If there is one thing that the pandemic has taught us it is that you can never be too prepared. We are all aware that the cost of living is increasing but that also means that the cost of business is increasing too.
Here are 5 tips that may help employers or employees.
- Bring staff back to the office
Being at home more during the winter may mean higher energy bills. If you still have your office or access to a co-working space you can help staff to reduce their heating costs by being in a warm environment in the office.
Staff who are more comfortable and happy will inevitably be more productive.
- Do more working from home
Working from home might ease the bills for both employers and employees. If staff have a long distance to travel to work it may be more cost-effective for them to work from home. This can also benefit the business and
can reduce their business energy costs too.
- Short-time working
If business starts to slow down you may feel the need to introduce short-time working. This means keeping all of your staff and reducing their hours. The benefit of this is that you only need to pay for the hours that the employee works and that employees get to keep their job. This should be done with caution though as there must be a contractual or written right to implement short-time working. You will also need some advice on information that must be given to staff when short-time working is introduced.
- Lay-off
Lay-off is a bit like furlough but without the pay. Lay-off allows employees to remain employed and keep all of their employment rights such as length of service and accrual of holiday pay.
However, during Lay-off staff do not work and do not receive their salary. An employer must have a contractual or written right to Lay-off before it can be introduced.
Employees have the right to receive a guarantee payment of £31 per day for at least 5 days within a 3 month period and must be told that they will have the right to ask for redundancy if the employer cannot bring them back to work after 4 consecutive weeks or 6 weeks within a 13 week period.
- Redundancy and Restructures
Making redundancies is not a nice thought but sometimes it is necessary for businesses to survive.
Redundancies and restructures can save costs but they can also be costly if not done correctly.
It is important for employers to look ahead as there are time limits for businesses who need to make 20 or more redundancies within a 90-day period.
If an employer plans to make 20 or more redundancies they must inform the government at least 30 days before the first redundancy. This time limit increase to 45 days for businesses that will make more than 100 staff redundant within a 90-day period.
There are other rules that must be followed even if you are only making 1 redundancy so it is always a good idea to take advice.
This blog is only intended for general knowledge and not specific advice. If you would like Employment Law or HR Support contact us at www.orchardemploymentlaw.co.uk or call 01634 564136