Employee Redundancy Process in the Elevator Industry

The implementation of processes in the elevator industry is important. However, one aspect that often gets overlooked is the employee redundancy process. This refers to the duplication of roles, tasks, or responsibilities among employees to ensure that operations continue smoothly even when one or more key personnel are unavailable. In this article, let’s delve into employee redundancy process- what is redundancy and the best practices in evaluating and handling redundant roles.

What is Redundancy? 

Redundancy refers to a process of terminating employees from their employment due to different business reasons. Most often the reasons are related to poor economic conditions: the job category becoming unnecessary or severely diminished, lack of projects or funds, relocation of business, discontinuance of business in general. In the elevator industry, redundancy can happen when the business introduces new technology, slows down due to lower sales and lesser projects, or restructures due to mergers or takeovers. This could also mean having multiple technicians, engineers, and administrative staff capable of performing critical tasks such as maintenance, repairs, installations, and customer service.

Genuine Redundancy 

When an employee’s dismissal is a genuine redundancy the employee isn’t able to make an unfair dismissal claim. A genuine redundancy is when: 

• the person’s job doesn’t need to be done by anyone 

• the employer followed any consultation requirements in the award, enterprise agreement or other registered agreement. 

A dismissal is not a genuine redundancy if the employer: 

• still needs the employee’s job to be done by someone (for example, hires someone else to do the job) 

• has not followed relevant requirements to consult with the employees about the redundancy under an award or registered agreement or 

• could have reasonably, in the circumstances, given the employee another job within the employer’s business or an associated entity.

Employee Redundancy Process: Evaluating Potentially Redundant Roles in Your Elevator Business 

Evaluating redundant roles within your company may help you preserve your company’s finances. Here’s a list of steps to help guide you through the process:

1. Identify essential roles within your company 

To help you distinguish a group of positions that may not be necessary for your company, you first need to establish essential roles. For example, you could identify essential personnel as company officials and department heads or managers because they help oversee your company’s operations. Department heads could also help take on more administrative tasks within their department if needed. 

2. Review key personnel and their ability to take on additional roles within your company 

Review each essential employee and their role within your company. They could have previous experience in another role that enables them to take on additional responsibilities. 

3. Consider which roles or departments currently present limited benefits 

Although this task might be difficult, you should think of the financial stability of your company. Review the structure of your organization to determine which roles present the least potential benefit to your company going forward. This can help you determine which roles are redundant.  

4. Evaluate the employment history of each employee in those roles 

Once you’ve narrowed down the scope of your search, you can evaluate each employee in the redundant roles. Review their qualifications, job performance and overall contributions to the company. If one employee performs at a more consistent rate than the others, they might be a better candidate to remain at the company. 

5. Identify potential areas that those employees could move to within the company 

If your purpose for finding redundancies is to improve productivity rather than prevent a loss in profit, you could create new positions or move employees to other roles to better benefit your company.

Employee Redundancy Process Best Practices 

Employers must follow a clear and fair redundancy process. However, there is no legal obligation to have a fixed formal written policy. Employers can choose to adopt a formal procedure or follow a more flexible approach according to the circumstances of each round of redundancies. If there is no fixed written process, employers implementing redundancies should let staff know the key elements of the redundancy process to be followed. Whichever approach is taken, the process should include at least these steps: 

1. Planning 

2. Identifying the pool for selection 

3. Seeking volunteers 

4. Consulting employees 

5. Selection for redundancy 

6. Suitable alternative employment 

7. Appeals and dismissals 

8. Redundancy payment 

9. Compassion during redundancy 

Handling Employee Redundancy in the Elevator Industry

Employee redundancy process ensures that business operations remain uninterrupted, reliable, and efficient. While there are challenges in implementing redundancy, the benefits far outweigh the costs. By adopting comprehensive training programs, clear documentation, effective communication, and incentivizing participation, elevator companies can create a resilient and adaptable workforce capable of maintaining high standards of service and safety.