Layoff - quick question - need quick response

T

We are a small company (80 employees).

EE has been here for 11 years as backup bookkeeper and data entry of accounts receivables. The accounts receivables job has been delegated to appropriate departments. Now backup bookkeeper does not have enough work to keep her busy. I want to lay her off. If she asks why aren't we laying off someone else with less seniority and let her move to that area, although she doesn't have the skills required to perform the job.

What do you say and how do you handle it.

Also she is my employee and friend for 5 years.

Thanks.

Shadowfax

Absent some policy or past practice that has followed strict seniority in lay-offs, the co must always see t it that the work can still be done by those remaining. Given her lenght of service, I think you do owe her a good hard look to see if there isn't some other job in the place she could do as well as the less senior person doing it now - but ability to do the job is the criteria, and if there is nothing for her to do, there is nothing you can do. It won't make it easier on you that she is a friend, but it may make it easier on her, if she is sure you would do your best for her.

crawfod

Shadowfax says it well overall. Any chance you can keep her but at reduced hours? Perhaps a 20 hour workweek that still included benefits would help you both. Maybe there is some department who has a special project they have been unable to get to that she could do. Could some quick simple training improve her skills to fit in somewhere?

I'd be surprised if a company your size had a severance package, but combined with unemployment benefits a lot of money can be doled out for laid off employees. Finding meaningful work for this person would be your best solution.

E Wart

I have had this situation on several layoffs. We did not "bump" people to give other's a job. What happened was certain "jobs" were eliminated. If someone had those jobs and we had nowhere else to assign them, they were laid off. Regretfully this has to happen sometimes. The best I can say is direct it to the "job" and its responsibilities and not the individual. (Especially if the job repsonsibiliteis are being distributed between several people.
The best you can do is explain that the work she is presently doing is either being eliminated and/or being reassigned amoung several other jobs. Therefore, her position is being eliminated. You have looked and at present you do not have another job opening to offer her. (if she brings up other people let her know that this is directed toward jobs and job responsibility and the company is not "bumping" people who have jobs that are not being eliminated to place those who are being eliminated.) You can let her know that if anything comes open while she is on severance (which I would pay out weekly or whatever your pay period is) you will be glad to consider her for it.
This is never a happy time and can be quite stressful, even if you don't know the individual. One thing you have to keep in mind that often, this is the best thing for the person, but they don't know it yet and you can't tell them that.
E. Wart