HR1 forms go fully digital

From 1 December 2025, employers must submit the HR1 (advance notification of redundancies) form online. 

This form is required when an employer proposes to dismiss 20 or more employees within 90 days at one establishment. Online submission is now mandatory. Paper and email submissions are no longer accepted and all HR1 notifications must be completed via the GOV.UK digital portal.

Differences in the new form

• No requirement to provide occupational group breakdowns.
• A new redundancy reason: “Change in supply chain/loss of supply chain contract.”
• Future consultation start dates cannot be entered; only current or past dates can be entered.

Practical considerations

• No autosave: the form times out after 90 minutes, so employers need to gather all information before starting the process.
• No retrieval: once submitted, the form cannot be retrieved – so employers should print or save the summary page for their records, and so they can give them to employee representatives.

Deadlines and notifications

Deadlines remain unchanged. Notification must be at least 30 days before the first dismissal (20 – 99 redundancies), or 45 days before first dismissal (100+ redundancies).

Failure to comply remains a criminal offence, carrying unlimited fines.