In current times there is a real fear and necessity of redundancy. When this unpleasant occurrence happens, how can you ensure you adhere to regulations? More than, how can you handle the situation with honesty and sensitivity? This article discusses some of the dos and don'ts of redundancy.

There are regulations on making a person and legally these must adhered to. The first step is to find exactly what the requirements are and make sure that you protect yourself and the staff. As a manager you must look carefully at your staff and make redundancies for the right reason. Unfair dismissal is a very real problem and can have serious consequences. One example is making a pregnant woman redundant because they are pregnant. This can be classed as unfair and lead to justifiable tribunal action. The regulations on making people redundant changes depending on the amount of people of made redundant at one time. The best thing a manager can do is find out exactly what these rules are.

Redundancy is always a horrible action to take for the company, the colleagues left employed as well as those made redundant. As well as adhering to regulations, the situation must be handled sensitively on all sides. The first thing a manager is must do is to be completely honest to the staff. When making a redundancy, do not attempt to wiggle out of anything or brush staff off. Talk frankly and honestly and with sincerity and regret. Do not lie to employees as it is disrespectful.

Always talk in person to the employee who is being made redundant. Years ago when my father was made redundant the company left a letter on each employee desk because they didn't want to face employees. This method was more than shocking to the staff and cowardly on the part of the managers. All this did was make them feel that the decision was taken easily and regardless of their feelings and hard work up until that point.

Do not expect loyalty to your company once you make the decision to make a redundancy and do not expect anyone to do you any favours. Do not be surprised if they stop working hard as previous since they are unlikely to kill themselves for you in the future. If they are working any kind of notice period then they will not be particularly bothered about what they expect of you. After all their attitude may well be 'what are you going to do fire me?' and to be fair they have a point. It may be worth making their notice period as short as possible regardless of the payment since a disgruntled employee can cause more harm than good and this is a judgment call on each case. I knew someone who worked for a company for seven years. When he was made redundant his manager called him into the office and asked if he would mind not staying the notice period of his three months. The employee laughed in his face.

It is sometimes hard for managers to look a person in the eye since they feel uncomfortable and awkward about the redundancy. Always have the guts to look a person in the eye. Remember that your personal feelings do not matter and the situation is far more difficult and terrifying for the employee rather than you. After all you get to walk into the office day after day with a job. This is an opportunity to use your management skills to make an unpleasant situation as easy as possible for the employee rather than making them feel worse and that you really do not care about the hardships they may now face. Do not attempt to make excuses saying they will get another job etc. since you do not know that for sure and comes across as uncaring.

Do not be surprised when an employee pleads or questions his situation. Common initial thoughts such as how will I pay the mortgage or feed my family will be foremost in their mind. If an employee is working a notice period then give them a chance to begin looking for a new position as well as updating their CV. They may need time off to go to job interviews and you should manage this as best you can to help the employee. Be aware that no matter how sensitive you handle it, a person may be shocked and upset and in fear for themselves or their family. Consider as well the feeling of other employees. They will left low morale as well as fear themselves as sadness at the loss of their fellow colleagues. Talk to them frankly about the situation and allow them to express their feelings.