The First 48: What to Do the Moment a Redundancy Consultation Email Lands

It arrives on a Tuesday, usually around 4pm. A calendar invite titled "Consultation Meeting" and an attachment with the word "restructure" in the filename. Your stomach drops before you've read the second paragraph. That reaction is completely normal, and it's also the least useful thing your brain will do today.

At-risk letters are a process starting, not a sentence being handed down. In 2026, plenty of UK employers are running restructures with more care than the headlines suggest — and plenty of people who receive one of these emails are still in the building six months later, in a different role or a different team. Your job for the next 48 hours is not to win the argument. It's to gather facts, keep your options open, and avoid doing anything you can't undo.

At Risk Is Not the Same as Out the Door

"At risk" is a legal trigger word. It means your role is in scope for redundancy consideration, and it switches on a set of obligations your employer now owes you. If they're proposing 20 or more redundancies across the business within 90 days, collective consultation rules kick in, with minimum periods of 30 or 45 days depending on the numbers. Below that, you're in individual consultation territory — still a real process, still with rules, but with a shorter, more personal rhythm.

What it does not mean: that a decision has been made about you specifically. Consultation is supposed to be a genuine exchange of views before anything is confirmed. Selection pools and scoring matrices get built, tested and sometimes quietly redrawn. Ask what pool you're in and how it was defined. If the answer is vague, that's information worth noting.

Hour One: Reply Slowly, Save Everything

Do not respond in the first hour. Do not reply-all. Do not post anything on LinkedIn that starts with "Well, some news…". Acknowledge the email by the end of the next working day, confirm you'll attend the meeting, and ask for any documents referenced in it.

Then, on a personal device, save copies of everything you're entitled to see: the at-risk letter, the consultation policy, the redundancy policy, your contract, your most recent pay slip, any scoring criteria shared so far. Forwarding documents to a personal email address is generally fine for things you're entitled to have, but check your contract and IT policy first — some employers are twitchy about it. Where in doubt, ask HR to send copies to your home address.

The Questions Worth Putting in Writing

Verbal reassurances evaporate. An email thread with dates and answers is a different animal. Send a short, polite message to HR or your consultation contact asking for written confirmation of:

• The selection pool and the criteria being used to score people in it
• Who else sits in that pool, and whether it has changed since the announcement
• The full timeline, including when consultation ends and when decisions are expected
• Whether redundancy pay is statutory only or enhanced, and how it's calculated
• Your notice period, whether you'll be asked to work it, and whether pay in lieu is on the table
• Accrued holiday, bonus pro-rating and any share scheme implications
• The current list of internal vacancies and how redeployment will be handled
• Your right to be accompanied at consultation meetings, and the appeal process

None of this makes you difficult. Recruiters and HR teams deal with these questions every week. Ask them plainly and keep a folder.

Redeployment: The Door Most People Walk Past

If there's a genuinely suitable alternative role internally, your employer is expected to offer it to you before making you redundant — and "suitable" is judged against pay, hours, location and skills, not just job title. Ask directly: which live vacancies have been mapped against my skills? Who is coordinating redeployment? Can I have a conversation with that person this week?

If an alternative role is offered, you're usually entitled to a trial period of four weeks (longer in some cases by agreement), during which you can decide it isn't working and still claim redundancy. That trial is a genuine safety net — use it rather than dismissing an offer because the title sounds like a step sideways.

One practical tip: talk to your line manager before the formal process forces the conversation. They often know which teams are quietly hiring, and a warm word from them travels further than a form submitted to a central inbox.

Starting the Search Without Setting Off Alarms

You can begin looking this week without signalling anything to your current employer. Keep your CV on personal devices, never on the work laptop. On LinkedIn, use the recruiter-only "open to work" setting rather than the green banner. When you approach recruiters, say you're "exploring quietly" and ask them not to contact your current employer — most will respect it, and the good ones will confirm it in writing.

References need thought. Line up two people who can vouch for you and who you trust to be discreet; you don't need to name your current manager until an offer is close. If a prospective employer insists on a reference before interview, ask whether a former colleague will do.

The Money Bit: Get the Numbers Before You Negotiate

Statutory redundancy pay is based on age, weekly pay (capped) and complete years of service, and the GOV.UK calculator will give you a rough figure in two minutes. Add notice pay, accrued holiday and any enhanced element. If a settlement agreement appears on the table, take independent legal advice — most employers contribute to the cost, and it's rarely sensible to sign on the day.

ACAS runs a free helpline and their guidance on redundancy is genuinely readable. If you're in a union, ring your rep before you ring anyone else.

Day Two: One Page, Five Lines

By the end of tomorrow, you want a single page covering: the key dates in the consultation, your financial runway, who's handling redeployment, two job-search actions you'll take this week, and one person you'll talk to honestly about how you're doing. That page replaces the panic spiral with a list. Lists are easier to work through at 2am.

And a short list of things not to do: don't resign, don't sign anything on the day, don't badmouth the company in a public channel, and don't assume the outcome is already decided. The next 48 hours are for gathering information, not for making your biggest decisions.