People planning for the end of October 2020

If you have utilised the government’s ‘Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme’ you are likely to be aware that the ‘Flexible Job Retention (Furlough) Scheme’ will end on 31^st October.

If you still have employees on furlough and believe there is a good chance you will not have enough work for them come November, it is worth considering commencing redundancy consultations with those staff affected, sooner rather than later. The reason for this is that (if you plan to make less than 20 people redundant) you could complete the consultation process during September and then you have the option of running (at least some of) their notice period alongside keeping them on furlough throughout October. This saves the company money by not having to pay PILON (pay in lieu of notice) on top of redundancy pay.

It is important to remember, all employers have a legal duty to consider all alternatives to redundancies, prior to commencing, and then throughout this process. As HR Consultant, I can advise you on options to consider, which may include:

• Reducing working hours
• Shift changes
• Amending job roles
• Amalgamating job roles
• Freezing bonuses and pay increases
• Putting in systems and policies to allow ‘Working From Home’ on a long-term basis

If you have exhausted all other options and need to make redundancies, we can assist you right through the redundancy process, including planning, drafting communication announcements, at risk letters, redundancy calculations, confirmation of redundancy letters, as well as attending the consultation meetings remotely if required.

If you would like to have an initial conversation around the above, or anything else HR related, please do contact Juliet Mellues on 01793 818300 or send her an email.