My boss told me yesterday he's planning to cut everyone's hours at work. Its a small not for profit organization and we didn't get a bunch of grants we applied to and don't have operational funding so this is his plan to save money. Everyone works part time and flexible hours usually between 5-15 a week but things have been busy and lately many people have worked 15 or more hours a week so the payroll has been high and he's freaking out.
For some people he's talking about cutting their hours completely, and some limiting to the bare essential work and setting limits. So someone who has been doing 15-20 hours a week now will suddenly only have 5 hours a week. We live in a big city, and even though it's part time I'm sure this cut to hours is going to be deviating to the staff when they find out.
He implied that it wouldn't be permanent, but also wouldn't go back to normal after but he wants to “rebuild from the ground up” so some people are essentially getting fired without getting fired… Just not having hours anymore and no hope they will again in the future.
I know people will quit. I know they will freak out. I think for some it is better to be laid off so they can get EI so I hope he makes that an option. I work in senior management and I know I am going to be the one soaking up all the emotional energy from this situation and also picking up the workload if people quit but things still need to be done.
I'm also worried this will ruin the organizations reputation as an employer and we'll never get good staff again. Everyone who works for us now is perfect and awesome at their job.
My questions: can he legally cut hours so severely? What is best for the employee? To get laid off? Can people in Ontario get EI if their hours are cut but they are not actually fired? Are there other financial support systems I can recommend to the staff who will be in financial need because of this? What other options does my boss have than cutting staff hours really suddenly?
I probably have more questions but those are the most important ones. Thank you!