Temporary stopped and short-time working

Cutting jobs through redundancies may help your business to stay competitive in the current economic climate, but it could also be a significant cost to you and could prove to be a false economy due to increased staff turnover and a decline in productivity. 

Alternatives to redundancy programmes can prove more cost effective in the short term. Through working with Jobcentre Plus, we can offer you the right support for you and your employees.

What is temporary stopped?

A temporary lay off is a period when, there is no work available for a definite or indefinite period (several weeks without work), your employees are still under a contract of service which has not been terminated, and work is expected to resume.

What is short-time working?

Short-time working is when there is only a limited amount of work available (reduced hours or days), your employees are still under contract of service which has not been terminated, and work is expected to resume.

An employee could be temporary stopped or placed on short time work because of:

• bad weather
• a breakdown of machinery
• a lack of materials
• a fall in orders
• flood or fire
• an extension of holiday period, or
• Trade disputes/lay offs elsewhere.

When you know there is a need for a stoppage of work you should notify your employees as soon as possible. You should also contact the local Jobcentre Manager to see if any special arrangements need to be made for your employees to make claims for Jobseeker’s Allowance.

The Jobcentre Manager will advise you what to do, based on:

• the numbers of workers involved
• the length of the stoppage of work, and
• the pattern of work during the stoppage.

Guarantee payments

As an employer you are required to pay a guarantee payment to your workers if they are temporary stopped or on short-time working.  These payments are made every three months, and for a maximum of 5 days in that period. These payments are treated as earnings when assessing any Jobseeker’s Allowance payable.

To find out more information on guarantee payments visit the BERR website.

Download our fact-sheet to find out more information on Temporary stopped, short-time working, and guarantee payments .

Useful website with more information for your employees

Directgov - Temporary lay-offs.