The global pandemic has seen many businesses struggling, even after things open again and the lockdown is no longer in place. It may force your business to consider making people redundant, but before you go down this road, you will want to exhaust all other possibilities. It is often best to be open and honest with your employees in this situation, and doing so may show you the light at the end of the tunnel. If your company is struggling and you are considering redundancies, consider the factors below before you bite the bullet and see if it is possible to keep everyone in a job first.
Inform Your Employees Of The Potential Situation
It is worth the time and effort to speak to your employees about the troubling situation the business is in before you start making people redundant. You may dread telling your employees about the problem, but you may also be surprised by their reaction. When everyone knows they are in the same boat, they will often go that extra mile to help save their jobs, which may get you out of the situation you are in with your business.
Reduce Working Hours
After speaking to your workers, I see they may be willing to reduce their working hours, which will help your company. However, before implementing this, you must consult with your workers and give them the options. Although reducing working hours and pay is not a pleasant prospect, it is better than losing your job completely so that many workers will be accommodating. Once you have your workers’ agreement, you can reduce the working hours for everyone and save money to help protect your business.
Reduce Your Overheads
You may also want to try and reduce your overheads before seeking redundancy support for employers from a professional company and laying people off. There are various ways you can do this, such as stopping training for your workers. You can also consider putting everyone’s bonus on hold, although it will depend on their employment contract. You will need the employee to defer this if they are contractually due a premium because of their employment agreement. You can also reduce spending money on food and drinks for staff if you provide them with team bonding activities. However, if this is insufficient, you may need to bite the bullet and make some of your staff redundant.
Asking For Voluntary Redundancies
When push comes to shove, you may still need to ask your employees for volunteers for redundancy. If you are lucky, you will have a few people willing to take the redundancy package you offer, which may be enough to save your company from letting more people go. However, if this is not enough to save your business, you will need to start assessing all your workers and finding the business areas where you can let workers go with minimal impact on the company. Ensure you seek legal advice before going down the redundancy route, try everything you can to avoid it, and ensure you do not infringe on your workers’ rights when it comes to redundancy.
