It’s worrying for employees who don’t have another job lined up and for the managers who are not experienced HR professionals who are afraid of getting it wrong and don’t want to do ‘it’ (make their team redundant). Telling someone that you are taking away their livelihood is not an easy conversation to have.
I suspect that’s why many employers are ignoring the issue, hoping that it will get better and keeping staff furloughed indefinitely. It’s not a long term solution. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) ends on 30th October 2020; that’s less than 4 months away.
If you know that your business has significantly changed, you don’t have enough work to give to your staff and it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that you will need to reduce your head count, now is the time to explore the ‘R’ word: Redundancy.
Initial considerations could include:
- Which roles are affected;
- How many people are in those roles;
- Where those employees are based;
- How many potential redundancies are there; and
- What it will cost you.
You will need to work out statutory notice, holiday and redundancy entitlements and any additional contractual entitlements.
You can consult with staff whilst they are furloughed but depending on the number involved there may be a minimum consultation period before a dismissal can take effect. You may have to notify the Redundancy Payments Service too.
Whilst it remains a grey area as to whether employers can require employees to take holidays whilst furloughed, it has been clarified that you can designate staff as furloughed during their notice period. An employer may then reclaim furlough pay under the CJRS. Something to bear in mind for employers who may not otherwise be able to afford to pay notice pay to redundant staff.
