7th Aug 2007 - 00:00
Abstract
A commercial law firm has suggested that businesses within the hospitality industry need to urgently assess their staffing because employees are able to claim redundancy payments after just four weeks.
Yew continued: "While they may save money in the short-term, it could cost them dear in the longer run if they lose valuable members of their team and have to make substantial redundancy payments. Employers should seriously think about whether there is any way that staff can be put to effective use, such as sending them to another branch or helping get the business back up and running." Julian Yew says that hotels and restaurant businesses could be among the most likely to be caught out: "The nature of hotel and leisure businesses often means that staff hours are assigned on a rota basis. Because this is a more flexible approach than other businesses who are strictly nine-to-five, this may lead employers wrongly to assume that they can simply ask staff to work fewer hours or lay them off temporarily. However, they need to check carefully that they are contractually allowed to do this beforehand."