At the end of 2019, a ready meals employer in Sheffield confirmed a decision to completely close one site, affecting hundreds of members from the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union. 

Members were informed just before Christmas with the full closure planned for May 2020.

Although there were a few vacancies available at a nearby sister site for employees affected to apply for, the union and ULR (Union Learning Rep) prepared to support over 480 people on the shop floor through the process of redundancy and finding alternative work.  Over half of the employees were over the age of 50, with many having worked at the same site for 30 years or more.

With so many people affected, the ULR and project officers knew that they would not be able to provide sufficient support alone, so they visited the company to discuss how the process of supporting employees could best be carried out in the workplace.

It was agreed to coordinate the support offered between Job Centre Plus (who offered advice and guidance, CV writing workshops and training on online job search), the local FE College (who provided a list of courses that they could deliver free of charge in the workplace) and unionlearn (who offered interviews skills, on-going support to employees and coordinating the work with union FTOs).

There were a several issues relevant to the mainly older workforce including how to support people over 50 who were not ready to retire but who had little experience of working outside of the industry. This meant that they needed a range of support in identifying other roles and industries that would be available with their experience and skills, preparing high quality CVs and both looking for and applying for work externally.

The first step for the ULR was to talk to employees and provide encouragement and support.  The ULR team made sure that they were readily available in the canteen during all shifts so that anyone could discuss their options. These supportive conversations allowed ULRs to talk to employees not just about future work but also about the skills and qualifications that they might need to move forward.  Options discussed included English, maths and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), vocational qualifications, digital skills and getting licences such as SIA.

After collecting this information, the ULR was able to talk to the local FE college about offering the requested courses in the workplace and to the company’s HR department about arranging time off for employees to update their skills. This negotiation was particularly important as the site needed to keep operational while employees worked to gain the skills and qualifications they would need to find new jobs. 

To make sure that no one was left behind, the ULR helped to pull together a forward-looking action plan which took into consideration who was doing what, when and where. The college offered to deliver short courses in the workplace until the final closure of the site (which could be attended by everyone affected by the redundancies) along with opportunities to continue to attend programmes at the college afterwards.  They also offered information, advice and guidance to support employees in finding a way forward.   

Top Tips for ULRs dealing with large scale redundancies

• Talk to Job Centre Plus, local education providers and the employer to draw up an Action Plan. This should cover who is offering support, what this consists of, how it will be offered to everyone in the workplace and how staff will access the time off to complete courses.
• Talk to affected employees about what skills they need to develop to allow them to move forward into alternative employment.  This will include English, maths, digital skills and job search skills, but may also include vocational retraining for alternative jobs.
• Advertise on-site exactly when ULRs are around for employees to talk to.  It is important to be available across the range of shifts and to be accessible to everyone who wants support. This includes non-members.
• It is vital for ULRs to respond to all enquiries. Employees facing redundancy are vulnerable and uncertain, so if they make an enquiry in person, by phone or email (about any issues, big or small), it is important that they get a timely response and are not let down.
• It is helpful if ULRs can be mental health trained as many employees will need a sympathetic ear. The ability to listen and spend time with people is important as often employees will need to talk about more than one issue (which may be different from what they think they want to talk about).
• ULRs and project workers are excellent points of contact for employees as they are familiar and can offer a personal approach.  This helps to generate trust and encourages employees to be open and honest about their concerns.
• While support to affected employees is the priority, it is also important to manage expectations. Retraining and upskilling takes time and it is unlikely that employees will be able to move into completely different types of work quickly.
• Have a good bank of referral contacts for when employees ask about things that are outside the knowledge of a ULR. This should include support such as mental health, information on benefits and pensions advice.
• ULRs should coordinate with Job Centre Plus to keep an eye out for other local job opportunities and promote them actively in the workplace along with a description of what skills, qualifications and experience are needed for them.

For more information about how the ULR approached this large-scale redundancy to support employees, please contact the Bakers Food & Allied Workers Union Learning Services team.

This case study links in with the Smart choices: preparing for the third age publication.