Letter of invitation to attend a redundancy appeal hearing

What is a letter of invitation to attend a redundancy appeal hearing and when should you use it?

You should use this letter when an employee has appealed against a decision that you’ve taken during your redundancy process.

The invitation sets out the logistics for the appeal hearing and provides an opportunity to attach any documentation that you are relying on to justify your decision that the employee must be made redundant.

This documentation may include materials that the employee has previously seen, such as your selection criteria, the employee’s score against that criteria, any notes or correspondence (including emails) you have with other colleagues about the possibility of finding the employee a role within another part of your business, redundancy pay calculations, etc.

It’s important to present a complete picture of your process and all the steps that you have taken in relation to your staff and the affected employee who has appealed.

It’s good practice to have the appeal hearing chaired by someone other than the person with whom the majority of the redundancy discussions have taken place.

This may not always be possible, but where you can achieve this with someone of suitable management authority and experience, it is recommended.

Our Step by Step guide to handling redundancies sets out a practical action plan to help you handle the process.