The Legal Notice 428 of 2002, which provides regulations on collective redundancies as well as protection of employment, has highlighted some significant elements that you should know. A collective redundancy is a term referring to the termination of employment of a group of employees by an employer over a period of thirty days. Based on this, as an employer or an employee you should be aware of what constitute collective redundancy, the procedure required, the information needed, and when it is to take effect. For more information about collectief ontslag betekenis click on this active link. Here is a breakdown of these aspects for you:
Breakdown
The composition of a collective redundancy
From its definition, it is a decision that employers make to lay off a group of employees done after a period of 30 days. Therefore, the regulation has three provisions in this process. The first requirement is that there should be ten or more employees in organizations employing from 20 to 99 employees. Secondly, there should be 10 percent or more of employees in establishment hiring from 100 to 299 employees. Finally, there should be 30 or more employees in institutions employing 300 and above.
Procedure required
The regulation requires any employer intending to declare the collective redundancy to give the representatives of the employee a written notice. The employer should forward a copy of such notice to the director of the department of industrial and employment relations (DIER). The employer must give the employees’ representative time to consult, which should begin within seven working days from the day of the notice. The intention of the consultation is to cover means and ways of reducing the number of affected employees or avoid the collective redundancy as well as mitigate the consequences of such decisions.
Provide reasons
The employer has the responsibility to supply the employees’ representative with the reasons for the layoffs, the number employees affected by such decision, and the total number of employed employees in the establishment. Moreover, the employer has a duty to highlight the criteria proposed for selecting the affected employees, the details concerning any due redundancy payment, and the period over which the collective redundancy will take effect. Such information should be available within the seven-day period after a written notice and copies should go to the director of DIER.
The effective date of the collective redundancy
Even though the notice of employment termination may begin on the date when a written notice is issued to employees’ representative, the employer cannot lay off the affected employees before thirty days have elapsed. Nevertheless, the director of DIER can give the organization a shorter notice period or double the extension if he deems a solution can arise to avoid the collective redundancy.