A lawyer claims some firms are using coronavirus as an excuse to get rid of staff and says any company citing Covid-19 as a reason for dismissal should be using furlough instead.
The Head of Employment Law at one of the North Wales's largest independent law firms has reported being approached several times in the past couple of weeks by workers seeking advice about bosses who appear to be using Covid-19 as an excuse to get rid of them.
Robert Williams, a partner with GHP Legal, said thanks to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which allows companies to furlough staff and get 80% of their wages paid up to 拢2,500, Covid-19 cannot be used as a reason to end employments.
He said: 鈥淚f employers are worried about putting families at risk by their workers taking the virus home, this is not a reason to sack them.
鈥淭his and similar situations are the cue for a responsible conversation about assessing risks on both sides and protecting the business for the future.
鈥淭he Job Retention Scheme is the obvious way to go as it means workers get 80% of their pay through the scheme without any long-term cost to the employer.
鈥淚f an employee is dismissed when the employer fails to use the scheme, then it may be viewed as rendering the dismissal unfair as all possible options were not properly considered.
鈥淲hilst the furlough scheme might leave workers short by 20% in their pay packet, they will be making a saving on such as daily transport, by staying at home.
鈥淭he scheme means that employment relationships can be put on hold in the current climate. Furlough leave is available to those who were 鈥榦n the books鈥 on or before 19 th March 2020.
鈥淪o, I would advise any workers or employers with difficult decisions to make to strongly consider using the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme rather than jump to any hasty decisions when there is another option. The scheme preserves jobs and the business and keeps workers safe for the future.
鈥淎ny employees who think they are being 鈥榣et go鈥 unfairly should get in touch with a solicitor as soon as possible. Whilst law firms are not currently seeing clients face to face on their office premises, it is still very much 鈥榖usiness as usual鈥; business is just being conducted in a different way, via email, phone and website enquiry forms.
鈥淎nd my advice to struggling employers would be to check out the furlough leave scheme with their solicitors or ACAS if they haven鈥檛 already done so and if they want to avoid landing themselves in hot water by ending employments for a Covid-19 related reason.鈥
