Question

Due to the high cost of fuel on the international and the current downturn in the economy the The Jamaica Light and Power Plant has made the decision to make twenty five positions redundant by the July 31, 2013.  Based on the Employment Termination Redundancy and Termination Act advise the affected staff members on the following

 

i)        Define redundancy                                                                                              ( 2 marks)

ii)      State clearly the conditions under which redundancy payments will be made and whether these staffs are entitled to redundancy payment.                                                       

iii)    Advise the staff of their entitlement based on their years of service.           ( 5  marks)

iv)    Advise the two members of staff who are on maternity leave their entitlement under

            the ETRP.                                                                                                      

 

Answer 1

i)Redundancy is a state of not being in employment due to lack of availability of job.

ii)If the employee has worked for two years with the employer he is entitled for redundancy pay.If there is no mention of redundancy in the employment contract , the employee will get the statutory redundancy pay which is the legal minimum.Only continuous years of service are taken into account.There is contractual redundancy payment as well which is mentioned in the service contract.These staff are entitled for redundancy payment if they have worked for a period of two years continuously. Even if he business is facing problem due to economic downturn, the employees who should be made redundant should be based on skill matrix.

iii) Redundancy pay depends on the employees continuous service.According to the national employment standard,an employee who has completed one year of continuous service but has not completed two years, should get four weeks redundancy pay.There are many redundancy pay which are based on employers base rate of pay and fail to include overtimes, bonuses,incentive payments etc.Unused annual leave or long service leave should be paid.

iv)The employer cannot make a person redundant who is on maternity or parental leave.This may be a case of discrimination.The employer need to give them correct notice beforehand and pay all entitlements including redundancy pay.