No matter why you move, you have to do it legally without violating office relocation employee rights. Today, we’ll share frequently asked questions on workers’ rights during an office move and provide the answers to them.
What Are My Rights If My Office Moves?
Businesses are relocated for a variety of reasons. Relocating a company or its department makes it possible to reduce costs, increase brand awareness and get more space. Moving a business delivers many other important benefits.
Some workers don’t have a desire to change their workplace. This usually happens because they find a new location inconvenient. Each family situation is unique. It can be too expensive for some workers to buy a house in a new district or they may find it difficult to send kids to school from a new place. The employment contract describes the rights of workers when a company relocates.
Can Employees be Forced to Relocate?
Can an employer force his/her workers to move to another place? Employee relocation laws say that it all depends on the contract of employment. Change of work location employee rights is described in the employment contract. The situation when the agreement allows an employer to move a business is known as a mobility clause.
The employment contracts contain or don’t include a mobility clause. A mobility clause means that an employee will not be able to take advantage of a relocation package if he/she doesn’t agree to a move.
Can You Get Redundancy If a Company Relocates?
Sometimes, workers don’t wish to relocate because they find it easy to get to the current workplace. They even don’t want to consider alternative options offered by employers. An employee can face an office relocation redundancy situation and if he/she unreasonably refuses to relocate to the new workplace. If this happens, an employee will not be able to benefit from a redundancy package and request a redundancy pay.
On the other hand, if the refusal to relocate is reasonable, then a job is terminated. Then a fair dismissal process has to be applied.
Can You Be Fired for Refusing to Relocate?
An employee can be fired for refusing to relocate if he/she signed the contract with a mobility clause. However, if there is no mobility clause, then an employee has the right to refuse to move a head office. In this case, an employee can request pay for redundancy.
What Happens When Refusing to Move Becomes Redundancy
An employee will deal with redundancy in the case of a mobility clause. Mobility clauses mean certain limits, obligations and implications for workers. They either have to agree to relocate a company or lose a job.
The Process of Changing Place of Work
Business owners face a lot of challenges when moving their businesses. The process of relocating a business is associated with travel costs. That’s why the process has to be meticulously planned.
Step 1: Get Ready for Office Move
There are many things to do before to get started with the moving process. These include:
- Set deadlines for a move
- Set a budget for a move
- Planning office relocation travel time
- Create an office moving checklist
- Inform your team about an office move
- Divide tasks between employees
- Deciding on a moving date
This list could go on. It would be better to start preparing for a moving day ahead of time. If you are well-prepared, you’ll find it a lot easier to relocate your company.
Step 2: Hire Movers
Professional help, as well as expert advice, will make your moving process simple. If you choose to use moving services, you will deal with a project manager who will help you with a move. A project manager will take care of your needs and help your company relocate successfully. Plus, a project manager will give you advice on how to get the most out of space in a new place. With a reliable London business move company, you’ll be able to relocate smoothly.
Step 3: Can You Persuade Employees to Relocate Voluntarily?
Of course, yes. You should do every single thing possible to reach an agreement with workers. It’s much easier to relocate if your new location is a few miles away from the existing one. If travel distance is short, most employees will agree to move voluntarily.
Step 4: What About Employees Who are Reluctant to Relocate?
It makes a lot of sense for employers to offer alternatives to workers who don’t want to relocate. A company’s owners should analyze the needs of their workers carefully and try to provide a solution to each member of his/her team who doesn’t agree to move. If workers notice that you aim to solve their issues, they would be happy to agree on a move.
Step 5: Prepare Your New Office
You have to create a union work environment where all your workers will feel comfortable. A new workplace has to include everything that a business needs to operate. You should also plan space in a new building in the best possible way.
Step 6: Book Office Cleaning Services
Traditionally, a lot of cleaning work needs to be done during the moving process. Both new and old premises have to be cleaned. A clean workplace will have a positive impact on the productivity of your team. The assistance of cleaners is immeasurable in these situations.
Step 7: Notify Your Prospects and Clients about New Address of an Office
When the move is complete, you should inform your clients about the new address. Update your website as soon as possible. Make sure that the site’s visitors will manage to notice your changes.
What Can be Done to Ease the Transition?
Oftentimes, employers choose to take advantage of a trial period when relocating their businesses. A trial period usually lasts 2 – 3 weeks. During a trial period, employees can try to work in a new place. After that, they will be able to express their thoughts about a move. Things usually go easy if a business is relocated this way.
What to Do If the New Owners Want to Relocate?
There are situations when businesses are sold. If a new owner chooses to relocate businesses, he/she always has to respect employee relocation rights.
Where is It Not Reasonable to Relocate?
If it’s not reasonable for an employee to relocate, work relationships have to be stopped. When such a situation happens, a fair disciplinary process has to be followed. A worker has the right to receive usual redundancy pay if the reason for dismissal is the closure of the workplace.
How Far Can a Company Move Before Offering Redundancy?
What is a reasonable distance for relocation? How far can my employer relocate me? These are the common questions of people who don’t want to move a business. There are no exact answers to the questions like these because such a term as the employment law reasonable travelling distance UK is not specified. Business owners and workers should try their best to come up with a solution that will be beneficial for both parties.
Get Professional Help If Necessary!
Moving to a new place is always a challenging task, and it has to be taken very seriously. Workers have to be very careful when signing employment contracts. It’s incredibly important to know the rights of workers during the process of moving an office. Read the contract’s terms thoroughly and check if your employment agreement has a mobility clause or not. Relocating a business can be inconvenient for employees. The owners of businesses have to understand this and do everything possible to provide their workers with alternative solutions. If you have any questions about employment laws, book a free consultation to get professional advice!