Category Archives: Discipline

Getting to Grips with Grievance

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I’ve been working with one of my clients to look at how their employees feel they’re being treated by their managers. Unfortunately, in one case, it has resulted in a member of staff being signed off sick due to stress. They have been asked to come back to work, but they don’t want to return and have to work for the same manager. In this particular small business, there is no one else for whom they could work.

It is a sad story and it is one that can be avoided.

If you think that one of your employees is unhappy, it really is best to deal with it early. Find out as soon as you can what the problem is. Look at using regular appraisals or ‘job chats’ to keep in touch with your employees, so that no small issues are ignored. The small ones can be the ones that escalate into much larger, more complex issues, if they’re not dealt with while they’re still small.

If you find out that someone is unhappy about working under you, find someone else to deal with the situation. An employee with a problem is more likely to speak to someone more impartial than the person with whom they have the actual grievance.

To find out more about how to prevent problems occurring, have a look at this blog about how to make appraisals really easy; for tips on improving performance, watch some of our videos here.

For more advice on how to deal with grievances and discipline at work, have a look at this Acas guide.

How Do You Make Sure Your Employees are Performing to the Best of their Ability?

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How Do You Make Sure Your Employees are Performing to the Best of their Ability?

Your people are the key to the success of your business. By investing in them you are investing in your success. But how do you make sure they are working as hard as they can, to bring about that success?

Here are our top 10 tips to help you get the most from your people:

1. Provide a vibrant and stimulating working environment and a culture that values the contribution made by each person

2. Embrace the diverse range of skills, expertise, experience, attitudes and backgrounds of all your staff

3. Encourage your staff to reach their full potential. Provide them with opportunities to develop their expertise, both in terms of technical and soft skills

4. Provide formal and informal performance reviews on a regular basis

5. Set clear objectives and achievable targets with your staff and allow them to air their concerns within an environment of trust and honesty

6. Deal with issues as soon as they arise. Don’t wait for them to become a significant problem

7. Equip your managers with the skills they need to deal with difficult situations confidently and effectively

8. Reinforce and reward good performance. Provide incentives and rewards that motivate each individual member of staff

9. Offer a clear career path to incentivise employees to be the best they can be

10.Conduct regular employee questionnaires to highlight areas for concern and ensure staff feel that you value their opinions.

Managing staff is often the hardest part of any manager’s job. Follow these simple tips and you’ll find it easier to encourage your staff to put their best efforts into working with you.

Changes to Employment Law – Can You Keep Up?

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Changes to Employment Law – Can You Keep Up?

Twice a year, in April and October, changes are made to UK employment law. There’s a lot that you need to know, so to help you keep abreast of the changes, I’m running one of my very popular workshops to discuss and simplify the changes. It will be held on 1 May 2014 and Hennerton Golf Club, Wargrave, Berkshire. Click here to book your place.

Here’s a summary of some of the proposed changes to due to take place this spring:

  • Power of Employment Tribunal to impose Financial Penalties on employers. The Employment Tribunal will have the power to order an employer who has lost a case to pay a financial penalty, to the Secretary of State, of between £100 and £5,000. The penalty will be imposed where the employer has breached any of the worker’s rights. Tribunal Financial Penalties apply from 6 April 2014.
  • Early conciliation to come into force. Before lodging a claim to the Tribunal, all claimants will need to notify Acas first, where conciliation will be offered. If conciliation is unsuccessful within the set period the claimant can proceed to lodge a tribunal claim. This comes into force on 6 May 2014.
  • Statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay increase. The rate of statutory maternity, paternity and adoption rate will increase to £138.18.

In addition, there is this change, to be brought in by the end of 2014:

Managing sickness absence. A health and work assessment and advisory service is to be introduced, offering fee occupational health assistance for employees, employers and GPs. The service can provide an occupational health assessment after four weeks of sickness absence.

To keep your business fully updated, why not book your place on our workshop? The cost is just £10 +VAT, so to reserve your seat, just click here to book online.

How Do You Manage Absence in Your Business?

