{"id":2012,"date":"2020-11-12T15:40:28","date_gmt":"2020-11-12T15:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrteam.ie\/?p=2012"},"modified":"2022-09-30T11:01:32","modified_gmt":"2022-09-30T10:01:32","slug":"helping-employees-overcome-the-5-challenges-of-lockdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrteamservices.com\/en\/helping-employees-overcome-the-5-challenges-of-lockdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping Employees Overcome The 5 Challenges of Lockdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many businesses are now having to think on their feet to ensure survival during lockdown and beyond, and HR Team\u2019s experts are on-hand with commercially focused advice on how to make the right decisions.<\/p>\n

\"Helping<\/p>\n

Director, Breda Cullen, says HR Team\u2019s<\/a> consultants are making a number of recommendations on how to implement the various options available to employers faced with very difficult decisions at this time. The key employment challenges in lockdown<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. Adhering to the latest government guidelines and restrictions in Ireland<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Making temporary lay-offs or introducing short-time working<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> Considering redundancies<\/p>\n

4.<\/strong> Homeworking Employers have a number of options available to deal with these challenges, as their businesses face operational reductions and closure.<\/p>\n

Lay-offs and short-time working:<\/h3>\n

\u2022 Temporary lay-off is an option when an employer is temporarily unable to provide an employee with the work for which they were employed.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Short-time working is also an option when operations have been reduced. Short-time working means employee\u2019s hours of work or pay are reduced to less than 50% of normal weekly working hours or normal weekly pay.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The legislation does not specify notice periods as to when employees should be notified regarding temporary layoffs or short-time working.<\/p>\n

\u2022 There must be an explicit and agreed contract clause with an employee to exercise the above. Reduced hours of work<\/p>\n

Many Employers are reducing hours of work either via short-time working or through consultation. It is very important to follow a process:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Speak to employees first.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Explain the changes you need to make.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Explain the reasons for the change.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Employee circumstances should be assessed on a case-by-case basis.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Other alternatives to be considered, such as redeployment.<\/p>\n

Redundancies<\/h3>\n

\u2022 In the first instance, unless you are sure that the role is permanently not needed, you can continue with a temporary lay-off or short-time working<\/p>\n

\u2022 This situation can be reviewed periodically in line with government announcements and the public health authorities. There are two key requirements when considering redundancy. There must be a genuine redundancy rationale and a meaningful consultation process carried out prior to making the final decision.<\/p>\n

The redundancy process for employers:<\/h3>\n

\u2022 Put employees \u2018at risk\u2019 of redundancy.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Consult with all employees who are affected.<\/p>\n

\u2022 If there are more individuals than jobs, and you plan on keeping some staff, conduct a selection process using objective-based criteria such as experience, qualifications and length of service.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Consider if you need to apply collective consultation.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Seek volunteers if appropriate.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Issue redundancy.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Provide opportunity to appeal.<\/p>\n

Homeworking considerations for employers<\/h3>\n

\u2022 Ensure a safe working environment and have a homeworking agreement to clarify terms and conditions.<\/p>\n

Clarify pay arrangements and hours of work for homeworking.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Provide the relevant equipment and materials needed for homeworking.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Clarify if telephone and internet costs will be reimbursed or be at the cost of the employee with guidance on security of information, data protection and confidentiality of data.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next?<\/h3>\n

\u2022 Review where your business is positioned in terms of level 5 restrictions.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 If your business is closing, ensure that temporary lay-offs are notified in writing and continue to communicate with staff throughout.<\/p>\n

\u2022 If you remain open, ensure you have a robust safety strategy in place. Where short-time working is to be introduced, ensure you communicate clearly in a letter to employees that their hours may be reduced.<\/p>\n

\u2022 If you are making redundancies, ensure you follow the correct consultation process.<\/p>\n

\u2022 In homeworking situations, ensure employees working from home have full clarity on a homeworking policy.<\/p>\n

Do you have an employment law or human resources question? <\/strong><\/p>\n

We help business start-ups, SMEs and large multinational organisations. Call to speak to us today on any aspect of employment law or strategic human resource services. Tel 01 695 0749 or NI 028 71 271 882.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many businesses are now having to think on their feet […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2891,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-performance-management"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHelping Employees Overcome The 5 Challenges of Lockdown | HR Team NI & UK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many businesses are now having to think on their feet to ensure survival during lockdown and beyond, we provide expert adivce.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hrteamservices.com\/en\/helping-employees-overcome-the-5-challenges-of-lockdown\/\" \/>\n<meta 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