Coronavirus warning for employers over redundancies

Employers should not use the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to “get rid of dead wood”, a legal expert has warned.

Edwin Morrison, a director at K3 Legal, said businesses wanting to make redundancies needed to follow the correct process.

“That means they – the employer – can’t just turn up tomorrow and say you are redundant.”

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Morrison said a position could only be made a redundant based on genuine economic reasons.

“It can’t be for past performance of the employee.”

Morrison said there had to be a consultation process where the staff member was told their position could be made redundant and then given a chance to provide feedback on it.

Employees can counter the proposal with their own and could make suggestions such as taking a pay cut,…