The UK Government has an obligation to help employees that are facing redundancy. Therefore, it is a statutory requirement that employers notify the Redundancy Payments Service (RPS), acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business and Trade where there are proposals to dismiss 20 or more employees from one establishment.
This is done via form HR1 which is sent to the Insolvency Service.
There was always the opportunity to complete this manually, however, after 30 November 2025, the form must be completed digitally. As well as company information and a declaration, employers need to have the following information before attempting to compete the form (which can take up to 40 minutes):
- The company number (as detailed at Companies House);
- The nature of the business, including the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code;
- The timing and location of redundancies;
- The expected number of redundancies;
- The reasons for redundancies; and
- Trade union and / or employee representative(s) details
A major change is that the online version of the form will no longer accept redundancy consultation dates in the future. The digital version will only accept dates representing consultations that are ongoing or commencing on the same day as the form is submitted.
For Bookkeepers
Note that there is no statutory requirement to notify the Insolvency Service if the employer is making less than 20 people redundant.
ICB is making members aware of this change as it is professionally responsible. We leave it to individual members to decide whether and how to communicate this to clients.
