What is the redundancy process in Myanmar?

What Myanmar law says

Redundancy is recognised as a lawful ground for employer-initiated termination under the Employment & Skills Development Law (ESDL) 2013 — an "objective" rather than "fault-based" ground. Because the role is being eliminated, no PIP or warnings are required, but the employer must document the business case and follow the standard ESDL notice and severance schedule. Unlike gross-misconduct termination, severance is fully owed for redundancy.

Step-by-step redundancy process

1. Business case — write a memo explaining the restructure, role elimination, or financial necessity.
2. Selection criteria — apply objective criteria (role-based, last-in-first-out, performance, etc.) and document them.
3. Pre-notice consultation — best practice; 1:1 meetings with affected employees.
4. Termination letter — bilingual, citing redundancy as the lawful ground.
5. Notice — 1 month for under-5-year tenure, 3 months for 5+ year tenure (or pay in lieu).
6. Severance — per Notification 84/2015 schedule.
7. Final settlement — wages + leave encashment + notice + severance within 7 days of last working day.
8. Documents — relieving letter, experience letter, full-and-final settlement statement.
9. SSB deregistration — within 30 days.
10. Records retention — at least 7 years.

Notice and severance for redundancy

What if there's a dispute

• Township labour office first — common claim is that "redundancy" was a pretext for performance termination.
• Conciliation Body — formal conciliation under the Settlement of Labour Disputes Law.
• Arbitration Council — final binding step. Statute of limitations: typically 6 months.

Edge cases and unenforceable clauses

• "Redundancy" without role elimination — risk of reclassification as termination without lawful grounds.
• Selection by protected characteristic — discrimination risk.
• Mass redundancies — see mass layoffs.
• See severance calculation.

Common redundancy mistakes

• Skipping the business-case memo.
• Using "redundancy" to avoid a PIP and warnings for poor performance.
• Selecting by tenure or salary cost only — risk of discrimination claim.
• Forgetting SSB deregistration within 30 days.