3.b Staffing concerns
The business sent out three main letters in a sequence relating to possible redundancies. There were also other events in the timeline as follows:
Saturday 23rd May 2020
Letter 1 (attached below) is advising staff of the situation at that time (posted out Saturday 23rd May).
Video recorded on Wednesday 27th May
In week 10 of lockdown, the business has just sent out letters to some 80 employees (letter 1). In this video diary Sandy discusses:
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The great sadness at sending out the letters to all staff, some of whom have been with the business over 30 years.
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Through no fault of their own, having now to look at possible redundancies and letting go the staff who have relied on the business for personal financial stability.
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“We are at the cliff edge and I can’t see how we can come back from this easily”
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Reflection on the sequence of letters to be sent out.
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Concerns regarding younger staff who may not realise the seriousness of the situation and the “harsh realities of what is going to happen”.
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The tone in responses from staff has been understanding and sympathetic in replies to the first letter
Friday 29th May 2020
Submission to the Government of the HR1 form, notifying of potential redundancies from 1st July 2020. This is required by law since the number of possible redundancies is over 20 people.
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The ACAS guidelines for large scale redundancies were followed in addition to getting specialist HR advice from the business’s HR adviser:
Friday 29th May 2020
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The business has submitted its HR1 form formally announcing the possibility of redundancies. On this day, the Chancellor also announced an extension to and changes to the furlough scheme. In this video diary Sandy discusses:
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· The possible implications of changes to the furlough scheme and the potential extra cost strain on businesses (which may still have no income coming in).
· Being very sad at even having to consider redundancies.
· “The bankruptcy and the end of the business is staring us in the eyes, sadly”.
Monday 1st June 2020
Letter 2 (attached below) inviting staff to group consultation meetings to do with possible redundancies were hand delivered to 61 employee’s home addresses.
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Only the 61 employees of the Oak Tree Loch Lomond Limited were invited to this group consultation (split into three separate sessions as in the letter above) since the employees of the other companies (coffee shops and village shop) were in at-risk pools of less than 20 potential employees. Whilst no group consultation was required with them, they were kept up to date and indeed were sent information from the group consultation sessions.
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Friday 5th June 2020
The group consultation sessions were held with all Oak Tree Loch Lomond Limited staff. 46 out of a possible 61 staff joined in the video-link meeting. The script for the meeting is attached below.
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Friday 5th June 2020
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Sandy Fraser shares his personal feelings at the start of the day he has to chair three group consultation meetings with his staff (as described in the section above). He explains:
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· These meeting has been playing heavily on his mind
· He is deeply concerned at having to impart the message to his staff team, many of whom have been with him for many years and all are loyal.
· He normally is able to reassure staff if there has been a crisis, but this is the first time he “has no exit strategy” and he “cant see a light at the end of the tunnel for my staff”
Friday 5th June 2020
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Sandy and Stuart Fraser share their personal feelings at the end of the day on which they have had to hold three group consultation meetings with their staff (as described in the section above).
Stuart explains:
· Very pleased at how supportive staff were
· Still very difficult given the uncertainty ahead.
Sandy explains:
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· Not a day he was looking forward to – meetings at 10am, 1pm and 3pm.
· Very impressed and humbled at the willingness of the staff to help the business survive. This being a benefit of the family business and family ethos.
· The challenge of using the video conferencing media (Zoom) for such a task.
· Concern about the human cost and mental health side of this situation and that the family is there to support their wellbeing.
· Level of engagement (46 out of 61 people attended) reflects the seriousness of the situation – being “at the cliff edge”.
· “I wont forget the day in a long time”.
Wednesday 10th June 2020
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Emails were sent to all staff following up from the group consultation meetings. The email is copied below (in italics) and two documents were attached to this email (also copied below) – (i). summary of the Q&A session so that all staff could see what was asked across all sessions (ii) a one page summary of support for staff who may be struggling, produced by the external HR adviser.
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Email sent to all staff at Oak Tree Loch Lomond Limited (a similar one was sent to all staff not involved in the group consultation):
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Dear all
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Further to our group consultation sessions on Friday 5th June please see below and attached the following items:
1. Please see below the links to each of the group consultation recordings
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2. Attached is the copy of the script which Sandy read from
3. There is also a compilation of the various questions and answers from all three group sessions
4. There is a one page information sheet which Vicky mentioned for sources of support should you need it. But please remember you can contact the family at any time and we can sign-post you to sources of help and advice should you need support.
We as a family would also like to reiterate that we know this is a very difficult and challenging time for all. We have to make very, very
difficult decisions in the coming weeks and one thing we are so very pleased and heartened by, are the messages of support we heard on Friday and have received since.
Thank you on behalf of us all.
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As always, if you have any questions as we move forward, please do not hesitate to contact us; similarly if you have any ideas for the business, please also let us know (and many thanks for all suggestions received to date).
With best wishes
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Sandy, Lucy and family
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Friday 12th June 2020
Staff are invited to the first of two 1:1 sessions to discuss their individual circumstances with one of the Directors. Given the on-going restrictions on travel (people are not allowed to travel more than 5 miles from their home) these are all being done by telephone. There are over 80 calls to be made, each of around 15 minutes.
