When an employee is stood down, they continue to be employed by the company, but are not asked to work, and do not receive wages for the stand down period. Typical scenarios include workplace closures to repair damaged equipment, or due to industrial action. Employers experiencing disruption by the COVID-19 crisis may choose to stand down employees instead of terminating them.

Use this Stand Down Notice if:

• You are a business that needs to temporarily suspend operations
• You wish to reduce employment costs without terminating your employees
• You expect to operate your business normally after a period of time

What does this document cover:

• What it means to be stood down, and how that differs from termination
• The period and conditions of the stand down

Further information:

• Standing Down Employees vs. Redundancy