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How Do You Manage Absence in Your Business?

The cost of absence to your business could be huge. While it’s not always avoidable, you can reduce the cost and impact by managing it effectively. Here are some of the things you need to do:

Monitor it: You won’t have an idea of the problem if you don’t keep a record of the days and dates of absence. You need to know the frequency or length of absence to decide on the next steps.

Reporting absence: You must have rules about reporting absence and you must make sure these are followed.  If you don’t do this everyone will ignore them because they can.

Discuss the problem with your employee: There’s a legal requirement to consult with employees. They need your support and you need to know how to plan their work while they are away and make arrangements for their return.

Getting the payments right: Check the contract of employment to make sure you make the correct payments. As a minimum, employees are entitled to Statutory Sick Pay and they may also be entitled to be paid for holidays.

Return to work interview: These are key tool in deterring absence and making sure that you know what’s going on with your staff. They’re a great opportunity to nip problems in the bud.

Keeping in touch: Contact is vital if an employee is away for a long period. It helps you to provide support to them and at the same time understand how the situation may develop so that you can plan your business.

Phased return to work: This may be required after a long illness and may be suggested by the GP in a fit note.  You should consider these suggestions and discuss them with the employee before you make a decision.

What if you need to dismiss a member of staff due to long term absence? What are the benefits of managing absence? You can find out more from our free fact sheet – download it here.

How to Make Appraisals Really Easy

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Appraisals should be divided in three stages – preparation, the actual meeting and the follow up. Here’s what to focus on at each stage.

 1. Preparation

This is one of the most important stages of the appraisal process and is often missed or skipped over too quickly. You need to have facts about each employee’s performance and evidence of instances in which they have performed well or badly. This will make the appraisal constructive and meaningful.

Throughout the year, track each employee’s performance and keep a log of memorable incidents or projects they’re involved in. Look back at previous appraisal information and job descriptions to make sure they are meeting their agreed objectives.

Make sure that your employees are prepared too. Agree the date, time and place for the meeting at least two weeks in advance; brief them on the importance and scope of the meeting and what you expect from them.

2. The Meeting

Once the preparation is done, here’s how to carry out the meeting:

  • Ask open and probing questions, giving your employees the opportunity to decide how to answer; encourage them to talk freely
  • Listen to what they say without interrupting. Also watch their body language for messages
  • Evaluate performance, not personality. Focus on how well the employee does their job rather than personal characteristics
  • Give feedback based on facts not subjective opinion. Use feedback to positively reinforce the good. In the case of underperformance, use it to help the employee understand the impact of their actions or behaviour and the corrective action required
  • Set SMART objectives for the future and set a timeline for improvement if an employee is underperforming. Look also for development opportunities to help your employees reach their potential
  • Document each appraisal. Write a summary of the discussion, what was agreed and any action to be taken while it’s fresh in your mind.

3. Follow Up

Don’t just walk away at the end of the meeting, breathing a sigh of relief and forgetting about it all until next year!

Do what you say you will do. Fulfilling your promises reflects well on you and your business. If you’ve set deadlines for performance reviews, follow up on them. Check on progress that you discussed in the meeting.

If you don’t follow up with appraisals, the whole process will be a waste of time and something that neither you nor your employees look forward to or find useful.

Still need some help? If you follow all these tips and still think that carrying out appraisals seems too difficult, we can help. Full preparation, support during the meetings and follow up for just £90 +VAT per employee! To find out more or to book dates for your appraisals, call me on 0118 940 3032 or click here to email me straight away.

Employment Tribunals Have Changed – What Do You Need to Know?

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From April 2011 to March 2012 there were a total of 186,300 tribunal cases is the UK. The cost to employers was an average of £3900; the cost to the taxpayer was £1900 for each case. Of this total, 46,300 cases were due to unfair dismissal. 24% of the cases were withdrawn, 42% were settled via Acas, 8% were successful following hearing and 10% unsuccessful following hearing.

