Can my husband employer make him take unpaid leave?

Question

my husband works for a large caravan manufacture and there whole factory shuts down in the summer for 3 weeks paid holiday he went back to work today and everyone was handed letters saying that as of the 15th september the company will be shutting down for 2 weeks due to lack of trade they have said all employees will get paid 20 pounds per day for the first week which i would like to add is only a quarter of what he would get paid if he was at work and in the second week no one will get paid at all and the only thing they have said is for all employees to contact the work and pensions dept or jobseekers advice but I'm sure they cant get away with just not paying anyone as its not the employees fault there is no work for them to do and its not there fault that the factory will have to be closed please help with any information you can.... also we live in the uk so doubt whether american legislation would be any help but thanks anyway x*x

Answer 1

maybe they are expecting some work coming in after this period and this is the only way to stop making redundancies.

Answer 2

So if the plant shuts down completely, then what?  It may seem wrong, but if there is no work, there is no work.  At least they are giving him notice, not just laying people off with no severance package at all.  At least they are telling people to contact the work and pensions department and trying to do what they can for their employees.  

At least they are offering them something instead of just a pink slip.

Answer 3

They have no work.  What do you expect the company to do?  Whether it's the US or the UK, company's layoff people when they have no work.  The good news is it sounds like they expect to have work and are doing the best they can to give the employees "something".  

Your husband does have a very reasonable option - quit and find work elsewhere.

Answer 4

I would just add to what Peter C has said, that if there is no contractual provision for lay-off then the company is in breach of its obligations to provide work. The employee can proceed to an employment tribunal with a claim for damages. The measure of damages is the amount of wages lost.

Op would be well advised to see CAB who will assist with a grievance letter and may be able to represent him.

Answer 5

Yes.

From your description they are acting completely within the law.

I assume that there is no trades union membership at this company so the employees have only a 'standard' Contract of Employment.

The terms of the 'lay-off' should be stipulated in the Contract of Employment and is probably somewhere in the small print.

If it is there it will stipulate the guaranteed daily payment that employees are entitled to. The law requires that for any three month period laid off, the employee is entitled to five days wages payable at the agreed rate, or at basic wage if there is no specific agreement. After that the employee is entitled to claim jobseeker's allowance, if they are eligible.

The law in the UK is not and never has been particularly generous towards workers as opposed to business and membership of a union can be of great benefit, especially in times of economic woes.

There was a time, prior to Margaret Thatcher, when unions were so caught up in political posturing that they often seriously let their members down, both by not taking proper action where there were legitimate grievances and also by involving them in destructive and harmful action to further their own political agenda.

Fortunately most of them now realise once again that their responsibilities are to their members, not the Labour or Socialist Workers Parties.

Answer 6

sounds a bit iffy to me, i am sure the employer has insurance for this kind of thing! check your hubbies contract and make sure nothing in it says about pay cuts! if there is nothing in the contract, then h**l no they cannot do this, your employer would have to apply for bankruptcy! I would go to the Citizen advice bureau and get legal advice!

Answer 7

sounds like a tin pot company they are right to pay a stand by rate if they want him sat at home , but to pay nothing after that they can not do , they must make him redundant or carry on paying a stand by rate.

You need to speak to the job centre about this as they will not be happy with the situation either as you are either employed or unemployed , sounds like they may be trying to get employees to jack in and get work elsewhere , thus not having to pay out redundancy money ,this is classed as constructive dismissal and is not allowed.

Your husband needs to seek help with this and not let his employers get away with this

Also he needs to prepare to look for new employment as the lot he is working for don't think much of the workforce and the writing is on the wall for them.

Answer 8

Check the law.  Also, it probably depends on the employer/employee agreement that your husband signed when he started work there.

Maybe he would be entitled to unemployment benefits to make up the difference.  

Love Jack

Answer 9

Does he have a union? If not, the employer can, basically, do anything it wants.

As an example, my soon to be sil, was diagnosed 6 weeks ago with chronic leukemia. Within the first 4 weeks, her employer dismissed her and terminated her medical benefits. Now, the only recourse they have is for them to get married in front of a judge ASAP.  

Answer 10

Employers can only have employees working when their product is selling. I would suggest your hubby start looking for another job since this one seems to be headed downhill. You can't blame the company for the product not selling.