Staff Layoffs

jungleboy

I have got 4 excellent people working with me and I will have to let go of 2 in January. I just can’t separate between them on a professional basis.

I was think of last in first out but this is going to be difficult as the girl last in is just married with and house and so one. The others have less hanging over them but I just don’t know what to do.

Pompey Magnus

Close your eyes and pick two at random to ditch, there's no point in keeping unlucky staff on your books.

Kiera

Last in first out is the only fair way tbh.

SEPT 23 1989

Four men enter two men leave

Beruthiel

jungleboy wrote: »

I was think of last in first out but this is going to be difficult as the girl last in is just married with and house and so one. The others have less hanging over them but I just don’t know what to do

You cannot allow sentiment make your decision for you.
The fairest all round for everyone is last in first out. Nobody can question that because it's accepted practice.

AnonoBoy

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Four men enter two men leave

Sex change clinic?

Wazdakka

Russian Roulette?

You'll know which ones really want to keep their job then.

NothingMan

Last in first out is the fairest if they're all equal in work capacity. However if someone newer is more qualified or more critical to how things run then keep them.

Unfortunately I think it would be very unfair to let someone go based on the fact they have no kids/mortgage. I know from a personal standpoint it sounds right but professionally it's not fair and an unfair dismissal claim may be possible.

Are you paying redundancy? If so have you asked if anyone would want voluntary redundancy?

[Edit]Forgot this was AH: Watch the films Condemned/Death Race/Battle Royale and you should have some ideas how to sort this mess out.

antodeco

Always keep the slutty one. Bring them all into a meeting and advise them that 2 of them will be going in the new year. The slutty one will do stuff to keep her job. Post Pictures of Videos for us all too.

TheZohanS

Is there any way you can innovate or diversify to keep on the extra two staff? Remember any good people you let off today could become your competition tomorrow.

Fuhrer

Cut all their hours by half, then some of them might leave to find work somewhere else.

genericguy

25% paycuts all round? that or russian roulette, i think they'll go for it.

genericguy

Fuhrer wrote: »

Cut all their hours by half, then some of them might leave to find work somewhere else.

thought you would have suggested keeping the blonde ones.

Fuhrer

genericguy wrote: »

thought you would have suggested keeping the blonde ones.

I SAY EXETERMINATE THEM ALL!

uncanny

Sounds like an ideal opportunity for a good ol fashioned essay writing competition.

Or failing that - rock, paper, scissors.

Fcukface

Hold try outs to see who is the better candidate. Break a pool cue in half and throw the two halves on the ground, last two standing get to stay.

The joker knew what he was doing.

Keano

Last in - no other way.

I was told I lost my job the day after I signed the contract for my house. Life's a bitch

punk_one82

A good old fashioned game of crossbar challenge should do the job...

uncanny

CreepingDeath

Keano A Legend wrote: »

Last in - no other way.

You can tell who was indoctrinated into the trade union way of thinking.

If you care about what's best for your business, then you pick the two most productive and reliable workers.
Cost base analysis - who makes the most money for you.

And putting on my cold calculating hat on... newly married girl with house could mean maternity leave in the foreseeable future. If you can afford the cost of that plus replacement cover staff.

I'm sure that'll get a backlash of comments, but when it comes to saving jobs all things have to be considered.

AnonoBoy

CreepingDeath wrote: »

And putting on my cold calculating hat on... newly married girl with house could mean maternity leave in the foreseeable future. If you can afford the cost of that plus replacement cover staff.

What the hell's he doing hiring married women in the first place is what I want to know.

What sort of leftie commie operation are you trying to run here OP?

Naos

I don't agree with the last in first out mentality.

If I work my ass off, why should someone who's simply got seniority but doesn't work hard stay over me?

This practise doesn't exactly encourage/motivate employees to work harder.

TheZohanS

Naos wrote: »

I don't agree with the last in first out mentality.

