A Guide to the New Online HR1 Form for Employers

From 1 December 2025, employers will face a significant change in the redundancy notification process. The paper HR1 form is being replaced by a mandatory online system. This guide provides essential information for employers on navigating the new requirements for employment law compliance.

What is a HR1 Form?

Employers are legally required to notify the Redundancy Payments Service (RPS) when proposing to dismiss 20 or more employees as redundant at a single establishment within a 90-day period. This notification is done using the HR1 form.

How is the HR1 Form Used?

To properly notify the RPS of a potential large-scale redundancy, employers must complete a HR1 form for each business location, or “establishment,” where 20 or more redundancies are proposed. An establishment is the specific site where an employee is assigned to work.

Key points on its use include:

• A copy of the completed form must be sent to the representatives of the employees undergoing consultation.
• The information on the form is commercially confidential and intended only to assist those facing redundancy.
• Determining whether different company sites can be treated as separate establishments for notification and consultation can be complex. It is always best to seek specific legal advice on this matter.

Timelines for Redundancy Notification

The submission deadlines for the HR1 form are strict. The “notification date” is the day the RPS receives the completed form.

• 20 to 99 redundancies: The HR1 form must be submitted at least 30 days before the first dismissal.
• 100 or more redundancies: The HR1 form must be submitted at least 45 days before the first dismissal.

Key Changes with the New Online HR1 Form

The move from a paper-based system to a digital-first approach introduces several important changes for employers. The new online HR1 form becomes mandatory from 1 December 2025.

What’s Different?

• No Occupational Group Breakdowns: The previous paper form required a detailed breakdown of affected employees by their occupational groups. This requirement has been removed from the new online version.
• Consultation Date Restrictions: The online form will not accept future consultation dates. It only allows for dates that have already passed or are on the same day as the submission.
• New Redundancy Reason: A new category for the reason for redundancy has been added: “change in supply chain/loss of supply chain contract.” This provides more specific options for employers explaining the business case for the dismissals.

Practical Considerations for Completing the Online Form

When preparing to complete the online HR1 form, there are several practical points to keep in mind to ensure a smooth process and maintain employment law compliance.

Form Completion and Submission

• Time Allotment: Plan for approximately 40 minutes to complete the form. The system does not save progress automatically, and sessions time out after 90 minutes of inactivity, which would require you to start over.
• Saving Your Records: Before final submission, save the summary page. The confirmation email you receive will only acknowledge receipt and will not include a copy of your submitted answers.
• Attachments: While attachments are optional, you can include up to four documents if needed to support your redundancy notification.
• Internal Review: The platform currently lacks a feature to export the form for internal review before submission. You may need to use screenshots or other workarounds if a pre-submission review is part of your internal process.

The Importance of Compliance

It is crucial for employers to understand and follow their statutory obligations. Failure to comply with redundancy notification requirements without a valid reason can lead to serious consequences. This may include prosecution and, upon summary conviction, a significant fine for the company and/or its officers.

If you are an employer facing a redundancy situation and would like to discuss your legal obligations in more detail, please contact a member of our employment team for guidance.

We publish blogs and social media posts to give a general overview of legal and commercial issues, relevant at the time of publication, which we hope you will find interesting. Please note that legal rules often change depending on the specific facts of a situation. The law also changes over time following changes in legislation or new court cases. We do not actively update our blogs or posts once they are published to reflect changes in the law.