PRT Distributors Limited is a leading Jamaican consumer goods and pharmaceutical distribution company. The company has been in operation since February 2010. It is seen as a successful company in the industry. However, since COVID-19 sales of some higher end (non-essential) brands have reduced dramatically. While the company has seen increases in personal hygiene and cleaning products, the overall profit position decreased by 40 percent in 2020 when compared to 2019. At the beginning of 2021, the CEO had become very concerned about the state of the company and in a meeting with the Senior Leadership Team gave instructions which left some of them concerned. He asked that 10% of the staff be laid off for 120 days without pay which is justified under the Employment Termination and Redundancy Payment Act (ETRPA). However, he asked the Human Resource Manager to get creative and get them to stay off the job for 240 days without pay and make an assessment at the end of the period who should rejoin the company. The CEO instructed the Sales Manager to also become creative with products that were either nearly expired or expired, as the company could not afford to dump any more products. He said the Sales Manager should have the merchandising team erase the dates off the products or affix stickers marked ‘SPECIAL’ over the dates. This is a strategy he said, would save the company a significant amount of money. He asked that the Senior Leadership Team work together and come up with ways some of the expired products could be given to the community in which PTR operated. He felt this would help to build loyalty to the brands they sold and the communities would see PTR Distributors as good Corporate Citizens. The Senior Leadership Team had a meeting without the CEO and expressed how unhappy they were with the mandate they were given. Explain whether or not the CEO was justified in advising the Human Resource Manager to lay off persons for 240 days without pay. Support your answer with argument (s) from a theorist or employment law.
PRT Distributors Limited is a leading Jamaican consumer goods and pharmaceutical distribution company. The company has been in operation since February 2010. It is seen as a successful company in the industry. However, since COVID-19 sales of some higher end (non-essential) brands have reduced dramatically. While the company has seen increases in personal hygiene and cleaning products, the overall profit position decreased by 40 percent in 2020 when compared to 2019.
At the beginning of 2021, the CEO had become very concerned about the state of the company and in a meeting with the Senior Leadership Team gave instructions which left some of them concerned. He asked that 10% of the staff be laid off for 120 days without pay which is justified under the Employment Termination and Redundancy Payment Act (ETRPA). However, he asked the Human Resource Manager to get creative and get them to stay off the job for 240 days without pay and make an assessment at the end of the period who should rejoin the company.
The CEO instructed the Sales Manager to also become creative with products that were either nearly expired or expired, as the company could not afford to dump any more products. He said the Sales Manager should have the merchandising team erase the dates off the products or affix stickers marked ‘SPECIAL’ over the dates. This is a strategy he said, would save the company a significant amount of money.
He asked that the Senior Leadership Team work together and come up with ways some of the expired products could be given to the community in which PTR operated. He felt this would help to build loyalty to the brands they sold and the communities would see PTR Distributors as good Corporate Citizens.
The Senior Leadership Team had a meeting without the CEO and expressed how unhappy they were with the mandate they were given.
Explain whether or not the CEO was justified in advising the Human Resource Manager to lay off persons for 240 days without pay.
Support your answer with argument (s) from a theorist or employment law.
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