We’ve been helping a number of employee clients recently, with a worrying theme running through many of their claims that their employer simply didn’t know what they didn’t know.

Some employers didn’t know they:

• Needed to follow a process before making someone redundant.
• Couldn’t just decide to put their employee on annual leave straight away without their agreement; and
• that “best endeavours” to keep someone employed means you actually have to seriously look to other avenues to get costs down before looking at redundancies.

Most of these employers weren’t intentionally trying to do the wrong thing or take away their employees entitlements. They simply didn’t know what they didn’t know – and that’s not uncommon as employment law is a complex area; and COVID-19 has thrown a whole lot of confusion and uncertainty into the mix.

It’s important to understand that ignorance of the law is not a defence. While it’s understandable that these employers were hesitant about the cost of getting help when they needed it, they have now had to come to the hard realisation that getting help to do it right would actually have been significantly cheaper than fixing the mess later.

Our two lessons for businesses from our recent experience helping employees:

• Know what you don’t know
• Get help from an expert!

Wakefields Lawyers are your legal experts and we’re here to help your business get it right. Why not let us? Contact one of our service coordinators today for a free consult:

Employment Law – Amy Webster
Phone: 021 751 263
Email: amy@wakefieldslaw.com

Corporate & Commercial Law – Betsyn McHardy
Phone: 021 247 5004
Email: betsyn@wakefieldslaw.com

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