There’s a big difference between getting furloughed and being laid off. What’s the difference between being furloughed and laid off? When external realities cause the company to reduce its workforce in order to save money or reduce overhead, that is typically a layoff. Their position is not being eliminated their employment with the company is. What is the difference between being fired and laid off?Įmployees who lose their job because of performance, attendance or behavioral issues are fired. To avoid potential legal issues, it’s best to wait at least six months before filling any positions that you have frozen or eliminated - unless you decide to re-employ the person you originally laid off in the same or a similar role. If the employer cannot show why the layoff was necessary and give a clear reason for the decision not to rehire the former employee, the company may find itself in a legal dispute. This may lead the former employee to seek legal counsel. The former employee might question the reason they were laid off and wonder if your business discriminated against them. ![]() Let’s also say the former employee gets word that the new employee is younger, practices a different religion or has another gender. However, you should still be careful if you decide to hire someone new for a position that a former employee recently held.įor example, say you are rehiring for a job within six months of your company reducing, freezing or eliminating that position, and you decide not to rehire the person you laid off from the job. Department of Labor does not identify a time frame for when you can rehire for a laid-off position. How soon can I hire a new employee to replace one I laid off? You can legally lay off and hire employees at the same time, but you cannot lay off an employee only to quickly hire someone else to fill that same position. You can legally lay off and hire employees simultaneously if you are experiencing a reduction in business and no longer need an operations manager, for example, but do need to hire more sales professionals to bring in new business. Doing so could open you up to wrongful termination lawsuits, which can be difficult to defend against.Ī company can lay off and hire at the same time when these employment actions do not overlap on the same job or position. If that is the route you are looking to take, you cannot refer to that employee’s termination as a layoff. You cannot lay off an employee in a specific position and then immediately fill that same position with a new hire. The short answer is yes, but there are some caveats. Is it legal to simultaneously lay off and hire employees? Just understand that you cannot turn around and fill the same position right away with another person. That said, in mass layoffs it is common practice to eliminate the positions of lower-performing employees and those with behavioral issues first. This process should not be an excuse to get rid of a troubled employee. Performance or behavior issues with employees should not be dealt with through layoffs. Layoffs can be temporary or permanent, and they can occur across multiple departments within a business or just in one. ![]() ![]() This could be just one employee or many employees at one time. Layoffs are generally a reduction in force. What is a layoff?īefore moving forward with layoffs and potential new hires, it is important to understand what a layoff is and how it differs from other forms of employee separations. Before you undertake this staffing conundrum, it is important to understand what you legally can and cannot do and how best to communicate the workforce changes to your staff. However, there may be instances when you need to lay off employees while bringing new workers on board at the same time. At times, layoffs are necessary for a business to maintain continuity through lean times. Laying employees off is never a pleasant experience.
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