Difference Between Lay Off and Retrenchment

Companies and organisations often terminate their relationship with employees as a part of a business exercise. Such termination is different from voluntary termination, usually done in unsatisfactory service cases.

Termination that does not directly result from a worker’s action within the organisation is called involuntary termination. Involuntary terminations are routine procedures in companies.

Key Takeaways

1. A layoff is a temporary or permanent separation of employees from a company, usually due to economic downturns, restructuring, or cost-cutting measures.
2. Retrenchment is a broader term that includes layoffs but also covers other cost-cutting strategies, such as reducing spending, eliminating non-essential operations, or selling assets.
3. Layoffs focus specifically on workforce reduction, while retrenchment encompasses a wider range of cost-saving measures that may or may not include layoffs.

Lay Off vs Retrenchment

The difference between layoffs and reduction is that layoffs can be temporary, while reduction is permanent termination.

Involuntary terminations can be further divided into two broad categories: Layoffs and Retrenchment. Layoffs are a part of business terminations that are volatile.

This means that once the lean period for the organization is over, the employed might be called back to work.

Retrenchment is another form of termination which is not dependent on the employee’s actions. Retrenchment, however, is non-volatile, meaning that employees will never be called back once terminated.

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Comparison Table

Parameter of Comparison	Layoffs	Retrenchment
Definition	Layoffs are involuntary terminations, usually done due to business and expenditure reasons.	Retrenchment is the permanent termination of an individual’s employment due to the closing of the department or the replacement of labour.
Nature	Action step	Business Strategy
Time	Temporary	Permanent
Effect on operation	The operation usually stood during lay off period	Operation continues.
Re-appointment	Reappointed might happen after the layoff period	All employment contracts and connections with the company are permanently terminated.

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What is Lay Off?

Layoffs are a standard business practice that companies adopt to deal with economic downturns. During a recession within the economy or the company, management decides to lay off staff and reduce the workforce to avoid a complete business shutdown.

Layoffs can be temporary. That is, employees can be asked to join back once the company has recovered and can afford to hire more work workforce.  A laid-off employee does not provide services to the company or collect wages.

However, they can be eligible for compensation and retaining support. Companies may state multiple reasons for laying off employees.

Some common reasons for lay-offs include;

1. Cost Reduction- When companies fail to make enough profits, a need to cut costs arise. Downsizing is the simplest way of cutting costs. Companies must follow the due procedure to avoid lawsuits.
2. Staffing Redundancies- Companies often change their management strategies, creating a need for developing new positions or dissolving existing ones.
3. Relocation- When a company moves its operations to a different location, some workforce must be laid off.
4. Merger or Buyout- A change in ownership will cause a significant shift in corporate leadership strategies. Review of employee profiles and layoffs are standard in such cases.

Since layoffs are involuntary terminations, they do not impact a person‘s employability and do not reflect poorly on his or her cv. However, it does have an overall socio-economic impact on ex-employees.

It also affects the overall environment of the workspace for a brief period. Layoffs can be avoided by encouraging voluntary retirements, cutting office expenses by opting for virtual workspaces etc.

 

What is Retrenchment?

Retrenchment is another form of an involuntary termination that companies are involved in. It is a form of dismissal not caused by faulty behaviour or practice of the employee himself but is a management decision.

If a company reviews its business expenses and finds cheaper alternatives than the employee, it will likely retrench the individual lawfully.

Retrenchments are done due to operational reasons. Companies might cite technological, economic, or structural needs for reduction.

The process of retrenchment must be fair and objective.

The general due process involves consultation with employees likely affected by the retrenchment. Several sessions of talks, objective information collection and selection based on mutually agreed criteria are made before employees are retrenched.

Selection criteria for retrenchment may be based on principles such as LIFO or last in, first out or on experience, skills, knowledge etc.

Retrenchment involves severance, which could be one week’s pay for each completed year or an amount suggested by the consulting committee. Retrenchments are permanent terminations, and the employee is not likely to be re-employed.

Companies engage in mass retrenchments when technology or machinery is introduced to the same task.

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Main Differences Between Lay-Off and Retrenchment

1. An employer does layoffs to limit the losses in the business by laying off employees, whereas Retrenchment is to increase the profit; it is usually done as a business strategy by shutting down the department or when a more competent employee appears for that position.
2. Layoffs are practically considered the need of time for a business, as it has to let go of employees to save the existing business. In contrast, Retrenchment is regarded as a business tactic to increase the productivity and output of the company.
3. Layoffs are temporary; laid-off employees can be called back when the company runs into a more stable state, whereas Retrenchment is the permanent step; an employer will not give the job back to the same employee.
4. During layoffs, the company’s business operations stop spontaneously and it cannot afford to run its operations. In contrast, business works smoothly during Retrenchment as before, and no company operation is hampered.
5. Layoffs don’t include benefits, whereas Retrenchment includes severance pay.

References

1. https://academic.oup.com/jpart/article-abstract/24/4/923/1142321
2. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/002188638201800204
3. https://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/pdf/10.1596/0-8213-3041-1#page=137