alt Hacker NewsIs “have been made redundant” normal phrasing in the UK, or did the BBC just decide to use that kind of bloodless phrasing for “fired?”
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being fired and being made redundant are very different under UK law
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_in_United_Kingdom_l...
Redundancy is closer to "layoff" than "fired". One is for a clear cause, the other is just "we don't feel like paying you money because a second employee can do that job in addition to his own".
That's a normal legal term in the UK:
It's quasi-legal. You can be "fired" for all sorts of reasons, but in making a post redundant the employer can't then rehire for that position, if large numbers of posts are being made redundant then there needs to be consultations etc.
"redundant" effectively means "dismissed because your old job no longer exists" rather than "dismissed because you're no good at your old job".
Being made "redundant" isn't just an synonym for being fired. It has a specific legal meaning in the UK [1]. When employees are made redundant they are entitled to certain rights including statutory redundancy pay [2]. So it's not just a euphemism in UK contexts. And yes this is normal phrasing in the UK.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights
[2] https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights/redundancy-pay