Citizens Advice helping one person every two minutes with a redundancy issue

With the latest ONS employment release, Citizens Advice is warning of a surge in demand for redundancy advice.

• Between 8-12 June 2020 the charity’s frontline advisers helped one person every two minutes with a redundancy issue in England and Wales

• Since lockdown, the number of people Citizens Advice has helped with redundancy issues has almost tripled compared to the same period last year

• The charity’s redundancy web pages have been viewed more than half a million times during lockdown

• On 12 June three of the top-five most-viewed advice pages were redundancy pages

Dame Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said:

“In a heartbreaking sign of our times, our frontline advisers are helping one person every two minutes with a redundancy issue.

“Each job loss can mean a household struggling to make rent, cover their bills or pay for their food shop.

“The Job Retention Scheme has so far prevented many redundancies, but with more job losses on the horizon, the government must ensure people can access adequate support through the benefits system. It must also protect people who are facing eviction or harsh debt collection as a result of this pandemic.”

Help and information available if you're worried about your job or would like advice about redundancy and your rights at work

• Read our advice online if you've been dismissed or are being made redundant. You can also check how to solve problems with resigning from a job and getting a job reference

• Speak to an adviser over the phone for advice if you've been dismissed, are being made redundant, or have other problems at work you'd like help to sort out. Call us on 0800 144 8848. Lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm

• Or contact us directly for advice by email

Published: 16 June 2020

Footnotes

1. Between 8-12 June the charity’s frontline advisers helped 1,200 people with 2,000 redundancy issues

2. The charity has given one-to-one advice to 8,600 people on redundancy issues between 23 March and 12 June, a 199% increase on the same period last year. 

3. Citizens Advice’s redundancy webpages had 672,946 pageviews between 23 March and 12 June

4. On 12 June three of the top-five most-viewed advice pages were redundancy pages

5. Labour market figures will be released here on 16 June 2020