Employers are being warned against rushing to axe staff in a misplaced bid for survival. According to employment relations service Acas, the percentage of calls to its helpline about redundancy rose from an average of 15% over 2008-2009 to 35% last February.
This is my experience as well with many clients seeking redundancy advice.
What are the alternatives to redundancy?
One alternative is to change the terms and conditions of employment. The easiest way to do this is by getting agreement from employees, for example, to cut their hours temporarily or take a pay cut until business recovers.
The key is to obtain the agreement of the staff.
If things are not working with the relationship being pretty damaged some form of mediation can be useful but be careful....too soon and it can display a sign of weakness. Too late and the relationship is damaged and is too late to repair.
Justin Patten, Solicitor