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Charities told: Know rules of employment
CHARITIES need to know about employment law as the stuttering economy hits their services, a legal firm in Leeds has warned.
New research by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations shows that 64 per cent of charities feel their financial situation is set to decline over the next 12 months.
A number have said they would need to reduce their level of service and cut staff numbers.
Glenn Hayes, employment partner at Irwin Mitchell in Leeds and a specialist in the charitable sector, said it is vital such bodies consider regulations when thinking about letting workers go or seeking to impose changes to terms and conditions.
He said: “Although charities are used to relying on short-term funding, many are less familiar with the legal pitfalls of dismissing staff or making contractual changes when this funding is cut, pitfalls that can ultimately lead to employment tribunals and costly claims for unfair or constructive dismissal amongst other potential problems.
“This combined with falling income for the charities themselves can quite quickly create a costly and stressful and, in some cases, even an insolvency scenario.”
Mr Hayes added: “There are also issues in relation to those staff that are able to keep their jobs when others are losing theirs.
“Morale is undoubtedly affected and coupled with heavy workloads caused by sharing out the work amongst fewer members of staff, this can lead to stress claims and increased absence levels for those that remain.
‘Threat’
“Further to this, there is always the threat that disgruntled employees unhappy with developments seen at the firm may choose to consider a form of industrial action or bring claims in the employment tribunal in respect of the changes to their terms and conditions in the form of wages claims.
“Charitable organisations can often find this vicious cycle very difficult to manage and this could undoubtedly be the case over the next few months.”
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