Reference no: EM133375562
Zipcode is an online platform offering a range of services through online marketplaces, search engines, social media and gaming systems. They are a multinational company employing over 50,000 employees worldwide, with 600 employees employed .Over the past year business has slowed down considerably and the Managing Director, Mark Bergin, has called a meeting with the FinanceManager (Pat Murphy),the Marketing Manager(John Smith), Office Manager (Amy Doyle), and yourself (Human Resources Manager) to discuss the current economic problems. At the meeting the following issues were also discussed.
Lilly Abbot has been with the company since 2000. She has been absent on certified sick leave since January 2022 and returned to work in February 2023 as a marketing assistant, co- ordinating the company's marketing, advertising, and promotional activities. Amanda was employed on a specific purposecontract to coverfor Lilly duringher sick leave. John wantsto offer Amanda a permanent contractas he is very happywith her performance. As a result,John is considering terminating Lilly's employment with immediate effect. He believes there is nothing Lilly can do about it.
Hugo Allard was recently employed in the payroll department. He is responsible for a payroll of 25 employees as he is learning on the job. He accidently emailed the payrollbank file (which contains unencrypted employee names and bank account numbers) to his husband, Pedro, and is worried that the employees' financial data has been compromised. He has also made numerous mistakes while processing payroll and has been advised by Pat to complete in Payroll Techniques. Hugo was transferred to administrative duties until he successfully completes his course of study. Hugo is not happy about this and feels he is being discriminated against because of his orientation.
Christine Connolly the receptionist is employed with the company since 1990. Christine is approaching her 65th birthday. Amy told her she will have to retire on her 65th birthday. Christine is very upset as she was hoping to continue in her role as she continues to lead a very active lifestyle and is very healthy. She never received a contract of employment as it was not the policy at the time she was hired, and retirement was never discussed. Christine feels that she is being forced to retire so the company don't have to pay her redundancy.
Zoe Cullen,the accounts administrator, has made a complaint about Pat Murphy who has been paying her a lot of unwanted attention. He makes a lot of suggestive comments to her which she finds offensive, humiliating and intimidating. Zoe has reported Pat's behaviour to Mark and has askedfor something to be done about it. Mark has never had to deal with anythinglike this before and he told Zoe that this has nothing to do with the company that she should make a complaint to An Gardaí Síochána. Zoe was very upset by Mark's attitude as she is terrified of Pat and worried about what will happen if he is not stopped. It has got to the stage where Zoe feelsuncomfortable coming to work and she feels it is affecting her work performance and is causing her a lot ofstress.
Zipcode wishes to reduce its workforce by over 25% due to the economic slump. This will result in the Irish workforce being reduced from 600 down to 450. The instructions coming from the US Head Office is that reduction will have to take place with immediate effect. Mark wants to get rid of all female employees of childbearing age first before selecting anyone else for redundancy as he thinksthat it is an inconvenience to find a temporary replacement for any employee who avails of maternity leave.
Mark has had a hectic schedule for the past few months and has not been keeping up to date with some recent changes in employment law, especially in relation to gender pay gap reporting. He has asked you for a brief summaryof what the gender pay gap is about and what the implications will be for Zipcode.
What are the issues which have arisen in the company, the relative importance of these issues and provide suggested approaches for their resolution by the company. Make reference to relevant employment legislation where appropriate.