Meeting invitation to discuss lay-off or short time working

If you want to implement or propose a lay-off or short time working to deal with temporary work shortages, start the process off by arranging a meeting with affected employees using our letter.

Contractual provision?

Where you don’t provide work for an employee on a day when they would normally work because there is a diminution in the requirements of your business for work of the kind which they’re employed to do, they’re laid off. Where the employee works for you for some of the week but is laid off for the rest of the week, that’s short time working. Where you have an express contractual right to impose a lay-off or short time working, it’s binding on the employee, but you’ll still need to exercise your power under a Lay-Off and Short Time Working Clause in compliance with the implied term of mutual trust and confidence, which generally means meeting with staff to discuss your intentions and taking their views into account. Check also that your clause includes the right not to pay the employee (other than statutory guarantee payments) during the lay-off or short time working period – if it doesn’t, you’ll have to continue paying them normal pay (unless they consent to it being unpaid). If you don’t have the express contractual right, you must obtain each affected employee’s informed consent to the unpaid lay-off or short time working – otherwise, if you were to impose it on them unilaterally, you’d be at risk of them resigning and claiming constructive dismissal and/or bringing claims for unlawful deductions from wages.

Meeting

Whichever scenario applies, it’s recommended you start the process off by having a meeting with the affected employees to verbally explain your intentions/proposals and the reasons for the current situation. This could be a general staff meeting (which might be preferable where you have a contractual clause) or individual meetings (the better option where you don’t have a contractual clause). Our Meeting Invitation to Discuss Lay-Off or Short Time Working covers both scenarios. If you do have a contractual clause, you’re arranging a meeting to discuss your intentions, whereas if you don’t have a contractual clause, you’re arranging a meeting to discuss your proposals with a view to seeking the employee’s express consent to them. Choose the paragraphs in our letter according to which scenario applies in your case.

Next steps

Once you’ve held the meeting, you can follow it up with our Letter Imposing a Lay-Off or Short Time Working or Letter Seeking Agreement to a Lay-Off or Short Time Working (as applicable). Those letters set out the terms of the imposed/proposed lay-off or short time working in more detail.