Staff dismissals, redundancy and furlough leave
This section will help you to understand your legal obligations when you are dismissing Anybody who works for a business, whether as an employee, casual worker, apprentice, agency worker or freelancer., making them redundant or ending temporary contracts and when and how you are able to do so. This includes the policies and procedures that you should have in place, dealing with notice periods and the practical steps you need to take after a Anybody who works for a business, whether as an employee, casual worker, apprentice, agency worker or freelancer. member’s employment is terminated. This section also provides guidance about entering into Agreements recording the fact that the parties in a legal dispute (or potential legal dispute) have resolved the issues between them. Particularly common in employment disputes. and providing references for Anybody who works for a business, whether as an employee, casual worker, apprentice, agency worker or freelancer..
Process for dismissing an employee
- 1.How do I decide whether to dismiss my employee?
- 2.Are there particular reasons I have to have for dismissing an employee?
- 3.What are the particular reasons I cannot use to dismiss my employee?
- 4.Do I have to follow a particular process before I dismiss an employee?
- 5.What do I need to do if I want to dismiss an employee during probation?
- 6.Must I tell an employee why I am dismissing them?
- 7.Is an employee allowed to appeal my decision to dismiss them?
- 8.Can I force an employee to resign so that I do not have to dismiss them?
- 9.Can I come to a settlement agreement with my employee so that they will not sue me for their dismissal?
Specific dismissal situations
- 10.Can I dismiss an employee who is on long-term sick leave?
- 11.Can I dismiss an employee who is frequently off work sick?
- 12.Can I dismiss a disabled employee because of the amount of sick leave they have taken?
- 13.Can I dismiss an employee if she is pregnant or on maternity leave?
- 14.Can I dismiss an employee if they have to go on jury service?
- 15.Can I dismiss an employee who is under-performing?
- 16.Can I dismiss a disabled employee who is under-performing?
- 17.Can I suggest retirement to an older member of staff who is under-performing?
- 18.Can I dismiss an employee who arrives late or is absent without my consent?
- 19.How do I deal with absence and/or lateness if my staff member has a disability?
- 20.Can I dismiss an employee who has lied about their qualifications?
- 21.Can I dismiss an employee who is accused or convicted of a crime or motoring offence?
- 22.Can I dismiss an employee for dressing inappropriately?
- 23.Can I dismiss an employee for being abusive or behaving inappropriately?
- 24.How do I deal with abusive or inappropriate behaviour from a disabled member of staff?
- 25.Can I end my employee's contract for gross misconduct?
- 26.What can count as gross misconduct?
- 27.Can I dismiss an employee because they have exposed wrongdoings in my business (ie whistleblowing)?
- 28.Can I dismiss an employee because I can no longer afford them or do not need them anymore?
- 29.Can I dismiss an employee who refuses to return to work due to fear of COVID-19?
Deciding to make redundancies
- 30.What are my options if my business no longer needs or cannot afford to keep staff?
- 31.What alternatives to redundancy should I consider?
- 32.In what circumstances can I make employees redundant?
- 33.How much will staff redundancies cost my business?
- 34.Can I dismiss an employee rather than making them redundant in order to avoid a redundancy payment?
- 35.If my employee's temporary contract comes to an end and I do not renew it, will this count as a redundancy?
- 36.What happens if an employee volunteers for redundancy?
- 37.Can I make an employee redundant if they are pregnant or on maternity, adoption or shared parental leave?
- 38.Can I avoid redundancies by offering employees different jobs within the business?
- 39.What process do I need to follow to move an employee into an alternative job instead of making them redundant?
- 40.Can I reach an agreement with a redundant employee that they will not sue me in the future?
Redundancy process
- 41.What are the proposed reforms to redundancy process under the Employment Rights Bill?
- 42.What process do I need to follow to make employees redundant?
- 43.How should I tell employees that I am making redundancies and consult with them about it?
- 44.How do I decide which staff to make redundant?
- 45.How do I create a redundancy pool?
- 46.What groups of employees should be included in a redundancy pool?
- 47.How do I choose which staff from a redundancy pool to make redundant?
- 48.How do I decide on selection criteria in a redundancy process?
- 49.What selection criteria are commonly used in a redundancy process?
- 50.Are there any selection criteria I must avoid in a redundancy process?
- 51.How should I apply selection criteria to employees in a redundancy pool?
- 52.What should I do if two employees in a redundancy pool receive the same score?
- 53.What period of time should I choose for assessing employees in a redundancy pool?
- 54.How do I tell staff they have been selected for redundancy?
- 55.How do I run a first individual consultation meeting during a redundancy process?
- 56.How do I make a final decision about whether to make an employee redundant or not?
- 57.How do I inform an employee that they will be made redundant?
- 58.Do I have to give an employee the opportunity to appeal a decision to make them redundant?
- 59.How do I calculate redundancy payments?
- 60.When should I pay my employee's redundancy payment?
