Receiving the dreaded ‘At Risk’ letter has the ability to put your life into a complete tailspin (in my case this was a TUPE notice that we all knew would lead to redundancy). I remember the ice cold chill that flushed down my spine, followed by a feeling of complete disbelief that all my hard work over the last few years has been for nothing.  After I got over the initial shock and evaluated the situation objectively things looked significantly better.  Most people will go through a phase of dismay, it’s normal.

As an employer, you have a responsibility to treat your employees fairly. This means keeping a good level of communication and respecting your employees’ rights at all times.

Employees’ rights become especially important when redundancies are made. A series of Redundancy Rights are in place to preserve the best interests of both parties in this situation.

In all likelihood the average office employee will already have some experience of redundancy. They might have been made redundant from a previous job, or may have witnessed a collective office redundancy, and lost colleagues and friends in the process.

In periods of economic difficulty it is often necessary for a company to reshuffle its structure. This sometimes means that a job disappears and an employee becomes redundant.

In the event that they are made redundant, an employee may be entitled to receive compensation which can come in two basic forms, either statutory redundancy pay or contractual redundancy pay.

Assessing the risks of redundancy or understanding the rules can all seem very complicated for both employees and employers.

Redundancy is usually an unpleasant experience for both parties but the best way to deal with this is to communicate and keep everyone well informed.

The trauma of redundancy is very well documented. Most of us, if we haven’t experienced it ourselves, will know someone who has.

It rightly has a reputation as one of the lowest points of a person’s career and the amount of help available to individuals reflects this.

Over the summer I spent some time in Ireland, travelling from county to county and visiting different family members. There were all the usual catch-up chats and stories but for the first time I noticed the conversation dwelt more on subjects such as the recession and unemployment rates.

This is not to say there wasn’t the usual banter and optimism I’d come to expect from them, but as an unemployed person myself at the time, I sensed a feeling of sympathy or even pity towards me on occasions.

Restructuring and redundancy can be one of the most emotionally charged and socially awkward processes most of us will go through in our working lives. It is a time when some extremely tough decisions have to be made that can affect relationships throughout an organisation, from those losing their jobs and for those that remain – including the management, who are the ones often demonised, but are the ones who have to make those calls.