Since July 2013 a number of changes have been made including:

Cap on unfair dismissal – there is now a basic award which is based on redundancy; and the compensatory award is now capped at £74,200 or one year’s earnings.

Employment tribunal fees – fees are now charged for issuing and hearing tribunal claims and for various applications made during tribunal proceedings. Level 1 fees for simpler claims are £160 for issue and £230 for hearing. Level 2 fees for more complex claims including unfair dismissal and discrimination are £250 for issue and £950 for hearing.

Early sift stage – during this stage, the pleadings will be reviewed by a judge soon after the Tribunal claim form has been received, with claims or responses being struck out if the judge considers there is no reasonable prospect of success.

In addition, Acas is making pre-conciliation changes from early 2014 and financial penalties are being introduced for employers from 6 April 2014.

So should you settle or should you fight? If this all sounds too complicated for you, or you have any specific questions about changes to employment law, don’t go through it alone! Please get in touch by calling 0118 940 3032 or by emailing sueferguson@optionshr.co.uk.

One of my employees is underperforming. How long do I give them as a review period?

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The answer to this question is that there’s no statutory time frame for improvements for underperformance.

Timescales for an employee’s improvement must be reasonable and will depend on the circumstances, including the employee’s role and position within your company and his or her length of service and past performance. In some cases, a review period of a few weeks may be sufficient – for tasks that are carried out every day, or for performance that can be seen every day, such as starting work on time. In others cases, a review period of several months may be more appropriate, for longer term activities such as sales.

When you agree to provide your employee with additional training or support, this will need to take place before their performance can sensibly be measured again. You should make sure that you monitor your employee’s performance during the relevant review period. The period should be long enough to allow you to assess whether or not your employee has made and sustained the necessary improvements.

The answer to this question will also be different for each different situation. If you have a member of staff whose performance needs to be reviewed, get in touch and we can talk about the situation, to help you work out the best way forward.

You can also find out more by watching one of my recent videos, by clicking here.

Seven Steps for Dealing with Poor Performance in a Growing Business – Part One

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Poor employee performance must be tackled if your business is to thrive. Here are the first of seven steps you can take to tackle poor performance. I’ll bring you the next steps in another blog next month.

When you’re trying to reach a higher level in your business, you’re only as strong as your weakest member. Dealing with somebody in your team who doesn’t live up to the standards you require is difficult, both legally and ethically. Before you show an employee the red card, be sure you have tried everything that is expected from you, the employer, to guide them and push their performance to a higher level. To deal with the matter correctly, there are a few steps to follow:

Step 1: Informal conversations

Your starting point for resolving issues should be to deal with them early and informally. Sit down and discuss your concerns with your employee. Use these meetings to encourage and develop the behaviour and performance you want.

Never automatically assume that the employee is at fault. Investigate the causes of poor performance before deciding what action to take. Your aim should always be to help your employee bring their performance up to standard.

Step 2: Offer support

Where your conversation reveals a cause that’s not the fault of your employee, your initial response should be to offer help and support. Regularly monitor performance, referencing the objectives and timescales agreed, where appropriate. You should offer ongoing support, even after the discussion; and keep records and notes of all informal discussions.

Step 3: Performance review meeting

If, following informal discussion and support, and from monitoring your employee’s performance, you don’t feel improvements have been made, you’ll need to follow a formal capability procedure. This procedure provides for a series of performance review meetings with the employee following which formal warnings may be issued.

You must give your employee at least 48 hours’ notice of a performance review meeting and ensure the arrangements are handled with discretion and confidentiality.

Make sure you’re accompanied at the meeting by a colleague or HR representative. Their role is to support you and take accurate notes of the meeting, enabling you to focus on handling the session fairly and appropriately.

There’s a lot to take in here, so I’ll write about the next stages to follow in a blog next month. If you need to deal with a poor performance issue, this will give you time to carry out steps 1, 2 and 3.

Should You Bother with Appraisals

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Should You Bother with Appraisals

Why should you bother with appraisals? Because you don’t know if you don’t ask.

