Ways to Prevent Laying Off Employees

Preventing Lay Offs

As a business owner, your priority is to ensure that the business keeps running and making profits. The problem is that you can’t do well recently due to the closure orders. In some industries, businesses don’t even earn anything. Owners have no choice but to file for a bankruptcy or lay employees off. It’s a sad ending for companies that worked its way to the top. It’s also difficult for you to let go of employees as an owner since you understand how difficult the situation is. Before you consider laying them off, these alternatives might work. 

Ask your employees for suggestions

Ask your employees for suggestions

Be transparent about what’s happening to your business. Let the employees know that you’re not making money right now, and you can barely pay the bills. Letting some of them go is the next step in your book. If there are suggestions from employees that can stop them from losing their jobs, you have to ask them. You can consider these suggestions if fair and reasonable. 

Give more unpaid leave

If you don’t need all of your employees due to the reduction in operations, you can still keep everyone by offering more unpaid leave. If you’re in a country where people can gradually start to travel locally, some employees might grab the offer. They will use it to spend quality time with family. Besides, it’s better than losing the job right away.

Remove unnecessary expenses

Check your accounting sheets and find out if there are unnecessary expenses you can let go. Bonuses for executives and travel-related expenses are on top of the list. You can keep slashing the budget until all non-essential expenses are gone. You should also remove bonuses for executives and make them sacrifice. They’re already being paid much for their service, and these bonuses are unnecessary. You can also request employees not to take over time since that won’t get paid. Lessen their burden to prevent the need to go for overtime.

Have shorter weeks

You can ask employees who work closely to go to the office on the same days. You can ask them to work on site for about three days a week and the rest can be done virtually. You can also lessen the overhead costs when not everyone is using water and electricity in the office. Besides, even before the pandemic, a shorter work week was already fought for by many. It’s only in recent months when it made a lot more sense.

Let go of contractors and part-time staff

As much as it pains you to fire some employees, you might have to do it if there’s no other choice. Start with part-time staff since they’re not your regular employees. You can also remove the people hired under an agency. Even if you let them go, the agency will find a job for them. You won’t feel too guilty about this decision. 

Learn to do what’s right under this terrible situation, and don’t think about firing people right away.

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