Be clear on the roles at risk – identifying which roles need to be pooled isn’t always as easy as it sounds. Do you have different job titles or job descriptions for the same roles, have job titles and job descriptions not kept up with the roles individuals are actually doing? This all needs to be considered.
Identify individuals carrying out the pooled roles – do a number of individuals interchange between different roles? In which case would it be reasonable to include those individuals within the pool?
Consider individuals at other sites – where individuals move around sites and all do the role that is at risk, consider whether each of those individuals needs to be pooled.
Bumping – bumping occurs when an ‘at-risk’ employee is retained in favour of an employee who isn’t at risk (usually as they have better skills for the retained role). While there is no obligation to bump, you need to consider whether it’s appropriate to do so and make a note of your thought process.
Consult – once you’ve decided on your pool, you’ll need to ensure that you discuss the pool with ‘at-risk’ individuals before going ahead and applying selection criteria. A fair redundancy process includes giving individuals the right to challenge the pool before scoring ‘at-risk’ individuals.
