My contract is with head office however I run a hotel as general manager, the company is liquidating the hotel and as such not paying any retrenchment payments to the staff contracted at the hotel. My question is, can they do the same to me as my contract is not at the hotel but at head office or will they need to follow retrenchment processes with me?
You should first raise this issue with the HR department. Find out if you still have a future with the company. If sounds like you were appointed by the head office to work and run that particular hotel, if the hotel is liquidating and you are not offered an alternative hotel to manage then the company is planning on retrenching you as well. Even though you were appointed by head office if you position within the company becomes redundant then you will be retrenched.
In terms of the severance package, employees are always preferential creditors in a liquidation. The employees will be paid first of what ever is left after the liquidation remember there could be nothing left possibly R0.22c to the rand. The employees who contracted with the hotel directly could very well no get paid out much. Your employment contact is with the head office if the head office is another company, e.g HR holdings and this hotel is Jimmy bobs hotel then HR holdings should pay you what you are entitled if they feel they cannot keep you on.
Thank you for you reply, your assumptions were 100%.
The situation has changed a bit now, the owners of the hotel I am running wish to keep me on as care taker, not on an employment contract but a service contract with no promise of employment when the hotel opens again.
Are my current employers able to use this to not pay any severance in terms of retrenchment? or would they still need to go through the retrenchment process as I am not resigning form my current position but will stay on for a while for the owners.