Difficulty Of Providing Employment Benefits Brought About By The Pandemic

If you’re an employer…

And you have team members or staff helping your business…

And you entered into an employment contract with them…

You are bound to comply with the obligations you entered into, through that contract.

Meaning…

The employment contract is the law between you and your team members.

So even if your bottom-line tremendously suffered because of the pandemic…

It doesn’t mean that you can unilaterally deny the benefits you promised (such as wage increase, performance bonuses, additional paid leaves, etc.)

However, if despite your best efforts…

You can no longer sustain and comply with the ‘benefits’ that has been previously agreed upon under the employment contract…

Whether it is because of reduced orders from your business…

Reduced number of customers…

Or reduced number of operating hours…

The only solution you have is to go back to the negotiation table with your team members.

This is not the time for the “tough love” approach to management to get them to agree to your proposal.

Rather, this is the time to let your team members know that they are being cared for and that they should feel comfortable discussing present challenges.

You should be able to convey that you are sensitive to the impacts the COVID-19 pandemic has on your team members’ lives and work.

You see…

The pandemic is a fortuitous event, it’s something that’s unforeseen and inevitable. In fact, it has adversely affected the entire world.

And the Department of Labor and Employment recognized this problem when they issued an advisory that provides that the employer and the employee are free to enter into new agreements regarding their salaries and salary-related benefits.

So there you have it, there’s really no other option but to go back to the drawing board and meet half-way with your team members.

The best approach is to reinforce to your team members that you are sympathetic and that you’ll maintain an open-door policy for them to talk through these issues.

Indeed, now more than ever, collaboration, empathy and understanding between the employer and the team members is the vital key to recovery and future success, both in health, well-being, and economics.