Growth, cost pressure or a change of direction often means reshaping roles and reporting lines. Done well, restructuring sets the business up to thrive. Done badly, it triggers grievances and claims. We help Sussex and Surrey employers restructure fairly, lawfully and with their people on side.
You’re changing roles, duties or reporting lines
A reorganisation may put some roles at risk
You need to alter contracts or term
You want to keep the team engaged through change
A restructure sounds like an org chart exercise, but it touches contracts, duties, pay and status — all of which employees have rights over. Change terms without agreement or a fair process and you risk breach of contract, grievances and constructive dismissal claims.
It also affects morale: how you handle a restructure shapes whether your best people stay.
That’s where MJV Consulting comes in. We plan the people side of the change so it’s lawful, fair and well communicated.
Because a restructure touches contracts, duties and pay, it works best when changes are introduced through genuine consultation and, where needed, agreement. Handled this way, you keep the process lawful, keep your people informed, and keep good colleagues on board through the change.
Where roles are affected, redundancy rules may also apply, and the Employment Rights Act 2025 is expected to widen access to unfair dismissal claims. (Timings are still being finalised.) We make sure every step is fair and well documented.
We help you shape the target structure and test whether changes are a genuine reorganisation, a redundancy, or a variation of terms.
We run fair consultation on the proposed changes, with the letters, scripts and Q&A to keep it transparent and lawful.
We manage contract variations, role changes and any redundancies correctly, with the right paperwork at every step.
We help you communicate the change well and support managers so the new structure actually beds in.
The framework we work through with every client — and the
version we’re happy to talk through on a free discovery call.
✓ Experienced HR professionals who manage organisational change
✓ Clear guidance on contracts, consultation and redundancy overlap
✓ All consultation and contract-change documents prepared for you
✓ Support communicating change so you keep good people
✓ Honest advice on the legal risks specific to your plan
Restructuring is reshaping how your business is organised — roles, duties, teams or reporting lines. Redundancy is only one possible result, where roles genuinely disappear. Plenty of restructures happen without any redundancies at all. We’ll help you plan the change and handle any redundancies that do arise correctly.
Where a restructure affects people’s roles, terms or job security, fair consultation is expected — and where roles are at risk of redundancy, it’s required. Consulting genuinely, and early, tends to produce better decisions and far less friction. We’ll help you consult in a way that’s fair and keeps the change on track.
Changing terms — hours, pay, duties or location — normally needs the employee’s agreement, reached through consultation. Imposing changes unilaterally is where difficulties arise. There’s almost always a fair, well-planned route to the change you need, and we’ll help you find it and follow it.
“Fire and rehire” — dismissing employees and re-engaging them on new terms — is tightly constrained and treated as a last resort, governed by a statutory Code of Practice, with further restrictions expected under the Employment Rights Act 2025. (Detail is still being finalised.) It’s rarely the best answer. We’ll help you explore the alternatives properly first.
Clarity and fairness do most of the work: explain the why, consult genuinely, listen to alternatives, and treat everyone with respect throughout. People cope with change far better when they understand it and feel heard. We’ll help you communicate the change in a way that keeps trust intact.
Sometimes, but it needs care. If a “new” role is really the old one relabelled, treating it as a fresh vacancy can look like an unfair way to remove someone. Where the role is genuinely different, a fair process — including offering suitable alternatives — matters. We’ll help you structure it so it’s genuine and defensible.
It usually benefits from being run as a defined piece of work, with a clear plan, timeline and consultation strategy from the outset. That structure is what keeps a restructure calm and on track rather than reactive. Our HR Projects service is built for exactly this, and we’ll manage it with you end to end.
It depends on the size of the change and how many people are affected, but a well-run restructure is rarely rushed — proper consultation takes time, and that time is what makes it fair. As a rough guide, a small reorganisation might take a few weeks once planning is done. We’ll help you build a realistic timeline so nothing feels forced.
Where roles overlap or are changing, grouping affected people fairly and considering them together is what keeps selection objective. Who belongs in a pool, and how you assess within it, is one of the areas that most needs to be right. We’ll help you define the pool and the criteria so the process is fair and defensible.
Often yes — reasonable changes to reporting lines, duties or titles can sit within existing contracts, particularly where there’s a sensible flexibility clause. Bigger changes to pay, hours or status are different and need agreement. We’ll help you tell the two apart so you make the changes you need without tripping over the contract.
Your employees deserve a workplace where they can thrive and so does your business. Contact MJV Consulting to explore how our workplace wellbeing solutions can transform your organisation.
