King Charles’ Staff Informed Jobs Are At Risk During Church Service For Queen

It was recently reported that up to 100 Clarence House staff have been told that their jobs are at risk as the offices of King Charles and the Queen Consort move to Buckingham Palace following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Employees at the King’s former official residence, some of whom have worked there for decades, have been given notice of redundancy during the thanksgiving service for the Queen, which took place on Monday, 12 September at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.

The report published by The Guardian on 13 September indicated that many affected staff was of the assumption that they would be incorporated into King Charles’ new household and that they had been given no prior indication of what was coming until they received a letter from the King’s top aide, Sir Clive Alderton.

It is understood that certain staff members, who provide “direct, close, personal support and advice” to King Charles and the Queen Consort will remain in their roles. A consultation exercise is now underway In respect of other staff.

It is believed that those who are unfortunately made redundant will be offered any available opportunities in other royal households, support in obtaining new jobs externally, and enhanced redundancy pay-outs (more generous than statutory minimums).

In light of this reported news, we have outlined the laws in respect of redundancy.

What does it mean to be “at risk of redundancy”?

Employers looking to reduce headcount are advised to start the selection process by identifying a group of employees at risk of redundancy, known as the “redundancy selection pool”. Employers will then apply suitable selection criteria to decide which of the employees in the pool will be retained and which will be provisionally selected for redundancy.

Redundancy selection criteria should be as objective as possible and anything that discriminates on the grounds of sex, race, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity or religion or belief, or on grounds of fixed-term or part-time status, directly or indirectly should be avoided.

Should employees at risk of redundancy be consulted?

If an employee has provisionally been selected for redundancy, the employer should consult with them before reaching a final decision. This will usually mean that employers will hold meetings with their workers to discuss the situation in more detail.

At the end of the consultation period, an employer will confirm the outcome of the process. If a person is dismissed for redundancy, it is best practice to offer them the right to appeal that decision.

If an employer fails to follow a fair process (including adequate consultation with their employee) the employee may have a claim for unfair dismissal, depending on the circumstances.

If an organisation is considering making 20 or more employees redundant within a 90-day period, it will also have a duty to undertake “collective consultation” with representatives of affected employees (either elected employee representatives or trade union representatives), in addition to meeting with every affected employee on an individual basis. If the collective consultation requirements apply, an employer will also need to begin the consultation process at least 30 days before any dismissals take effect (or 45 days if the organisation is considering dismissing 100 or more workers) and notify the Secretary of State that it is considering making large-scale redundancies.

If an employer doesn’t comply with the collective redundancy requirements, the employee representatives can apply to the Employment Tribunal which can order the employer to pay compensation of up to 90 days’ pay to each employee affected.

Does an employee have a right to an alternative job with their employer?

During the consultation period and at any time before a dismissal takes effect, an employer is obliged to consider an employee at risk of redundancy for any suitable alternative vacancies that become available in their business or in any associated companies.

Any employee on maternity leave or shared parental leave has the right to be offered any suitable alternative employment first. Otherwise, if an organisation has more than one other potentially redundant employee interested in an alternative position, it can carry out a competitive interview process to decide who to offer the role to. An employee can accept an alternative role on a four-week trial basis to decide whether it is suitable for them.

What will an employee be paid if they are made redundant?

If an employee is made redundant, they may be entitled to certain payments, depending on how long they have been employed and the terms of their employment contract:

What options are available to an employee if they think the redundancy is unfair?

If an employee believes that this is not a genuine redundancy situation, or their employer has not followed a fair procedure in selecting them for redundancy, or that the decision to select them for redundancy was one that no reasonable employer should have made, then the employee may be able to bring a claim for unfair dismissal.

There are also circumstances in which a redundancy dismissal will be classed as automatically unfair, regardless of how long an employee has been employed (e.g. an employer selects someone for redundancy due to them having made a flexible working request, or because they are pregnant or are a trade union member).