Let’s have a clear out!

By Stacey Turner, founder and legal director, CG Professional.

Line manager: “That’s it! That’s the last straw with Martin. He’s phoned in sick again. Even when he’s here, he’s useless. I’ve got customer complaints piled high because of him. He’s careless and his attitude stinks!”General manager: “How long’s he been with us now?”Line Manager: “Since he was an apprentice, it’s been about five years now! We’ve given him so many chances!”

Sound familiar?Ask yourself, how many people do you employ that you wish you didn’t? How many people have stayed on the books and under the radar despite not performing? How much are these people costing your business?

All businesses have an element of “dead wood” amongst their workforce. Perhaps due to thinking that it’s better to have someone in post rather than no-one, a lack of effective management or simply not knowing how to tackle the issue.

In this current climate, and with 2018 forecast to be even tougher, businesses simply can’t afford to carry these underperformers.

So, what do you do?

Depending upon your reason for wanting to part ways, there is always a route.

Whether that be through a disciplinary process, relating to conduct or attitude that leads to disciplinary warnings. Or through a performance management programme, used where an employee’s performance is lacking, and you take them through an improvement process leading to dismissal if they don’t improve by a certain date.

The situation may call for a restructure, where you reorganise a team or structure of a department that leads to casualties.

Or directly tackle those not attending work by consistently enforcing a sickness absence process, such as a “three strikes rule” or a “Bradford Factor” approach (a particular formula to calculate unacceptable levels of absences) to impose sanctions.

In some circumstances, you may need to consider a non-conventional ‘off the record’ exit via a Settlement Agreement, which can be a quick and amicable option for parting ways.

Where an employee has less than two years’ service, there are robust solutions with a reduced level of procedure to part ways. So checking employees’ length of service and utilising probationary periods in the early months will help.

Whatever the problem, we can help. We are qualified employment lawyers, and our advice is given with clear actions, leaving you confident to implement it easily and achieve the result you want. We can discuss the issues, agree on a route and guide you through that process step by step. We can even carry out the process on your behalf if you wish.

CG Professional believes in businesses knowing the cost up front, so all our advice is charged at a fixed fee.For a free consultation meeting contact the CG Professional team today: enquiries@cgprofessional.co.uk