Employment Contracts and Dismissals
Did you know that there are six acceptable and fair reasons for dismissing employees? 'As many as that' we hear you say! As is always the case, however, with employment law, there is a 'but' to each of the six reasons in order for them to be fair. Employment Tribunals test dismissal decisions in two ways. The first test is did the employer behave reasonably? The second is whether or not you followed the correct procedure. It is essential that you are aware of which reason you are using for dismissals as each of the six acceptable reasons carries a different procedure. The employer needs to pass both tests for the decision to be a fair one.
We did say that there was a 'but'! A lot of employers won't deal with performance or conduct issues because they think employment law is too heavily weighted towards the employee and therefore it will cost them a lot of money. It doesn't have to be that way. Employers should expect employees to behave in an acceptable manner and perform to the standards required. If they don't, the employer does not have to put up with the issue. With the right sort of support on your side, addressing issues with difficult employees is not something of which any employer needs to be frightened.
Whether or not you have a written contract of employment may not be relevant, as many terms and conditions are implied into employment contracts. This includes how both the employer and employee behave towards each other at the beginning, during employment and at the termination of that employment. Obviously written terms and conditions are better for both parties as they minimise misunderstanding and confusion.
Case Study
A long serving employee had been falsifying time and expense sheets over a period of time and had claimed several thousand pounds in overtime to which the individual was not entitled. The company wanted to dismiss, but as this was a long serving employee, they were very nervous about the consequences. They also knew they needed to follow a full and proper procedure to protect the company, but were not sure what that should be.
CHaRM prepared and supported the directors through the investigation and dismissal procedures as well as taking notes during each meeting. This enabled us to ensure that proper procedure was followed and that a thorough investigation took place at all stages, so that when the decision to dismiss was made it was robust and would withstand challenge. CHaRM prepared the Managing Director to hear the apeal and again took notes and advised regarding procedure. The individual did claim against the company, not for unfair dismissal but for disability discrimination (which we could not have foreseen). When the employment tribunal claim arrived, in conjunction with our solicitors, we prepared a robust response on the company's behalf.
The result? The individual withdrew the claim before our client incurred any significant legal costs in preparing for and defending the claim. This reassured our client about the actions and decisions they had taken and confirmed that their decision had been correct in the circumstances. The directors were pleased with the help, support and professional guidance provided by CHaRM, as well as the time and money we saved them by advising and preparing them throughout the process.
"Just having the chance to talk to someone independently about HR issues is worth a great deal - especially when it's about sensitive subjects that are so often shrouded in legal pitfalls. Having an expert at hand gives us a great deal of confidence - knowing that what we are doing is procedurally correct as well as properly thought through".
