In Ireland, there’s a general ignorance among employees about what their rights are in the wake of redundancy. Although industrial relations laws are comprehensive, they are widely misunderstood and ignored, sometimes deliberately so, by financial services employers.

Around 70% of companies in Ireland had to reduce their pay bill in 2009 and this trend is expected to continue in 2010.

While the majority of job cuts are legitimate, it’s an acknowledged phenomenon that some employers are taking advantage of the rampant redundancy climate to exit employees who are questionable bona fide redundancy victims.

Behind the screen of the economic downturn there has been a general clean out of ‘undesirable employees’ and retention of the more politically aligned staff. This emotional (naturally justified by logic) approach by an employer to staff re-structuring is damaging to the business in the long term.

As an employee, should you be unlucky enough to lose your job, it’s worth knowing what entitlements and protections are available to you, and checking that your employer has fulfilled its legal obligations.

Essentially, two pieces of legislation cover a redundancy situation – The Unfair Dismissals Act and Redundancy Payments Acts. To be covered by the former you must have been with your employer for one year, and to be entitled to the latter two years’ service is required.

The first, and perhaps most obvious, step is to check the terms of your employment contract for relevant information. What is the format of the consultation process? What’s the criteria selection for redundancy? Even something as simple as what constitutes a week’s pay. All of this is your basic armoury for redundancy discussions.

But before this even starts, you need to establish whether your employer has considered all other options. Increasingly, financial services firms in Ireland have re-deployed people to other job functions or arranged a paid (or unpaid) career break. There is no legal obligation for an employer to do this but responsible employers will consider all other options before making a final decision on redundancy.

If it’s inevitable, however, you should ensure your employer fully explains the reasons for the redundancy and its selection criteria.

It’s important to remember that you are entitled to receive a minimum amount of notice which is related to your length of service with your employer. The relevant notice periods are: 13 weeks to 2 years service (1 weeks notice); 2-5 years service (2 weeks); 5-10 years service (4 weeks notice) 10- 15 years (6 weeks); 15 years + (8 weeks).

Perhaps one of the key questions is how much money you’re entitled to. The Redundancy Payments Acts allows you to receive a tax free statutory redundancy payment from your employer on the date of your redundancy.

This is calculated as 2 weeks’ pay per year of service plus 1 additional week’s pay. Any excess days over the complete years service are calculated as a proportion of a total year. An upper limit of €600 is currently placed on weekly earnings for statutory redundancy purposes.

Financial services firms usually pay well above the statutory redundancy requirements. This is especially so amongst larger organisations as witnessed by the voluntary packages currently on offer from some of our well-known banking brands.

Redundancy announcements might be commonplace, but this doesn’t mean they’re always inevitable. The list above may seem exhaustive, but making sure your company has ticked all the legal boxes at the very least ensures you get what you’re entitled to and in some cases could even mean you hold on to your job.

Greg O’Hanlon is a partner at GHI Consultancy Group, which includes legal and industrial relations among its services. For more information visit www.consultghi.com or email info@consultghi.com