Redundancies in the workplace environment are part and parcel of every day life for small to medium sized businesses. A downturn in sales, very often results in needing to reduce the biggest costs, which are usually staffing costs. Smaller businesses don’t have the surplus or other branches/offices able to generate the income to keep other parts of the business afloat.
Redundancies can be quite complex and if not handled correctly can lead to some very serious consequences and employment tribunals cases. Employers must ensure they provide a fair and reasonable process and consultations, starting with a very clear business case to support the need for the redundancies. Best practice is for consultations should take place for all employees, regardless of length of service.
In the UK currently, we have the Job Retention Scheme which was set up to help employers to avoid redundancies. However, the UK Government does not expect employers to get themselves into debt. If income has reduced and the employer cannot justify the expenditure, then employers should look at saving employment costs. They should review their employment contracts to see if there is a clause to request short-time working or lay-offs. Short-time working, is where the employer request the employee to work part-time and getting at a pro-rata salary. Lay-offs are where employees are asked to take a temporary leave for a period of time.
If you are considering making employees redundant, please take a look at our helpful FAQ’s: http://specialisedhr.employmentlawlibrary.co.uk/topics/dismissals-and-redundancies/redundancy.
If you would like to talk to one of our HR experts, please call us for a no obligation 10-minute consultation: 0843 176 0266 / hello@specialisedhr.co.uk.
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