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There will be two 1:1 calls over a period of three weeks. 80 calls x 15 minutes x 2 calls = 40 hours of Directors time (not including breaks, etc) so this is a huge commitment of time for two non-furloughed Directors when so many other aspects of the business are also needing attention.
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Sunday 14th June 2020
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On Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th June, Sandy and Stuart will be holding the phone calls with staff. The day before these phone calls Sandy shares his thoughts:
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He explains:
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· That to say he is not looking forward to the phonecalls “is an understatement”.
· Has to follow the legal process but “we are into a scenario this country has never been into before”
· It is the human side of this - “This is a family business. These people have grown up with my children and are friends of the family. And yet ultimately I have to take a line that in some cases I have to say goodbye to them and that is a very heart-wrenching situation to be in”.
Thursday 18th June 2020
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On Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th June, Sandy and Stuart Fraser carried out the first set of 1:1 phone calls with staff about possible redundancies (some 80 or so individual phone calls over two days). In this video Sandy reflects on the calls:
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Very difficult calls and a challenging range; to go from talking with a 15 year old who had only been with the business for a few months to someone who had been there for 36 years and had never had to question their loyalty
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“A very, very difficult human time. The human costs of this….. The business costs have been well documented, but the personal human side of it have been awful”
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“After the two days you felt physically and mentally drained with the situation”.
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“Some of the positives were the nice, positive statements from staff where they were offering to help and fully understood the situation left me pleased and humbled”
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“Without a shadow of a doubt there is nothing more important than keeping your loyal staff informed about where we are, where the business is going and how we see it”.
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Many nice emails and texts from staff following the 1:1 calls.
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Furloughed staff keen to get back to work and play a part in the success of the business.
Tuesday 23d June 2020
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This is the first day of week 14 of lockdown (it was the evening of Monday 23rd March when the Prime Minister announced that the whole of the UK was going into Coronavirus lockdown) and quite a few announcements in possible support for the tourism sector (see section 3.c). With things changing, Sandy reflects on what this means for staffing and possible redundancies:
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Moving through the redundancy process with trepidation
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“Even at the final hour, if there is a situation where we can see maybe opening in a financially viable way on 15th July, will look at every option rather than make people redundant”.
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“Anything but redundancy” and look at revised contracts, reducing hours until the business picks up, talking individually to each person.
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VAT holiday was “very nice” but if a business has no income coming in then there is no VAT due.
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Now need to look at recovery and the future.
Saturday 27th June 2020
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Following on from the group consultations and the 1:1 phone calls it was decided to send a letter to all staff as the next stage in the consultation process. This letter is to be followed by the second set of 1:1 phone calls to be held on Monday 6th and Tuesday 7th July 2020.
The letter below was sent out on Saturday 27th June:
Sunday 28th June 2020
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The above letter was sent out and Sandy shares his feelings and views
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Very keen as a family to keep all staff informed
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Very important to have the 1:1 conversations
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Staff needed to be reminded that furlough is coming to an end
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“Not all members of staff will, sadly, be coming back at all. It is upsetting”. Some will be coming back part-time. Some will be coming back part-time but still on furlough.
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Had a lot of nice emails and phone calls from staff thanking the family.
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Redundancy last of all options.
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“Never say never” (ref James Bond!) such a fast moving situation and adjusting almost on a daily basis.
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“We as a family are always glass half full” and positive.
Monday 29th, Tuesday 30th and Wednesday 30th June 2020
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Given the recent changes in guidance and the moves to a phased opening on a limited basis of some businesses and this being moved forward to 3rd July, from 15th July, a review of all staff was undertaken. The number of possible redundancies has been reduced at this time from around 67 to seven staff. It was agreed that:
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The seven staff to be made redundant would be called as soon as possible
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Four staff who were at risk have resigned to take up other opportunities
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One staff member has asked for a voluntary redundancy discussion
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1:1 phone calls will still happen with all other staff on Mon 6th and Tues 7th to advise that:
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a selection of staff will come off furlough at 31st July and will get refreshed contracts moving forward. If they are not able to accept the new contract then they are redundant at 31st July.
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another group of staff who have been identified to be retained on the flexible furlough scheme (as below – 1st July 2020 entry) and will work on a part-time basis until the end of October on revised contracts.
Wednesday 1st July 2020
From this date staff are able to be retained on a mix of furlough and working – the flexible furlough scheme.
Full information can be found here:
Thursday 2nd July 2020
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Sandy and Stuart made the first calls on this day, to tell the first set of staff that they were being made redundant. Here Sandy reflects on the day:
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From 9am had to make phone calls to give them the “sad news” for certain members of staff across the coffee shop, the village shop and the electrical business.
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“Tried to be as sensitive as possible”
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Some had been there a considerable amount of years.
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Staff are aware of the wider national crisis and were very understanding, “it doesn’t make it any easier”
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“As much as we are looking forward to re-opening tomorrow, we look back the way and reflect back on the staff who are no longer going to be with the business, in many wasy a ver sad day”.
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Sandy has been in business for almost 45 years and has only ever had to make one or two people in all that time, and this is “an absolute bi-product of the Covid-19 scenario”.
The script for the 1:1 phone calls with staff being made redundant is here: