In an ideal world, an employee will join our team, perform fantastically, be happy and satisfied before eventually leaving or retiring. There will be no disagreements, no lateness and no issues at all along the way. Unfortunately, we don’t all live in this utopia and there will be times when you may have a disengaged team, problems with absence, repeated lateness, underperformance and all manner of conduct issues. Dealing with these situations promptly, fairly and effectively will save you and your business time, energy and potentially lots of money.

Investigations

The first stage of any case is usually a thorough investigation, Busi People Partners can provide you with detailed templates, guidance and training on how to conduct an investigation for any employee relations case. Sometimes in small businesses, it can be challenging to find an investigator who is not involved in the allegations raised – in these cases we can support as an external investigator when required.

Disciplinary

A disciplinary process is used to address an employees poor conduct or performance, typical formal disciplinary sanctions include; Written Warning, Final Written Warning and Dismissal – it is important that your policy outlines the process and when different sanctions may be applied.

There is legal guidance which outlines key steps which must be taken by the employer and the time frame in which these should happen. This guidance is to ensure that employees are treated fairly and have reasonable opportunity to respond to any allegations against them.

Busi People Partners have template policies and process documentation we can provide throughout the process to ensure you are compliant with all relevant guidelines and employment laws.

Some examples we’ve supported:

• Theft from company
• Fraudulent time recording
• Bullying / Harrassment
• Poor performance

Grievance

A grievance process is used to address issues or complaints raised by employee – this could be against a business process, manager, colleague or even a customer. It is very important that any grievances are responded to in a timely and effective manner by an appropraite person. Again, Busi People Partners can provide onjective external support where required and a suite of documents to ensure you are compliant throughout the process.

Some examples we’ve supported:

• Bullying / Harrassment
• Customer conduct
• Working conditions

Case Management

Busi People Partners offers a collaborative case management service so that when things do go awry, you can be confident in your response. We will partner with you every step of the way and ensure you have all the correct documentation in place at the right time to ensure your employee is treated fairly and legally and importantly that any risk to your business is mitigated, giving you peace of mind.

“This seems like a lot of effort”

We hear you, when you’re confident that an incident has taken place and feel certain that dismissal is the only reasonable response, it easy to assume that you can just go ahead and fire the employee in the wrong without any repurcussions to your business.

Unfortunately, that is not correct.

Even if your employee did in fact steal from the stock room, by not following a fair process as outlined above you risk being taken through an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal. Employment tribunals and judge’s first priority will be to look at the process you, as the employer, followed and answer whether that process was fair and legally compliant. If the answer is no, you may find yourself paying a financial award to the stockroom thief afterall. Remember, all the documents you produce through the process are the evidence of the process you followed, it’s essential you make them and keep them for the appropriate time.

How to get support

When you have an employee relations case brewing, the earlier you engage the correct process the more you increase your chance of a satisfactory, fair and effective resolution. You can engage our support at any point in the process, but the earlier you do so the faster we can help you resolve your case. Remember, we offer a free 30 minute discovery call for new clients to explore how we could support you with your current issues, to find out more or book in contact us today.