Essentially a conversation, appraisals are a very useful conversation when you want to get the best out of your employees and see your business grow. Useful for finding out information and giving feedback, appraisals are also a great opportunity for employees to reflect on their goals, objectives and contributions. Well conducted appraisals result in a better understanding of your team, allow positive changes and increase morale.

What you can find out from an appraisal:

  • There may be expertise or knowledge within your team that you didn’t know about
  • Some employees may feel dissatisfied with their role or may be struggling with their work
  • You may find some gaps in the knowledge of your employees
  • Maybe they are really happy and performing well!

What do you do with this information?

This knowledge allows you to sort out problems and make sure individual employees are the right people for the right roles. If someone is more suited to a different role, re-structuring will make a more effective use of the people you have.

You can organise training that is required to increase efficiency and encourage staff to share expertise with their colleagues.

When misunderstandings and communication problems surface, you can organise regular team meetings to keep everyone in the loop.

Getting your employees’ views allows you to find out what they need and gives them a sense of being in control of their job. Without talking to the people you work with you remain oblivious to problems that may be hindering productivity, motivation and ultimately the success of your business.

What can you tell your employees?

An appraisal is your chance to say “well done” or ask the questions to find out why an individual is not be performing at their best. Money is not always the best way to reward people for good work; recognition is extremely motivational. Appreciation and praise encourages loyalty and focus. Individuals who have received positive feedback about their work are more likely to give 110%.

So why bother?

Because regular appraisals make sure your team remains highly motivated and satisfied at work which ultimately increases productivity, reduces absenteeism and staff turnover. Carried out professionally and sensitively, they are an essential component of success in business.

To find out about how to carry out effective appraisals, book you place on the workshop I’m running in Henley on Thames on 11 September 2013. Click here to book your place online for just £12 +VAT.

Dealing with Gross Misconduct – How do You do it?

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Gross misconduct is behaviour so bad that it destroys the relationship between you and your employee and it usually results in dismissal. But what exactly can be considered gross misconduct? It’s important to know, so that you can avoid unfair dismissal claims.

Here’s how to identify and manage gross misconduct.

What is gross misconduct?

Gross misconduct is a serious breach of contract and includes any misconduct which, in your opinion, causes serious damage to your business, or irreparably breaks down trust and relationships.

There is no exhaustive list, but it can include theft, physical violence, bullying, damage to property, accessing pornographic sites, damaging your firm’s reputation, inability to work due to alcohol or drugs, breaching health and safety rules, failing to obey instructions, or serious neglect of duty. Repeated minor misconduct, such as being late to work, is not gross misconduct, although it can lead to dismissal after previous unexpired warnings.

Should my staff handbook include examples of gross misconduct?
Include a list of examples of what usually counts as gross misconduct, but state that it is non-exhaustive as you cannot provide for every eventuality. Each case should be looked at individually and consideration should be given to all the circumstances.

What procedure should I go through if someone has committed gross misconduct? When disciplining an employee you should follow your own disciplinary procedure and the Acas Code of Practice. If you don’t follow the Code it may render a dismissal unfair and could increase the amount of compensation an employment tribunal awards against you.

If you believe an employee has committed gross misconduct, you may need to suspend them to allow a full investigation to take place. This won’t be necessary in all cases, but it will usually be appropriate in cases of serious misconduct. If an employee is suspended it should be on full pay.

Carry out a fair and balanced investigation. At the end of it you may decide that no further action is necessary. However, if matters are to be taken further the employee should be invited to a disciplinary hearing where they will be given the opportunity to state their case and respond to the allegations against them. The hearing should then be adjourned for you to make your decision. You should notify the employee of your decision in writing and inform them of their right of appeal.

How can I decide if something counts as gross misconduct or not?  
If you’re unsure, get legal advice. In any case, if an incident is not obviously gross misconduct, it’s always better to go for the lesser sanction than to dismiss someone as such a dismissal may be held unfair. The current maximum compensation for unfair dismissal is £74,200.

If you need any more advice about identifying or dealing with gross misconduct, please do get in touch, to make sure you can avoid and tricky situations.