Letter informing employee of possible relocation of business premises

If you wish to consider a move to new business premises, you’ll need to ensure you deal with the employment aspects of a possible move. Use our letter informing employee of possible relocation of business premises to get the ball rolling here.

Redundancy or misconduct?

If you dismiss an employee because they refuse to move to new business premises, this is normally a redundancy dismissal, even though their current job is still available on the same terms and conditions of employment (except for place of work). This is because an employee who works at a particular workplace will be redundant under the statutory definition if you have ceased to carry on the business in the place where they were employed. However, there can be an important exception here: if you decide to invoke an express mobility clause to implement the relocation rather than instituting a redundancy programme but the employee refuses to relocate, the reason for dismissal could then be misconduct rather than redundancy.

Consultation

You should consult with the affected employees about the relocation as soon as possible. This might be many months in advance of the proposed move, and even before anything has been firmed up, but consultation should start as soon as you are able. Use our Letter Informing Employee of Possible Relocation of Business Premises to start the process. This sets out when you are thinking of moving and the reasons why and it arranges a meeting with the employee to discuss your proposal. Once your plans are a little more definitive, you can then follow this up with our Letter Informing Employee That the Business is Relocating.