Things to Know Before Making Redundancies

The world in business, particularly when it applies to people, is constantly changing. The way you have run your business one day may change the next day because of equality and diversity legislation. If your business is in a decline mode, you may need to think about cutting staff in order to survive. Before acting, you should review the relevant employment contracts and handbooks to confirm they have an up-to-date statement of your company's redundancy policies. If you have spoken with a business owner who was compelled to employ obligatory redundancies, you will have quickly realized exactly how complicated it is when your knowledge of facts is deficient.

When there's a downturn, the best thing is to take care of your business and its employees first. When planning a redundancy program, an employer will have to be in compliance with certain legal procedures. For instance, an employer is okay making a staff member redundant if the business is closing or if the job the employee fills isn't required anymore. When an employer lays off 20 or more employees during any 90 day time period, he must have a consultation with a human resources manager or with those who were terminated.

Temporary layoffs can be used by employers before resorting to redundancy. It has to be for a set period of time and you have to realize that an employee could possibly claim redundancy if that time period is exceeded. Another good way to boost morale is to let employees choose their own hours.

Flexible hours allows an employer to continue to utilize the skills of loyal employees through job sharing, part-time hours or term-time working. The employees might be okay with this and realize that times are hard and there is a need to cut back. Another flexible option could be to allow some employees the option to work from their home, which will help cut down of office expenses.

As an employer, you must give an employee a notice period, and you should give your employees on the "redundancies" list one week's pay for every year they worked up to twelve weeks. Anything received under £30,000 is tax free for your employees. Additionally, if your employees receive a lump sum, as their employer, you should be encouraging that they place some of it in a pension plan. We recommend that redundant individuals be given the option of working with an outplacement counselor who is sponsored by the company.

How to Avoid Unlawful Discrimination when Training Staff

In every area of one’s business, it is important to make sure that a comprehensive equality and diversity policy is in place and being properly monitored. This applies in instances of staff training in terms of both content and access because training can be seen as both a direct benefit, therefore being treated as a form of compensation, and as a gateway to promotion. When an employer fails to make a complete application of correct company policies, this can cause employees to file successful lawsuits regarding illegal discrimination, even in cases when the employer makes an effort to make these conditions better for employees. Taking proper precautions at the outset is the best way to avoid costly lawsuits in the future.

Knowing What the Law is About
The anti discrimination employment law stipulates that it is illegal for anyone to be at a disadvantage in the workplace simply because that person is a member of a protected class. Protected classes include: race, disability, family status, age, color, creed and gender. Employment decisions made based on any of these criteria are improper and can form the basis of a lawsuit, and, in the case of legitimate disability or limitation, an employer is responsible for making reasonable accommodations for the disadvantaged employee. However, anti discrimination laws also can be violated if opportunities are provided that disadvantage one group. It is illegal to disadvantage a protected class in connection with training unless there is a justifiable business reason.

Legal Considerations of Training Courses
Employees typically see training courses both as a form of compensation and as a way to advance within an organization. In order to stay within the bounds of the law, it is important to be sure to not intentionally, or inadvertently, create or offer employee training that can be seen as disadvantageous to a given protected class. For example, a company that has many locations spread out in a metropolitan area that decides to offer training only at specific location, must do so without putting groups at a disadvantage. Location can be a form of discrimination, when the locations were only offered at a distance from minority neighborhoods. That could result in the company facing danger and possibly a law suit. If the company had a legitimate reason, such as the locations selected were those owned by a third party training company, there might be a counter-argument. When you set about to draft the equality and diversity policy for the company you must consider that even effective defenses will not prevent law suits from being filed.

The Equality Act 2010 with Regards to Disability

Under the Equality Act 2010 (EA), it is a violation of the law for an employer to discriminate against anyone who is disabled, whether they are an employee or someone who applies for a job. This equality and diversity legislation also relates to the recruitment, promotion and dismissal of your employees. As you make the reasonable adjustments the law requires, you must also ensure that a disabled individual will not be at a significant disadvantage in comparison to someone else who does not have that disability.

Recognizing disability

In Great Britain, approximately one in every five adults is disabled, and the legal definition of the term is quite broad. According to the EA, a disabled individual is one with a mental or physical handicap that hampers necessary, daily activities. In addition, those with multiple sclerosis, cancer, HIV infection or certain visual conditions are automatically classified as being disabled.

Dealing with poor job performance

When a disabled person is doing poorly on the job, you may legally discipline or dismiss them, provided that you would take the same steps with an employee who is not disabled. If a disabled employee's unacceptable performance is related to the disability, reasonable accommodations must be made to ensure that the employee can properly perform the job.

What are "reasonable adjustments"?

Keep your business practices and policies up to date to ensure that your disabled workers are on a level playing field with non-disabled workers, as is required by current equality and diversity legislation. In addition, employers need to offer the accommodations that are needed to prevent an employee who is disabled from suffering a disadvantage. This could include additional or modified equipment for doing the job, and the employer must also be fully aware that such a disadvantage exists.

Preventing the problem

To prevent future problems, employers would do well to understand any adjustments that a disabled applicant or employee may feel need to be made specifically for them. Employers need to always take the first step under these circumstances, instead of the person with the disability, however they need to know that questions related to health are limited before offering them a job.
Promoting a company-wide consciousness of EA regulations ensures that you comply with anti-discrimination policies while also projecting a positive image to potential employees as well as to your customers, suppliers and other industry associates.