Is redundancy okay if an employee’s work has diminished?
February is a particularly busy time for the HR advice line at Quest and redundancy has reared its head. This week’s question is following a general theme that is running throughout this month.
Question of the week
Our client asked whether they could make an employee redundant as their work had diminished. “Yes”, was our reply as work that has or is ceasing or diminishing is one the defining features of a redundancy situation.
The bizarre thing about it was that the client said this same employee had not had any work for over a year. In fact, the client was not sure so it could possibly have been over a longer period. In which case he had been paid to do nothing for well over a year! It is a rare occasion but this does happen from time to time, where an employee somehow slips under the radar. That is crazy, you might surmise, especially in the current economic climate but it does happen.
Employee management is imperative so that this type of situation can be avoided. As the longer something like this continues the more ammunition the employee would have to argue that it has become custom and practice. Therefore, this forms part of their terms and conditions of employment. In this particular situation that argument wouldn’t have legal merits. This is because essentially the employee has been paid to do nothing! Thankfully the employer had a lay off clause and our advice was to lay him off without any further delay! This would then be followed by a redundancy consultation process. For further information on redundancy processes, see this month's QView.
How Quest can help
It is so easy when a business is performing to miss the obvious savings, including one of the biggest costs of labour. We at Quest encourage you to review your systems, processes and headcount on a regular basis in order to ensure that you remain as efficient as possible and in turn can maximise your profit.
If you require support with your HR processes, Quest can help. See HR Outsourcing or contact us for more information.
