Is the Economic Climate making you consider redundancies?  - Melissa Ritchie We have had a number of enquiries over the past few weeks regarding the process for making employees redundant from clients who are suffering from a downturn in business due to the current economic climate.  In light of this we felt it might be useful to our readers to run through some of the key points to consider when carrying out redundancies.  The first thing to consider is whether this is really necessary.  Redundancies do cause an anxious environment at work which may be detrimental.  Even for those employees not affected or made redundant you might find that they are distracted during the redundancy process and work performance can be affected.  Also if they feel that the company is not secure they might start looking for a new job when previously they would not have done and you might end up losing more employees than you had bargained for.  In addition you need to think about how the outside world will see your company as it makes redundancy; it is the kind of thing that competitors delight in!  The next question you need to ask yourself is whether there are any alternatives to redundancy.  There are a number of short term possible solutions that may help carry you over a bad patch.  For example if you have it written into the contract of employment that short-time working or lay-offs are an option they are well worth exploring.  Similarly offering early retirement, reduced pay or flexible working might be worth exploring with your employees.  If the downturn is across the industry they know that finding another job in the industry will be difficult and therefore will be more open to other options.  If you have thought through the situation and still believe that redundancies are still the only option then you need to be aware of the costs involved.  The Business Link redundancy pay calculator is a good starting point and can be accessed at http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/wSRStart?topicId=1079123862&r.li=1080053930&r.l1=1073858787&r.l3=1074019927&r.l2=1073876974&r.s=a If you do need to make any of your team redundant you won’t be surprised if we tell you that there are a number of requirements you must fulfil regarding communication and consultation.  Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like to discuss your personal situation.

 

Why do people do what they do? - John Bartlett I came across these two stories on the ‘Darwin Awards’ website.  Two people, 17 and 20, emulated Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader and fought each other with lightsabers. Only they didn't have toy lightsabers, so they made their own from fluorescent light bulbs. That's right, they each opened up a fluorescent tube, poured gasoline inside, and lit the end... As one can imagine, a Star Wars sized explosion was not far behind. Both participants survived to confess to their creative, but stupid, film reenactment.  ( Western Australia ) The Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter uses a piece of heavy machinery called a screw feeder, a large cast-iron tube with an Archimedean screw inside. As the screw turns, it transports chunks of ore along its length. One of the drawbacks to the design is that it can and does jam, if ore gets wedged between the edge of the screw and the casing.  When a jam occurs, correct procedure is... what? That's right, shut down the machinery, open a hatch in the casing, and use a pry bar to dislodge the jam. Then start the machinery back up.  Incorrect procedure, as demonstrated by one worker, is to take a six-foot jimmy bar and bash the side of the casing in an effort to dislodge the jam. This is a bad idea because cast iron can fracture if abused. But the screw feeder is a rugged piece of equipment. It survived the bashing.  Our anti-hero then opened the inspection panel whilst the feeder was running. He spotted the jam and dislodged it with the same six-foot jimmy bar. Did I mention that the feeder is still running? Did I mention that it's a large and rugged piece of equipment?  The screw grabbed the end of the jimmy bar and whipped it around violently. The free end of the bar intersected our man's testicles. He landed in a crumpled, semi-conscious heap ten feet away from the now free-running feeder. Fortunately for him, the mangled bar missed him when it was flung free of the feeder moments later. Otherwise this story would have a more somber ending.  The unfortunate worker sustained injuries to his genitalia that necessitated a hospital stay. And worse, he put an end to the smelter's accident-free run in a public and highly amusing fashion. His pride was as crushed as his testicles. Almost!  There are many theories in health and safety as to why people do stupid things and I won’t bore you quoting them but I’ll leave you with the question: "Is there such a thing as an accident?’’  Be safe  JB