We are currently going through a redundancy process with one of our staff. He is in a stand alone role that is simply no longer required due to lack of work. The little bit of the role left will be absorbed by other staff.

However after having an initial meeting with the employee where we explained the potential redundancy and how the consultation period would work – he has subsequently gone off sick with stress (related to the redundancy process).

Should we wait until he returns to work – but as the redundancy situation is not going to go away I don’t see how the stress will abate. Or should we be pushing foward and scheduling the next consultation meeting and ask him to either come in to attend or to put his questions/suggestions in writing for us to consider at the meeting?

I do sympathise with the employee, as the redundancy process is stressful for all concerned, but the company is losing money and we can’t keep him on indefinitely. I also think it would possibly better for the employee to have this resolved in a timely fashion that let it drag on for weeks and weeks.

Any advice on how to move forward with this will be much appreciated.
Anna Brown