If I work my ass off, why should someone who's simply got seniority but doesn't work hard stay over me?

I don't either, but in the OPs situation it's the only fair way of doing it as they're all good workers.

humanji

OP, quit you job. That'll save one of their jobs, plus you'll no longer have to make the tough choice of which one to fire. Everybody wins.

CrazyRabbit

If any of them speak Danish fluently, I'll hire them.

kaiser soza

Buy a couple of chimp masks and have yourselves a good old monkey knife fight,never fails.

iceman777

LIFO only works in a low-skills environment e.g. manaufacturing.

If you are working in an intellectual/skilled environment, then you must look at their past productivity, work ethic, career path plans, promotions etc.

Do not consider their personal circumstances at all. This is not a personal/friendship call. It is a business call. Separate them at all times.

OldGoat

Fire 'em all and give the jobs to two unemployed Boardsies. You just KNOW thay'll be productive, thankful, helpful and riotious good fun.


P.S. Fix yer font.

Jax Teller

Fcukface wrote: »

Hold try outs to see who is the better candidate. Break a pool cue in half and throw the two halves on the ground, last two standing get to stay.

The joker knew what he was doing.

Beat me to it damn you ,
who makes the best tea OP?

kingtut

Keano A Legend wrote: »

Life's a bitch

and then you marry one :pac:

minidazzler

BATTLE ROYALE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guy:Incognito

Naos wrote: »

I don't agree with the last in first out mentality.

If I work my ass off, why should someone who's simply got seniority but doesn't work hard stay over me?

This practise doesn't exactly encourage/motivate employees to work harder.

CreepingDeath wrote: »

You can tell who was indoctrinated into the trade union way of thinking.

If you care about what's best for your business, then you pick the two most productive and reliable workers.
Cost base analysis - who makes the most money for you.

And putting on my cold calculating hat on... newly married girl with house could mean maternity leave in the foreseeable future. If you can afford the cost of that plus replacement cover staff.

I'm sure that'll get a backlash of comments, but when it comes to saving jobs all things have to be considered.

Are we deliberately ignoring the part about the performance being equal? We're talkign about this case in the OP.

geeky

Choosing someone to stay because she has more financial commitments is entering a world of hurt OP. You'd be opening yourself to unfair dismissal cases from the people you let go, and wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

I'd be inclined first to seek pay cuts or reductions in hours rather than redundancies - level with your staff about the situation, and you'd be surprised how far they'll go to be sure of keeping their jobs.

If that doesn't get you savings, you should have written redundancy selection criteria to cover yourself. LIFO is convenient because it's straightforward but, as other people have said, it's not efficient. Genuinely have a think about what skills your employees will need in 2010 and beyond - unless you work in a freakish 'children of the corn' style office, there are differences between your staff and their skills. Just because you're a nice person and don't want to see them won't change that.

Oh, and because this is AH and not a genuine advice column, I'm legally obliged to put 'fellatio skills' at the top of the list.

arybvtcw0eolkf

OP is this a hypothetical situation or are you really asking the poster's of AH to decide the future of two staff member's?.

OP - YOU ARE FIRED.

Trekker09

You could turn it into a 'Reality TV Show'. Get them to undertake unfeasably TV freindly tasks, then get Joe Public to ring in and vote.

Nolanger

2 jobs 4 staff - Week On Week Off - it's not rocket science!

Naos

Stekelly wrote: »

Are we deliberately ignoring the part about the performance being equal? We're talkign about this case in the OP.

No, we weren't responding to the OP saying not to by by seniority, we were responding to those who mentioned seniority and outlined the reasons why it's not a good idea.

TestTransmission

keysersoze_88 wrote: »

Beat me to it damn you ,
who makes the best tea OP?

Fook dat,who gives the best head

jungleboy

Vivienne Ripe Umpire wrote: »

OP is this a hypothetical situation or are you really asking the poster's of AH to decide the future of two staff member's?.

OP - YOU ARE FIRED.

