Redundancy due to circumstances at DTU

Objective

The guideline is to ensure that redundancies due to circumstances at DTU (budget reductions, lack of work and/or organizational changes) are conducted in a professional manner. Both the employees who are being made redundant and the remaining employees must feel that the redundancy process progressed properly in compliance with the rules in force.

General

The management of the unit determines who is to be made redundant. The Office of HR assists the department/office throughout the entire process and is responsible for ensuring that the rules in force for redundancy are observed.

The Chairman of the Liaison Committee is to inform the Committee of the forthcoming redundancies to allow for the employees’ views and suggestions to be included in the basis for the management’s final decision.

Selection process

The department/unit must make a description of the relevant underlying criterions for the selection of the employees whom are to be made redundant.
The department/unit investigates whether there is an opportunity for 

• Employment at another department/unit (however, there is no relocation obligation)
• Continuing education
• Leave without pay
• Request among employees regarding transition from full-time to part-time employment
• Gradual retirement (senior employee scheme)
• Voluntary retirement (retirement agreement)
• Offer of an outplacement process
• Offer of career guidance/counselling

Important points to be considered before deciding whether an employee should be made redundant

The department/unit should consider a number of points before deciding which employees are to be made redundant
The assessment varies from situation to situation. In general the institute/unit must consider the following:

General grounds

The department/unit must be able to give general grounds for why it is necessary to make one or more employees redundant, e.g. lack of work, and the reasons for this, e.g. poor financial results or restructuring.

• Individual grounds

The department/unit must also state individual grounds, involving a description of the underlying criteria for the redundancy. A thorough investigation on which employee is deemed to be least essential must be undertaken.

• Future needs

The concrete and individual evaluation is to be compared with the department’s/unit’s future needs in terms of competencies. In some cases, this may prompt DTU to consider whether the employees whose flow of work tasks has ceased or whose work areas are affected should be made redundant or whether there are other employees that DTU could more easily do without in the grand scheme of things.

• Impartiality and non-discrimination

Throughout the entire process, the principles of impartiality and non-discrimination must be followed.
This entails that impartial grounds must be submitted for selecting this particular employee for redundancy rather than another employee, and that equal qualifications should be treated equally.

• Employees with special protection

Some groups of employees have special protection against redundancy. This applies to: Shop stewards and substitutes, employee representatives in Liaison Committees and substitutes as well as health and safety representatives, Board members and employees who are pregnant, on maternity or paternity leave.

Entry into force

The guideline on redundancy due to circumstances concerning DTU was approved by the Executive Board and discussed by the Cooperation and Joint Consultation Committee (HSU) in March 2017.

The guideline becomes effective from the time it is published on DTU Inside.

Amendments

The guidelines/policy may be changed following review by the Cooperation and Joint Consultation Committee. Amendments are communicated via DTU Inside.