In the current fight against the corona virus Covid-19 many employers thoughts are turning to the use of short time and lay off. This short guide will help employers in Ireland understand the uses and benefits of the short time and lay off provisions in Irish employment law

1. Short time and lay off
An Employer’s Guide
By Thomas G Myles
Employment Rights Advice
info@employmentrightsadvice.ie

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© 2020 Copyright Era Legal & Corporate Limited, info@employmentrightsadvice.ie
This presentation does not constitute legal advice. You should seek professional advice before acting or refraining from taking any action
based on these contents.
Contents
Lay off and short time defined
The question of payment
Redundancy?
Annual holidays
Further info

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© 2020 Copyright Era Legal & Corporate Limited, info@employmentrightsadvice.ie
This presentation does not constitute legal advice. You should seek professional advice before acting or refraining from taking any action
based on these contents.
Lay off and short term defined
These are set out in the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967-2014.
 Short time is where an employee’s hours of work or pay are reduced to less
than 50% of normal weekly hours or pay.
 Lay off is where an employer is temporarily unable to provide sufficient work
for the employee.
 You must have a reasonable belief that the situation is temporary.
 You would normally have to give notice, but in the current Covid-19 crisis
short notice could be justified.
 You must not discriminate when choosing the employees to lay off or put on
short time.

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© 2020 Copyright Era Legal & Corporate Limited, info@employmentrightsadvice.ie
This presentation does not constitute legal advice. You should seek professional advice before acting or refraining from taking any action
based on these contents.
The question of payment
 Must I pay workers on short time or lay off ?
 To answer this you need to examine each workers contract of employment.
 There must be a clause in the contract allowing you to place a worker on
short time or lay off without their consent.
 It may be the custom and practice in your particular industry to do so, in
which case you could argue that you have an implied right to do so.

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© 2020 Copyright Era Legal & Corporate Limited, info@employmentrightsadvice.ie
This presentation does not constitute legal advice. You should seek professional advice before acting or refraining from taking any action
based on these contents.
Redundancy
 What about redundancy payment ?
An employee can notify the employer in writing of their intention to claim
statutory redundancy payment, provided they meet the criteria.
This right arises where the employee has been laid off or put on short time for
4 or more consecutive weeks.
Where the periods have not been consecutive, the period is 6 or more weeks
within a 13 week period of which not more than 3 are consecutive. The notice
must be given by the employee to the employer before 4 weeks of the ending of
the lay off or short time period.
You as an employer can give a counter notice to the employee, denying the
redundancy payment on the grounds that you can offer them at least 13 weeks
work without being laid off or put on short time.

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© 2020 Copyright Era Legal & Corporate Limited, info@employmentrightsadvice.ie
This presentation does not constitute legal advice. You should seek professional advice before acting or refraining from taking any action
based on these contents.
Annual holidays
Consider the use of annual holidays
As an employer you can decide when an employee takes their annual
holidays.
You must take into account the employee’s family responsibilities and
opportunity for rest and recreation.
You must consult with the employee or their trade union at least one month
before the leave is to be taken.

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© 2020 Copyright Era Legal & Corporate Limited, info@employmentrightsadvice.ie
This presentation does not constitute legal advice. You should seek professional advice before acting or refraining from taking any action
based on these contents.
Further information
 Short summary
 This is just a short summary of what is available to you as an
employer in terms of lay off and short time working.
 If you require assistance please contact us using the link in the
description below.