No I have been asked by the MD to return from christmas with my proposal, not looking forward to january it think that it may be the worst month ever regarding layoff in Ireland.

Hail 2 Da Chimp

Beruthiel wrote: »

You cannot allow sentiment make your decision for you.
The fairest all round for everyone is last in first out. Nobody can question that because it's accepted practice.

Not really fairest for him if the first two in are lazy feckers who never lift a finger. Keep the 2 people who are best at their job...

MicraBoy

Ah sure its like the Bulmers ad with the Christmas lights all over again!

Ruu_Old

Rock, paper, scissors.

KarmaGarda

Seriously, keep the ones with the tits.

Or the 2 with the biggest tits.

Done. That'll be €400 please.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

iceman777 wrote: »

LIFO only works in a low-skills environment e.g. manaufacturing.

If you are working in an intellectual/skilled environment, then you must look at their past productivity, work ethic, career path plans, promotions etc.

Do not consider their personal circumstances at all. This is not a personal/friendship call. It is a business call. Separate them at all times.

What an ignorant comment to make. LIFO only works in low skilled sectors? WTF? What is your reasoning for this?



Job sharing maybe? Put them all to 2.5 day weeks? They can still claim social welfare for the rest of their week so they are not toooo bad off.

Either way, last in first out is fcuking stupid... There are plenty of idiots working for companies, taking the piss because of this system. PR's all the way.

Either way op. If you HAVE to let two go, keep your two best. You didn't make anybody purchase a house or get married, have kids or anything else. Not your problem.

Kiera

jungleboy wrote: »

I have got 4 excellent people working with me and I will have to let go of 2 in January. I just can’t separate between them on a professional basis.

Emanuel Gifted Twerp wrote: »

What an ignorant comment to make. LIFO only works in low skilled sectors? WTF? What is your reasoning for this?



Job sharing maybe? Put them all to 2.5 day weeks? They can still claim social welfare for the rest of their week so they are not toooo bad off.

Either way, last in first out is fcuking stupid... There are plenty of idiots working for companies, taking the piss because of this system. PR's all the way.

Either way op. If you HAVE to let two go, keep your two best. You didn't make anybody purchase a house or get married, have kids or anything else. Not your problem.

Are you blind? They are all equal so therefore the only sensible option for him is "last in, first out"

Morlar

Talk to your public sector union repre . .. oh wrong thread.

raptorman

There is no way the four are equal. Its just easy to say they are and go with the LIFO option.
As has been said your going to have to anylise these people in a cold manner. Basically who's going to make the company more money in the future.
Draw up a list of criteria and attach weights to the different ones and then score each member of staff accordingly. Then fire the two bottom preformers.

LouOB

Why dont you leave the decision up to them?

You never know who would want a long break or go travelling

Capt'n Midnight

Nolanger wrote: »

2 jobs 4 staff - Week On Week Off - it's not rocket science!

It's an option all right - check up if they can sign on for the other week, half a loaf and all that

Also Friday is in a different PRSI week to the other days so they would not loose stamps for the week they were not working.


You could also give them all the options and see what they come up with so you can wash your hands of the decision, but can override them if they don't.

iceman777

Emanuel Gifted Twerp wrote: »

What an ignorant comment to make. LIFO only works in low skilled sectors? WTF? What is your reasoning for this?

If you are in a low skilled environment, productivity is not based on the person i.e. in most cases the person will not be able to be more productive than the next.

In the case of a more skilled industry e.g. IT, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, banking (maybe a bad example) etc. the productivity of 2 people can easily be compared and looking at things such as career development, training, responsibility, past performance etc. is needed.

I would also comment (and people may not like it) that if the 4 employees are equal, then they probably work in a low-skilled sector and normally due to Union involvement, it would be LIFO being used.

I do think the OP is tainted on the personal life of the employees, which should be kept completely apart.

jungleboy

Its a high skilled sector and no unions !