They should get a guarantee payments for the first 11 days that they are laid off or on short time. After that if they have paid sufficient NI contributions they could claim Job Seekers for the days they are not working as long as they are available for work and looking for work on those days. DWP systems don't like this however so its a pain. After that its means tested benefits such as tax credits and housing/council tax benefits. These will depend on lost of other factors. Any that have been employed for more than 2 years might want to looking to claiming that in fact they have been made redundant. Not straightforward and they will require detailed advice to do this. Your local CAB should have the info you need.