5 Rules for dismissing an employee
Nobody wants to do this, but there may come a time for dismissing an employee. Firstly, it is useful to know that for employees there is a model formed in some lovely legislation called the Employment Rights Act and supplied by the great organisation ACAS. In short if you’ve reached a point where you see no alternative but to sack one of your employees make sure you follow these 5 rules:
1. Have the evidence which proves the point
Whether that’s for performance or theft. The secret with employment law though is that it’s all about reasonableness so you don’t have to be able to ‘prove beyond reasonable doubt’ but rather you have come to a ‘reasonable belief’ – I always say if you stopped 10 people in the street and asked them if they agreed with your conclusion, and at least 6 of them say yes, that’s a good test.
2. Follow a process
So many employers could ‘win’ at an Employment Tribunal on the reason for dismissal but then mess up the process. We have helped countless clients through the process to keep them on the straight and narrow. The ACAS website describes it best – www.acas.org.uk
3. Have a good audit trail
HR is similar to finance so document the process, the evidence, the meetings and your thinking. This seems like an arduous task, we know😊, however our experience in Employment Tribunal cases has shown us how hard it is to remember 6 or 12 months later when/if you are sat in the witness box at an Employment Tribunal.
4. Don’t treat everyone the same, whatever you read
No one person is the same, no set of facts are the same so look at the facts of your case and the person you are dealing with and make the decision on that basis. We have had many meetings with managers where they say ‘but that’s what I did last time’ - Be consistent absolutely, but that doesn’t mean ‘the same’.
5. Keep your soul intact when dismissing an employee
There was a wonderful TV programme about a detective (one of the many) who was asked each day on return from work whether his soul was intact. We all have to do horrible things sometimes at work, but did we do it in a way we can internally, and if necessary externally, justify? In our opinion, we know you are probably going to feel awful afterwards, however as long as deep down you feel you did it for the right reason, then all will be okay.
In Summary
With the exception of gross misconduct (which should still be investigated), making the decision to dismiss someone shouldn’t be rushed into. Make sure you do it right and that you do it with compassion.
Can we help you?
Having been involved in many cases over the years, we understand that these types of situations are not easy to deal with, so if you’re a business owner, MD or HR professional looking for an affordable HR partner you can trust, why not talk to us?
Please contact us – we’d love to hear from you. enquiries@p2hr.co.uk