They have to do a ‘consultation’ period, which in my case was ‘we are making you redundant, but have to do this by the book’.
They arrange a matrix of skills that have to be objective for the people they are looking to get rid of. They then score you and the lowest scored person/people goes. In my case, there was me and another bloke who scored lowest, but the scoring was weighted so much against me it was a joke. I tried to contest it, but there wasn’t a lot that could be done really – short of me taking it to a tribunal and forking out all the solicitors fees, that I couldn’t really afford.
You aren’t entitled to redundancy pay if you been there less than 2yrs, I think. Then it is a weeks pay/yr you have been there. By law this can be capped to £330/week and the company may use that or not, depending how generous they are feeling.
If you finish before the end of your notice period, then you are entitled to your pay in lieu of notice, plus pay for holiday remaining and any benefits.