Managing large-scale retrenchments

Dismissals due to operational requirements are usually considered the last resort for employers after alternative measures have been considered first

- Christoff Pretorius.

The current economic climate makes the possibility of retrenchment a hard-hit reality in the workplace.

Dismissals due to operational requirements (retrenchment) are usually considered the last resort for employers after alternative measures have been considered first.

An example of the employer not meeting operational requirements can be due to financial reasons, when expenses exceed income over a period of time, resulting in it just not being financially viable for the employer to keep all the staff employed.

In an attempt to rescue the business, the employer can opt to cut down on operational expenses, such as salaries, by implementing retrenchments.

DETERMINING WHETHER A SUBSTANTIAL RETRENCHMENT OF EMPLOYEES IS NEEDED

In order to determine if it is a largescale retrenchment, the employer needs to ascertain the number of employees employed in the workforce, and the number of employees that will possibly be affected by the retrenchment process.

Sections 189 and 189A (applicable to large scale retrenchment) of the Labour Relations Act (LRA) regulate the retrenchment process.