If you were going to be made redundant

[Ozgirl75]

Would you prefer to know straight away, or have it dragged out on furlough until the bitter end?
DH and I run a business and we think we will have to make one staff member redundant - the work just isn’t there and we need to protect the other staff. She’s been on furlough since April (coming in for the occasional week to cover other staff holidays) and I think we should tell her that at the end of furlough she’ll be made redundant (with a payout as she’s been with us 7 years) to give her a chance to start looking for a new job. DH thinks this will mean she won’t do any work when she comes in and we should tell her at the end and she surely has figured out the “lay of the land” by now and would be looking anyway.
Which would you prefer?
The other option is that we offer her a role with significantly diminished hours (like 1-2 days per week) and the opportunity to cover holidays.

I’d want to know as soon as possible and also about the possibility of reduced hours. I could then work out the best option and look for work.

Tell her everything. If she's been there 7 years surely she won't screw you.

As soon as possible I’m in that situation and the constant limbo is utterly draining. If I knew it was over I could make plans, but this ‘we’ll update you next week’ is awful and I don’t know if I should be saving every penny to help with my future or spending as normal to help the economy. Can’t book events as I don’t know if I’ll still be working or unemployed, can’t look for another job as may not need it and love my job, but if it does end up that way I’ll need something quickly.

You're legally required to give if I understand correctly from Acas' site 30 days notice that you're considering making redundancies as a "consultation period" plus 1 weeks notice for every year served so 7 weeks in her case too. Frankly I think that's still a bit minimal.

I believe you also have to allow her paid time off to attend interviews etc to find a new position.

Were you aware of this? You seem not too sure of how it works.

Thanks everyone - pretty unanimous then.
Yes I know the legalities, it’s more whether we start the process now or at the end of the furlough period. We would keep her on until furlough ends anyway which, with the redundancy would probably keep her paid until January.
We have no intention of screwing her - we feel bad enough that she has to go, hence trying to keep her on reduced hours with the hope that business picks up again soon.

Speaking for myself, I would want the benefits of furlough and only be made redundant at the end

If you start now you can offset some costs while furlough still runs and she knows where she stands. You’ll have to pay her 100% during the notice period, which as pp said starts at the end of consultation. She’ll most likely be due a redundancy settlement at the end too - maybe another seven weeks. She doesn’t have to agree to reduced hours, especially if others aren’t being treated similarly. That’s my understanding of UK law anyway. I don’t work in HR btw.

Thanks - yes we know she doesn’t have to accept the reduced hours but it’s basically that or nothing. We don’t have another staff member who could be comparable as every person in the firm does different things.
We want to keep her on furlough as long as possible to put the money aside to pay for her redundancy! She would get all the benefits of that anyway. We’re doing all we can but our business revenue dropped 90% in April and May and still isn’t back to normal yet.

But surely you’re not saving the furlough money if you’re paying it out to her?

I'm a planner and can handle uncertainty if I know what I want to do about each scenario. I would want to know fairly early.