- 61.What can I do if I cannot afford to pay my employee's redundancy pay?
- 62.What happens if I offer my employee an alternative job rather than making them redundant?
- 63.When is it unreasonable for my employee to refuse an alternative job offer during a redundancy process?
- 64.How and when do I make an alternative job offer during a redundancy process?
- 65.What happens if I offer my employee an alternative job during a redundancy process, but it doesn't work out?
- 66.Do I have to help redundant employees look for new jobs?
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough)
- 67.What was the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (aka furlough leave)?
- 68.Can I still access my previous claims under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme?
- 69.Could I claim back NICs and pension contributions for staff who were on furlough?
- 70.What records do I need to keep for furlough claims made under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme?
- 71.Is information about claims made under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme publicly available?
- 72.Did employment benefits continue to accrue whilst a staff member was on furlough leave?
- 73.Did the right to annual leave continue to accrue whilst staff were on furlough leave?
Notice periods
- 74.How much notice do I need to give to end my staff member's contract?
- 75.When can I make a payment in lieu of notice?
- 76.What happens if I do not give my employee the right notice when I dismiss them?
- 77.Do I have to give an employee notice if I am dismissing them for gross misconduct?
- 78.What do I do about notice if it becomes illegal to employ my employee (eg their visa runs out)?
- 79.When does the notice period start if I have given my staff member notice to end the contract?
- 80.Does the notice period count towards my employee's period of continuous employment?
- 81.What if I do not want the employee to work during their notice period?
- 82.When can I put an employee on garden leave?
Ending contracts with fixed-term/temporary employees
- 83.How do I bring my employee's fixed-term contract to an end when the term expires or their task is completed?
- 84.Are fixed-term employees entitled to redundancy payments?
- 85.Do I need to give notice if I want to dismiss a fixed-term employee when the fixed term expires?
- 86.Can I end a fixed-term employee's contract before the end of the fixed term?
- 87.How much notice do I have to give to end a fixed-term employee's employment contract before the end of the fixed term?
- 88.Can I end a fixed-term employee's contract if the fixed-term in their contract has expired but they are still working for me?
- 89.Can I end my temporary employee's contract because they were covering another employee's absence (eg maternity leave)?
- 90.What do I do if my fixed-term employee claims to have become a permanent employee?
- 91.Must I tell my employee why I am ending or not renewing their fixed-term contract?
- 92.Can my fixed-term employee end their contract early?
Ending contracts with freelancers
Ending the hire of agency staff
Ending contracts with apprentices
- 99.How do I end an apprentice's contract?
- 100.Do I have to have particular reasons for ending my apprentice's contract?
- 101.Can an apprentice sue me for unfair dismissal?
- 102.How much notice must I give to end an apprenticeship agreement?
- 103.Can I end an apprentice's contract early?
- 104.Can my apprentice end their contract early?
- 105.Do I have to pay my apprentice a redundancy payment if I don't take them on permanently?
- 106.Must I tell my apprentice why I am not taking them on at the end of their apprenticeship?
Ending internships
Ending contracts with casual workers
Settlement agreements
- 112.Can I enter into a settlement agreement with a staff member?
- 113.When is it a good idea to enter into a settlement agreement with a staff member?
- 114.How do I approach settlement negotiations with a staff member?
- 115.What formalities need to be in place for a settlement agreement to be legally binding?
References
Practical steps to take when a staff member leaves
- 119.What practicalities do I need to consider when a staff member leaves?
- 120.How do I calculate and make a final payment to a member of staff?
- 121.How do I calculate leave allowance if a member of staff leaves part way through the leave year?
- 122.How do I complete a P45 form for employees?
- 123.How do I conduct an exit interview?
- 124.How do I go about removing a member of staff's access to IT, email and subscriptions?
- 125.What records should I keep about a former member of staff?
- 126.What practical steps should I take if my employee's employment contract contains a restrictive covenant?
Redundancy - Outcome of individual consultation meeting
Use this letter to notify your staff member of the outcome of an individual consultation meeting. It can be used if there were further points to discuss or follow up on following an individual’s first individual consultation meeting, such as the possibility of the individual taking an alternative job within the business. You can also purchase this letter as part of the Redundancy toolkit .
£20 + VAT
Dismissal letter
This dismissal letter is your formal notification to a member of staff that they are dismissed. It includes options for you to select the reasons for the dismissal as either gross misconduct, misconduct, issues with capability or ill-health. It is usually important to be clear about your reasons for firing someone and this template letter will help ensure that you give a proper explanation for your decision. The letter of dismissal also covers the practicalities following on from the dismissal, including what happens with annual leave, final salary payments and any company property. It should help make sure that everything runs smoothly in what can potentially be a difficult and disruptive process, both for the staff member who is leaving and those within your business who are dealing with the dismissal. You can also get this letter as part of the Disciplinary toolkit .
£20 + VAT
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