On the twelfth day of Christmas, HR asked with heavy hearts “should we delay dismissing an employee until the New Year starts?"
After much deliberation, they decided … no
Dealing with redundancies or other dismissals is challenging at any time of the year, never mind in the run up to Christmas when everyone is already feeling the pinch of their purse strings whilst trying to stay afloat with festive joy.
Although it may be tempting to try and delay dismissals until after the Christmas period, in many cases this is likely to only make things worse. As such, sometimes it is necessary to be the Grinch before Christmas.
There is no legal requirement to delay redundancies or other dismissals until after Christmas. If, having completed an investigation or performance management process, there is sufficient evidence to proceed to a disciplinary or capability hearing, then it is appropriate to schedule that hearing on the earliest convenient date, even if that is shortly before Christmas. Indeed, to delay could in some situations undermine the fairness of the process being followed.
Similarly, once a redundancy proposal is formulated, employers should begin consultation as soon as possible. Whilst it is not suggested that organisations should announce redundancies or carry out mass dismissals on Christmas Eve (in fact to do so may bring reputational risk), where an organisation knows that dismissals are imminent during the festive period, employees should be put on notice as to...
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