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FM CAREERS - RECRUITMENT
TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT With the furlough scheme coming to an end on October 31st, many fi rms will be forced to change their employment strategies
to stay solvent. Can employers persuade staff to take a cut in hours or take holidays? Karen Holden, founder of A City Law Firm
looks at the legal position and HR Director for Sodexo UK & Ireland, Sarah Perry explains how they are managing their people
Strictly speaking under the Employment
Rights Act 1996 and standard UK contract
law you cannot unilaterally reduce or takeaway
an employee's salary or adjust their working
terms, without their informed consent, otherwise
it is a breach of contract. If, however, an employee
agrees to vary their terms, use annual leave or take
unpaid leave to help the employer they can agree
whatever the employer and they wish.
However, the question could later be asked were
they under duress (redundancy/termination to
take this option); and were they selected fairly (not
discriminatory)? This means an employer needs to
be very cautious and careful how they approach
sta and document their consent.
Where consent may not be forthcoming there are
provisions to temporarily lay o sta .
As an employer, you can force an employee
to take unpaid leave if there’s not enough work
available for them—commonly known as laying an
employee o – this MUST, however, be permitted
and already written into their employment contract.
Otherwise, to force them to take unpaid leave
without consent, is likely to be a breach of contract
and / or could lead to a claim for unfair dismissal.
There is no limit to how long you can lay-o an
employee, but if they’ve been away from work
for four weeks in a row, or six weeks within a 13-
week period where no more than six weeks are
consecutive, then they can apply for redundancy
pay and resign from their position.
Bear in mind that employees who are laid o or
put on short-time working are entitled to pay for
days where they do no work at all. This is 'statutory
guarantee pay' and is the legal minimum you must
pay. The maximum employees can get is £30 a day
for five days in any three-month period. That’s a
maximum of £150. If they earn less than £30 a day,
they will receive their normal daily rate. Employers
may have their own guarantee pay scheme but it
cannot be less than the statutory arrangements.
To qualify they must have been employed
continuously for one month (including part-time
workers) reasonably make sure they are available
for work; and cannot refuse any reasonable
alternative work (including work not in in their
contract).
Those sent on unpaid leave, can apply for
Universal Credit as it is intended to help people who
are on low income or out of work.
CAN YOU ASK AN EMPLOYEE TO TAKE HOLIDAY?
Employment contracts between an employer and
an employee usually give the employer the right to
force holiday at certain periods, such as Christmas.
Other contracts may give the employer the right to
force holiday at any period, so it is important that
employment contracts are thoroughly reviewed.
It is also important to check any additional COVIDrelated
agreements (i.e. furlough agreements if
they’re still in force) or for changes to holiday.
Remember that any changes to an employee’s
employment contract must be agreed by both
parties.
If an employment contract does not cover forced
holiday then an employer may look to a statutory
option, namely through the ‘Working Time
Regulation’. This gives the employer a right to send
their employees on holiday by providing at least
twice the duration of the proposed holiday as a
notice period. It is worth noting that this provision
only deals with the 5.6 weeks (including bank
holidays) of statutory holiday. Anything outside of
this will have to be dealt with by the employment
contract.
Communication and engagement with the
employees is encouraged to see if an agreement can
be reached. An employer should carefully review
all the agreements in place before imposing any
amendments of leave and if unsure take advice.
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Human Resources Director for
Sodexo UK & Ireland, Sarah Perry
COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions
have had a significant impact on our
industry. Many client sites still remain
closed, and those that are open have reduced occupancy,
service demand and retail sales.
As a strategic supplier to government, and working with
private sector clients who deliver goods or services also
categorised as necessary for the national e ort, many of
our colleagues are ‘key workers’ providing public services
in hospitals, prisons, government o ices, defence sites,
schools and universities.
Throughout the crisis we adopted a ‘redeployment
first’ approach for our colleagues. We were able to
do this due to our diverse business and the di erent
markets we operate in. We were able to redeploy many
colleagues to roles at sites where demand had increased
during the pandemic. We have also become one of the
leading providers managing the COVID-19 testing centres
which o ers even more opportunities to redeploy those
impacted by site closures.
For those we could not redeploy, the government’s job
retention scheme enabled us to protect jobs. We ensured
that our furloughed colleagues continued to receive 100
per cent pay by topping up the 20 per cent for the first
phase of the scheme up until 30 June, and subsequently
as the scheme changed we have continued to support
those who have remained on furlough, ensuring that
they receive up to 80 per cent of their normal pay until
the scheme closes.
We have always sought to do right by our people and
our business. To support our colleagues through these
extraordinary times our parent company established a
€30 million global employee relief programme in early
April, the programme was funded by contributions from
all members of the global executive committee and our
UK and Ireland Regional Leadership Committee.
In May we cancelled our annual management bonus
scheme and created an employee fund to reward
frontline colleagues who worked through the crisis. The
fund has enabled us to support full pay during furlough
and provide enhanced sick pay provision for our frontline
employees. The reward scheme will also help further
recognise those who have gone ‘above and beyond’ in
the fight against COVID-19. We do not know if or when
we will return to pre-COVID levels of demand for our
services. We are continuing to review all aspects of our
business. Our business mix of food and FM across both
the private and public sector is helping us to adapt to the
changing market conditions and our client needs in what
is now termed the ‘new normal’.
52 OCTOBER 2020
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