An internal appeal is a formal request to have the redundancy decision reconsidered by someone other than the person who made it. In most cases it is heard internally, by a more senior manager or a member of HR who was not involved in the original process. It does not guarantee reversal — in practice, internal appeals that succeed in reinstating employment are uncommon. What an appeal achieves is a formal record that the decision was challenged, the basis on which it was challenged, and what the employer's response was.
Appealing does not waive your right to bring a tribunal claim. Completing the internal appeal process first is generally expected by tribunals assessing whether a dismissal was fair. An employer who fails to offer an appeal, or who conducts one perfunctorily, is exposed on that point. An employee who fails to use a genuine appeal process available to them may have any subsequent compensation award reduced.
Grounds for Appeal
The strongest grounds are those rooted in the process rather than in disagreement with the outcome. A process challenge is verifiable: either consultation was meaningful or it was not; either the selection criteria were objective and consistently applied or they were not; either the pool was drawn appropriately or it was not. A challenge based solely on "I should not have been selected" without supporting procedural argument is harder to sustain.
Procedural grounds typically available include: failure to consult meaningfully before the decision was made; selection criteria that were not disclosed, were subjective, or were applied inconsistently; a selection pool drawn without adequate justification; failure to consider alternatives to redundancy including redeployment to suitable vacant roles; and failure to allow accompaniment at a formal consultation meeting. Any of these, demonstrated with reference to the documented record, constitutes a substantive ground.
Where the selection appears to have been influenced by a protected characteristic — age, disability, pregnancy, religion, sex, or others under the Equality Act 2010 — that ground should be stated explicitly. Discrimination claims carry different time limits and different potential awards to unfair dismissal claims. If discrimination is a possibility, the appeal document should flag it; legal advice on this ground specifically is warranted.
How to Lodge an Appeal
Check your confirmation letter for the appeal deadline. Most employers specify five to ten working days from the date of the confirmation letter. If no deadline is stated, submit within five working days regardless — delay works against you and a prompt appeal is harder to dismiss as an afterthought. If the deadline has passed and there is a reason for the delay — illness, absence, waiting for information — request an extension in writing and explain the reason.
The appeal should be addressed to whoever is named in the letter as the appeal recipient, typically HR or a director. Write it as a formal letter or email. State that you are appealing the decision to make you redundant. Set out each ground separately and clearly, with reference to the specific failures you are relying on. Where you have documentary evidence — meeting notes, emails, the confirmation letter itself — reference it. Keep the appeal factual and specific. An appeal that lists grievances without tying them to identifiable process failures gives the employer less to respond to and you less to build on.
Retain a copy of everything you send. Note the date it was submitted and the method — email creates a timestamped record. If you submit in hard copy, send it by recorded post and keep the receipt.
The Appeal Hearing
The appeal hearing should be conducted by someone who was not involved in the original redundancy decision — ideally more senior than the original decision-maker. You have the same right to be accompanied at the appeal hearing as at the original consultation meetings: a trade union representative or a workplace colleague. Request confirmation of who will be conducting the hearing before it takes place.
At the hearing, you will have the opportunity to present your grounds in full and to hear the employer's response to each of them. Take notes throughout. If you have a companion, ask them to take a detailed contemporaneous record. After the hearing, send a follow-up email confirming your understanding of what was discussed — this supplements the employer's own note of the meeting and creates a second record if the accounts later diverge.
After the Hearing
The outcome should be communicated to you in writing within a reasonable period — typically five to ten working days of the hearing. The letter should set out whether the appeal is upheld, partially upheld, or dismissed, and give reasons for the decision in each case. A response that simply states "your appeal is unsuccessful" without engaging with the specific grounds you raised is itself a process failure, and one that will be visible in any subsequent tribunal proceedings.
If the appeal is upheld in full, the intended outcome is reinstatement — that the redundancy decision is reversed and your employment continues. This is the rarest outcome. If the appeal is partially upheld, the employer may revise specific elements: the redundancy pay calculation, the notice entitlement, or the process record. If the appeal is dismissed, you have exhausted the internal process. The next step, if you intend to pursue the matter, is the employment tribunal route.
Employment Tribunal
Before submitting a claim to an employment tribunal, you are required to notify ACAS and participate in Early Conciliation. ACAS will contact both parties to explore whether the dispute can be resolved without tribunal proceedings. This step is mandatory — a claim submitted without completing Early Conciliation will not be accepted. The Early Conciliation period pauses the tribunal time limit while it is ongoing.
An unfair dismissal claim must be submitted to the tribunal within three months less one day of the effective date of termination. A claim for unpaid statutory redundancy pay must be submitted within six months of that date. Both time limits are strict. An application submitted one day late will normally be refused, and the test for extending the time limit — that it was not reasonably practicable to bring the claim in time — is applied narrowly.
If there is any possibility you intend to bring a tribunal claim, submit the ACAS Early Conciliation notification before the time limit expires. Do not wait for the outcome of negotiations, a settlement offer, or a response to correspondence. The claim can be withdrawn at any point if the matter is resolved; a missed time limit cannot be recovered.
Realistic Outcomes
Most internal appeals result in the original decision being upheld. This is not a reason to forgo the appeal — it is a reason to approach it without misplaced expectation. The value of a well-constructed appeal lies partly in what it might achieve directly, and partly in what it establishes for any subsequent process. An appeal that identifies specific process failures, receives a dismissive or inadequate response, and is followed by an ACAS notification creates a documentary record that is materially useful in tribunal proceedings.
The appeal is also an opportunity that does not repeat itself. Grounds not raised at the internal appeal stage may be harder to rely on later. If you are aware of specific procedural failures — from what you observed during the process, or from reviewing the documents assembled during the first seven days — the appeal is the point at which to put them formally on the record. Treat it as a document you are writing for two audiences: the appeal panel, and the tribunal you may need it for afterwards.
If your grounds relate to how the consultation process was conducted, Consultation sets out what a lawful process requires and where common defects arise. If the employer responds to your appeal with a settlement offer, read Settlement Agreements before responding to it.