.

Sequencing should ensure affected employees hear directly before others. Where this sequencing is not protected, trust in the organisation's handling of the program — and in subsequent change programs — is materially damaged.

Records should include the business case, consultation, redeployment assessment, role comparisons, meeting notes and the reasoning for final decisions.

A single coherent file supports both later assurance and learning for subsequent programs. Programs whose records are scattered across teams are more difficult to defend and harder to learn from.