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Q: I am self-employed and have employed a member of staff for about 18 months. I can no longer afford to do this, what can I do? Can I make him redundant?

Mar 18 2008

Answered by: Carolyn Mumby Ask a question

Yes, it is reasonable for a business to resort to redundancy if a job will no longer exist due to lack of funds. However, you are advised to go through the redundancy consultation (which is a two way process) before you make the dismissal.

If you have other members of staff you should consider whether they should be in the affected pool of employees with the person you mention in your question. This would be the case for example, if they shared work.

You will find support on the BERR website by clicking here and will be relieved to find that there is no redundancy compensation for employees with less than 2 years service.

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