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We can help you and your organisation manage your legal obligations as an employer with expert advice and representation when you need it.
If you have an employee who has done something inappropriate in the workplace, then you will likely need to look at following a disciplinary process with that employee. The behaviour in question might be anything from a breach of your policies, to interacting unprofessionally with colleagues or customers, to something as serious as theft or harassment. Depending on the severity of the conduct in question you may be justified in taking a range of action from issuing warnings to the employee in question, through to dismissal for the most serious issues.
But before getting to that, it is important for you to follow a thorough disciplinary process. Failure to do so can leave your business open to very costly employment claims, even where you might otherwise have been within your rights to dismiss an employee. If you have had disciplinary issues with an employee, we would encourage you to call our Employment team as early into the process as possible, and we can advise you on following a proper process, that will minimise the risk of claims against your business.
If one of your employees is failing to reach your expectations for the role they perform, then you ought to consider following a performance improvement process with them. This process is different from a disciplinary process. A disciplinary process is followed with employees whose behaviour is inappropriate. A performance improvement process is for those employees who haven’t done anything wrong, but who aren’t performing at the level you’d like.
A performance improvement process looks to ensure that the employee has everything they need to be successful in their role and then sets targets for them to improve over a period of time. The hope is that they reach the levels you expect of them, but if after time this is not possible, a properly followed process does allow you to remove that employee from your business. If you are struggling with an underperforming team member, we can advise you on how to follow a performance improvement process with the hope of turning things around.
A grievance process is something that is started by the employee and not by you. It is typically a formal complaint made by your employee about something to do with their working conditions, something the business is failing to do, or a decision the business may have made. If you receive a grievance, you will need to follow a particular process in order to properly respond to it. Failure to do this could give the employee in question a claim against the business, so it is important to treat any grievance seriously. If you have received a grievance from one of your employees, we can talk you through the best way to respond.
Every business is different and likes to go about things in a slightly different way. Making certain your employees understand how your business operates is key to ensuring that the employee and employer relationship runs as smoothly as possible. Having a well-drafted staff handbook – setting out the way in which your business approaches a range of key topics – can help to make sure you get the very best from your employees.
We can help you to manage your relationships with your staff through good policies and documentation. If you would like to create a staff handbook, or if you have one but would like it reviewed and updated, please contact our Employment team, and we can chat you through how best to approach this project.
It is a legal requirement that all employees must be given a copy of their employment contract by their first day of employment. Despite this, it is amazing how many businesses do not have employment contracts in place with their staff.
The law also requires employment contracts to contain certain key information. For this reason, it is best to have your template contracts reviewed every once in a while to check that they are up to date and cover what they need to. We can help you secure your relationship with your biggest asset, your people, by drafting and reviewing your new and existing contracts.
Whatever your contract requirements, our employment specialists can help. Whether it’s drafting and preparing templated documents for all your new starters, or creating something bespoke as a one-off, we can assist. Our team is also happy to undertake a review of what you already have in place, to check for any required legal updates, or make some suggestions that can give your business extra protection. If you would like to discuss your situation, please get in touch with our Employment team.
If you have an employee that has behaved inappropriately, you may be able to bring their employment to an end as a result. Whether you are able to terminate their employment because of their actions will depend on whether it can be classed as gross misconduct. Gross misconduct is something that is so serious it justifies bringing the employment relationship to an end and may also include things that you have listed as being acts of gross misconduct in either your employment contracts or staff handbook.
Even if the act in question does amount to gross misconduct, you must still follow a proper disciplinary process with that employee before you terminate their employment. Failure to do so can leave your business open to very costly employment claims, even where you might otherwise have been within your rights to dismiss the employee.
If one of your employees has behaved in a way that has led you to want to end their employment, we would encourage you to contact our Employment team as early into the process as possible, and we can advise you on whether we think the behaviour amounts to gross misconduct and, in any event, on the proper process to follow.
The need to make redundancies can arise in a business for a variety of reasons. It may be that there has been a reduction in a particular type of work which means that a particular role is no longer required, or it could be that the business is looking to restructure and do things in a different way, which means that certain roles aren’t needed. Whatever the reason, having to undertake a redundancy process is never nice and can be stressful for you and any employees affected.
If you are considering making one or more roles redundant, it is very important that you follow a proper process. The process you need to follow can vary dramatically depending upon how many employees are affected and which roles they perform. If you fail to follow a proper process, it can leave your business open to costly employment law claims, even if your reasons for making the redundancy were sound.
If you are considering making any redundancies, we would encourage you to contact our Employment team as early into the process as possible, and certainly before you speak with any of the affected staff, and we can advise you on following a proper process that will minimise the risk of claims against your business.
If you have to terminate the employment of one of your staff, whatever the reason for their employment ending, you may want to consider a settlement agreement. By signing a settlement agreement, the departing employee agrees not to bring any legal claims against the business. Because of this, settlement agreements can be really useful ways of giving you peace of mind that you are not going to be met with costly employment claims after an employee has left.
As you can imagine, if your departing employee is going to give up their rights to bring a claim, they will typically want something in return. Typically this takes the form of a one-off payment to the employee, which is provided for under the settlement agreement and which may even be tax free up to certain limits. The amount of the payment is whatever you and the employee agree is fair. In circumstances where you are confident that the employee has no claims against you, it is likely that the payment will be smaller. If you have any concerns that the employee might be able to bring a successful claim, you may want to offer more.
If you have recently ended the employment of one of your staff, or you think you may need to do so soon, and you think that a settlement agreement might be of benefit, please contact our Employment team, and we can advise whether we think a settlement agreement would be right for you, and if so, can prepare a draft for you.
Employment law is a rapidly changing area and most businesses are aware that getting things wrong can be a very stressful and costly process. We are aware that for many businesses it would be helpful to check all manner of day to day employment issues with an employment law specialist, but that the cost of contacting a lawyer understandably puts them off.
This is why we created Fosters HR – a fixed price service, which allows you to ask all of the employment questions you might have, without worrying about running up large legal bills.
The service is very simple. We have a chat with you at the outset to learn a bit more about your business.
Following this, we agree a monthly legal budget with you, based upon the volume of legal support that we expect you might require. Once you are all set up you can call, email, video message or meet with our employment experts whenever you have a query. All with the confidence that it won’t cost you any more than the amount we have agreed.
Our specialists are available to support you and your business through a range of employment matters, relating to the hire and performance of your employees, as well as grievance management. We can help you develop employee policies, handbooks, and documentation that can help ensure that you comply with accepted codes of practice and are protected from potential liability. In the event of any disciplinary and grievance procedures, or litigation, we can provide high quality legal advice and representation.
Our employment team is composed of experienced and insightful legal experts who are committed to providing tailored advice and representation in all aspects of employment law. With a deep understanding of the complexities of workplace issues, our team is equipped to assist both employers and employees in navigating challenges, from contract negotiations to dispute resolution, ensuring your rights and interests are fully protected.
