employment law question

[armbow]

Hello
Hoping you could give me some advice.

I employ one employee and who has worked for me for about 6 months. during this time i have paid her for holidays etc that she has taken.

she earns over the threshold for ni and tax so i pay her tax and ni.

she has no contract and I have to ask her to leave asap (not for misconduct but the business cannot afford to keep here on), what notice if any do i have to give her?

tia

The legal minimum is 1 week if she has worked for up to 2 years.

You have to be careful how you do this to avoid claims of unfair dismissal. You say she has no contract. I'm afraid she does have a contract, although it may not be written, and you should have given her a written statement of the main terms of her employment within two months of her starting work.

If you are making her redundant you must consult with her first. You must explain to her why you are making her redundant and discuss any alternatives (reduced pay, reduced hours, etc.). After you have done that you must give her at least one week's notice. You don't have to give her any compensation for redundancy (although you will have to pay her for the notice period) but many employers choose to give redundant employers some compensation to try and head off any unfair dismissal claims.

Hope your business improves soon.

prh, are you sure these requirements apply? As the employee has only been there 6 months, there can be no unfair dismissal claim (must have 1 year continuous employment) or redundancy claim (needs 2 years continuous).

The bit about giving a statement of the main terms is correct.

As I said, an employee needs 2 years continuous service before they receive compensation for redundancy.

Whilst there is normally a requirement for 1 years employment before a claim of unfair dismissal can be made, there are a whole pile of exceptions which allow an employee to bring a case even if they have only been employed for one day (e.g. if the employee is sacked for attending jury service). An employee who thinks they have been made redundant unfairly may be able to bring a claim for unfair dismissal even if they haven't been employed for a year.

There are some exceptions, yes. These are mainly to do with discrimination and exerting statutory rights though and we have no indication that any of those reasons apply here.

So if the reason for dismissal is purely a redundancy issue because of costs, in the event that it's only one employee and she has only 6 months service I would imagine a 'by-the-book' procedure with consultation process etc would feel unnatural, over the top and is in my view unnecessary.

You need to give her a week's notice and make sure you pay her for holidays accrued but not taken, give her a letter confirming her redundancy.

I agree that it is unlikely any of the exceptions apply. However, that doesn't stop the employee arguing that they do and you really want to head this off without her trying it on.

I wouldn't go over the top with this. A 10 minute conversation telling her that you are going to have to make her redundant and explaining why would be reasonable and would be kinder than simply handing her a letter giving her notice. Provided you allow her to discuss alternatives and raise any points she wants to make that would be enough to say you have consulted.

Yes, that's exactly what I was recommending. Obviously you don't just 'hand her a letter', but have a conversation and explain.

Hello

Just to let you know we negotiated reduced hours. Thanks for your advice