Staff and volunteers

Managing redundancies

If your charity is closing, you may need to make staff redundant. You must follow a fair process, including consulting employees and providing appropriate notice and redundancy pay.

For detailed guidance, read:

• ⁠Acas: Managing staff redundancies
• ⁠GOV.UK: Making staff redundant.

Notifying HMRC

When you stop employing staff, you’ll need to notify HMRC and complete your final payroll reporting.

Read ⁠GOV.UK’s guidance on what to do when you stop being an employer.

Transferring employees

If your charity’s services are transferring to another organisation, employees may be protected under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE).

Read ⁠Acas’s guidance on TUPE transfers.

Managing pensions

You’ll need to contact your pension provider to discuss closing or transferring your workplace pension arrangements and meeting any outstanding obligations.

Read ⁠The Pensions Regulator’s guidance on closing a pension scheme.

Providing references

When your charity closes, former employees may find it difficult to obtain employment references.

Consider providing staff with a standard letter confirming:

• their job title
• their dates of employment
• the date your charity closed.

Former colleagues may also agree to act as professional referees. However, they must respect confidentiality and avoid sharing sensitive personal information about former employees.

Recovering charity property

Before closing, plan for employees to return charity-owned equipment, including laptops, phones and other assets.

Keep volunteers informed and involved throughout the closure process. Be open about changes to their roles and opportunities, and consider how they can contribute to the transition.

You may need to reduce or end volunteering opportunities if you can no longer provide appropriate supervision and support.

For some volunteers, your charity may be an important source of friendship, community or personal support. Consider how closure might affect their wellbeing, particularly if they rely on your organisation for social connections or care.

Where appropriate, offer additional support and help volunteers find alternative opportunities. Your local volunteer centre may be able to help them continue volunteering elsewhere.