My First RIF
Riley
52 Posts
We are going through a small RIF at one of our locations. Me being new to HR, I have never done this thing before and I have a few questions. What's the length of time we need to give the employees from time of notice to last day? What should the severance package consist of? Any other housekeeping items we need to do before/during/after?
Thanks,
Riley
Thanks,
Riley
Comments
We typically do this on a Friday or at the end of a pay period. Myself and the CFO/COO meet with the person in the afternoon and inform them that that day is their last day, explain why we are letting them go, explain the severance agreement, and discuss any other adminstrative issues. In explaining the reason for their termination, unless you intend to maybe recall them in the future, don't use the term layoff. We say that we've had to do a staff reduction due to lack of work.
To be on the safe side, you should probably talk with an employment attorney to make sure you do this right. Hope this helps.
I went through one of these when I had been in a job for 2 weeks; the company had never had any type of RIF. I developed the RIF policy and severance packages for employees (warehouse personnel) who had been there ranging from 4 years to 15 years. Good thing this was in place, becase a year later another department was closed and the company went through it all over agan.
The biggest thing was to communicate with them - be prepared for some anger, some tears and lots of questions. I provided them, one on one, with info on how to file for unemployment, a reminder that they could access our EAP, etc.
In addition to the other good information that is provided above, you can find an article titled "Rules to RIF by" in the July 2002 issue of Kansas Employment Law Letter. The editors are Doug Stanley and Boyd Byers with the law firm Foulston Siefkin LLP in Wichita. If you don't have the hard copy and you're a subscriber, you can go to the home page for this website, log in (in the top right-hand corner), and search under the "Articles" for "RIF" in "Kansas." Three articles will pop up, but the "Rules to RIF by" is probably what you're looking for. Hope this helps.
Tony Kessler, director of editorial
M. Lee Smith Publishers LLC
(615) 661-0249 x8068
Riley