Over the last 7 years, a significant number of companies have faced financial difficulty, often necessitating making employees redundant. However, it is often the case that the employer can’t even afford to pay the employee redundancy payment given the financial position of the business. So what happens here?

Employee Redundancy Payment Entitlements

Pay An employee is entitled to redundancy pay by virtue of Schedule 3 of the Redundancy Payments Acts. If an employee is made redundant then they qualify for statutory redundancy pay if they have 104 weeks’ continuous reckonable service or more with the employer in question.

Statutory redundancy pay amounts to two weeks’ pay per each year of service, plus one bonus week. Thus, if an employee has exactly 3 years’ service they are entitled to [(3 years x 2 weeks) + 1 bonus week] = 7 weeks redundancy pay. The weekly pay is based on the normal weekly wage earned by that employee during their employment, including commission or other varied payments, but it is subject to the statutory ceiling of €600 per week. Thus, if the employee with 3 years’ service earned €800 a week then their statutory redundancy is capped at (7 weeks x €600) = €4200. Any part years’ service should be included on a pro rata basis when calculating the employee’s redundancy entitlement.

Inability to Pay the Redundancy

Payment Given the financial climate of recent times, more and more companies are finding the need to inform their employees to claim redundancy through the Social Insurance fund. This situation arises when the company does not have enough financial means to pay the redundancy lump sum payment. Once an employee is formally being made redundant, the employer must pay your employee the lump sum on this date.

If you do not have the financial means to pay the lump sum payment, then the employee can apply to the Department of social Protection for direct payment from the Social Insurance Fund. The employee should complete and sign the RP50 form which is still required under the Redundancy Payments Acts. The employer should also submit evidence verified by a suitable person, such as an accountant or solicitor, which verifies that the employer has an inability to pay the redundancy lump sum (e.g. an audit of accounts). The employer should state that they are unable to pay and request that the payment be made from the Social Insurance fund.

It is worth mentioning that seeking recourse under the social insurance fund, will only pay the redundancy statutory lump sum payment and not the notice period, annual leave or public holiday entitlements due to the employee cessation of their employment.

Once your employee has enough social insurance contributions they may be entitled to job seekers benefit. If they do not have enough PRSI contributions you may qualify for Job Seekers Allowance which is a means-tested benefit.

If a company has been liquidated or is in receivership, the completed RP50 should be send in by the liquidator or receiver on behalf of the employees.

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Trade shows are a great opportunity to make yourself known. You may provide a great product or service, but it won’t do anyone any good – including you – if nobody knows you’re out there. At a trade show, the time you spend interacting with potential customers is very limited, and you have to make it count.   Here are a few things that can help you jumpstart your very own ad campaign and grow your customer network.

Leave a Good Impression

Nothing can make or break you like your first point of contact with potential clients. You should be friendly and informative while also explaining the benefit of your product or service. Is your end goal a sale? Probably. But you don’t want to look like you’re desperately giving a sales pitch. Good first impressions turn into good leads. Be your best self when you interact with possible customers and let the game come to you. Which brings me to my next point…

Leave Something Behind

Put something in the hands of those you meet. Consider a custom business card or some other tangible item someone can hold onto – the nicer, the better. If you show that you care about your enterprise, it’s more likely that you’ll be taken seriously.

Press Onward

Don’t waste all of your time talking to one individual or entity. Give them something to chew on and move to the next person. A potential customer will appreciate the fact that you make an effort to talk to everyone – this shows how dedicated you are, even in a scenario where you may be rushed and overwhelmed. Keep track of the people you talk to so you can follow up at the appropriate time.

Leaving a memorable, positive impression at a trade show can do wonders for your business. It can net results that even massive advertising campaigns would be jealous of. So, whenever you go put yourself on display, remember these tips so you can let everybody know how awesome you are.

Chris Ford enjoys science fiction, writing, and hot wings. He writes for Basler Co., Inc., makers of custom Post-It products.

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Opening a small business is definitely a huge achievement for a lot of people but the really big challenge is maintaining it. We are faced with various standard challenges like hiring good staff, brand building and much more. However, those that are really complicated to deal with are the ones that you need to be extremely careful with since you will need to get over them in order to grow your firm.

Client Dependence

In the event that you have one major client that is bringing in a huge part of the income, the business is more like being an independent contractor. It is vital that you diversify a client base in order to grow your company. That is difficult if you have a really large client that does pay on time and does pay really well. Most small business owners believe that having this type of client is tremendous but on the long term, this is a huge problem.

Improper Money Management

You never know when an unexpected expense appears and if you do not have the necessary funds to pay bills, you end up bankrupt. Money management is incredibly important and too many individuals out there do not actually have the necessary skills for this. You have to be 100% sure that you build up cash reserves. While you can always deal with unexpected problems by selling a property or getting a loan, the most important thing is always being sure that you do have access to backups.

Getting Tired

Being a startup manager is something that takes up a lot of time. You have to work a lot and the hours that you are about to put in will bring in a lot of pressure. There are way too many business owners that are stuck working a lot of hours, usually a lot more than employees. The manager rarely takes time off. You have to do all that you can in order to relax. If you end up tired, you lose time, money and can end up bankrupt without realizing it.

Being Dependent On The Owner

Think about one thing: if something bad happens to you and you cannot work for 1 month, will the business still bring in the same income? If a company cannot operate properly without the founder, it is obvious that the business has an upcoming deadline. Founder dependence is really bad, especially as the business gets more clients. Compromises have to be made and that is tough for some owners.

The Balance Between Growth And Quality

The last thing we should highlight is that business growth is definitely something that an owner wants. However, managing that growth is not at all easy. Any business needs to make compromises in order to grow. In many situations you are faced with the personal engagement level that goes down with services and products. Small business owners are tied to various habits that are highly detrimental to overall growth. Scaling should always be done while maintaining brand values, which is really important.

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