Between a Rock and a Hard Place | Kay Chapman

If your reaction to yesterday’s description of Alert Level 3 was an awful sinking feeling, this Newsfeed is for you.For some industries and businesses you may be planning for how you can return to work if there is a change to Level 3 next week and there will be different information coming for you. For so many others you are reaching the realisation that whether it is Level 3 or 4, it will make minimal or no difference. You have done what you could to keep your staff through the last few weeks, but now you are out of options. Redundancies are a probability you can no longer put off. Other businesses might join this group if the lockdown is extended on Monday.

Having to make redundancies does not make you heartless, a greedy capitalist or a failure as a business person. These are extraordinary circumstances and beyond your control, and I can absolutely assure you there are hundreds if not thousands of business owners having to make similar decisions right now. Feeling like shit, and upset, and angry or any other emotion doesn’t make you less of a person, it just makes you human.

Knowing what you need to do and knowing how to do it are two different things. This worldwide crisis has not removed an employer’s employment law obligations, and beyond the legislation I know most owners don’t know how they will even start the conversation with their staff.

Click here for the Government information on Alert Level 3.
Click here for FAQ’s and more information on our dedicated Covid 19 web page

On Monday at 10am we will provide a one hour session to talk through the redundancy process, discuss some practical advice and answer questions. We will limit it to 10 people and use zoom so there can be discussion and enough time and the opportunity to ask the questions you need to ask. If there is more demand we can arrange more sessions. There is no cost to participate, and if you haven’t used zoom before, it is incredibly easy and you don’t have to download anything. If you want to join the session please email Katrina at katrina@chapmaner.co.nz. We also have a ‘redundancy kit’  with some base letters and a fact sheet on the process which you are welcome to use. If you are joining the session it might be helpful for you to look at the documents and start filling in some of the information so if there are questions stemming from that, you can ask.

As part of a business community that I am incredibly proud to belong to, we will stand alongside you through this. You don’t have to do this alone.

Kia kaha
Kay Chapman