Editor's message: Employers who find themselves experiencing a downturn in their business may ask employees to agree to being laid off or to reduce their hours (known as short-time working) as a way of avoiding redundancies.
An employee is laid off during a particular week if the employer does not have sufficient work for the employee and the employee is not paid as a result. Short-time working occurs when the employer does not have sufficient work and the employee works fewer days or hours than normal and receives less than half a normal week's pay.
However, employers have no statutory right to lay off an employee or to keep them on short-time working, so can only take this action if the employee agrees. In the current climate, an employee may be prepared to accept a period of lay-off or short-time working if they are aware that the alternative could be redundancy.
HR and legal information and guidance relating to lay-offs and short-time working.