In the event of shortage of work, the Company can ask you to stay at home or take unpaid leave. A lay-off is when a colleague is off work for at least 1 working day. Short-time working is when a colleague’s hours are reduced.
There is no limit for how long a colleague can be laid off or put on short-time working. Colleagues may apply for redundancy and claim redundancy pay if it’s been:
4 weeks in a row
6 weeks in a 13-week period
Colleagues will be paid statutory guarantee payments during a period of lay off or short time working. The Company reserves the right to impose lay-offs and short time working at any point but will endeavour to give as much notice as reasonably practicable.
Colleagues are entitled to guarantee pay during lay off or short-time working. Full details on eligibility and the current rates for statutory guarantee pay can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/lay-offs-short-timeworking/guarantee-pay
For part-time workers, the entitlement is worked out proportionally.