Hello all,
We have issued an offer letter to a new employee, with a start date subject to the satisfactory clearance of relevant checks. All checks have now been received and we hit coronavirus just after some thoughts please
1. Can we justifiably delay the start date considering the situation?
2. If we do start the new employee can we furlough them immediately? Thanks
I had an employment law seminar on this and my understanding is that you can only furlough someone if there is no work available therefore, I'm not sure how this would apply to a new joiner - I'm aware that it cannot be applied to those on sick or maternity leave. If the contract has already been signed, then you cannot withdraw the offer.
Any action to the new starter is going to result in quite a high level of panic and even if you delay the start, this may not be received well.
We have someone joining our company on 6th April and all inductions will be carried out via Teams. At the same time, we have made 2 other people redundant and furloughed others (this is across our European offices).
I had an employment law seminar on this and my understanding is that you can only furlough someone if there is no work available therefore, I'm not sure how this would apply to a new joiner - I'm aware that it cannot be applied to those on sick or maternity leave. If the contract has already been signed, then you cannot withdraw the offer.
Any action to the new starter is going to result in quite a high level of panic and even if you delay the start, this may not be received well.
We have someone joining our company on 6th April and all inductions will be carried out via Teams. At the same time, we have made 2 other people redundant and furloughed others (this is across our European offices).
