P&O In The News
On 17th March, P&O made headline news for dismissing 800 of its staff by a Zoom call which is said to have lasted 4 minutes.
According to reports, staff were given no notice of the meeting and were told that their contracts would be terminated “with immediate effect on the grounds of redundancy” and that their “final day of employment is today”.
Following the Zoom call, staff took to social media revealing what had just happened and Unions were in uproar.
If a business wants to make staff redundant within the following 90 days, then they must consult with the staff. Where there are more than 20 planned redundancies, then they have to ‘collectively consult’ for a period of 30 days or 45 days where more than 100 staff will be affected. This means that businesses have to meet with employee representatives and unions to discuss the proposed redundancies, the reason for them and if there are any ways to avoid it.
On 24th March, Peter Hebblethwaite faced very uncomfortable questions in a committee of MPs and confirmed that the dismissals were in breach of UK employment law.
Redundancies should always be a ‘last resort’ and they should be handled with compassion. Having conducted redundancy consultations myself, it is never pleasant and no matter how it has come about, the bottom line is someone may potentially lose their job, regardless of any redundancy payment they may receive.
P & O’s decision just highlights that not only must a company consult with staff, but they should as well. Consultation is a two-way process and is designed to see if redundancy can be avoided for example by reducing working hours, taking unpaid leave or sabbaticals or taking temporary pay cuts.
I am sure there were reasons why P & O decided not to consult but, in my opinion, I find it difficult to understand how those reasons can be justified.
If you need help with redundancy consultations, please feel free to get in touch for a free and confidential discussion.
