If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been asked the question “do I have to give three warnings before I fire my staff member?”, I would be much richer than I am today. The answer isn’t that simple, but in short, no, you don’t!
But why not? Many employers get stuck with the ‘three strikes and you’re out’ policy, when in reality, this isn’t a requirement anywhere in legislation or from a best practice perspective, to end someone’s employment.
So, what do you need to do to ‘safely’ or fairly fire someone? First, you’ll need to identify that there is an issue with a staff member’s performance or conduct.
Too many businesses I speak to (but thankfully none of our valuable clients), can’t put their finger on the exact issue they have with a staff member, maybe they just don’t really get along with them or they aren’t completing the job as they hoped, so they take the easy way out and make them redundant rather than go through a process with them. This makes me shudder – you’re choosing to part with your valuable cash to someone who doesn’t deserve it and risk a non-genuine redundancy (unfair dismissal) claim, just because you couldn’t follow a process to part ways. Usually, but not always, the main hesitation is actually having the conversation with the staff member.
Assuming you’ve identified the issue with your staff member’s performance or conduct, you’re going to arrange a meeting to discuss it with them. In order for that meeting to be a valid part of this process, you’ll send the notice in writing, give them at least 24 hours before you meet, and offer them the opportunity to have a support person present.
Once you’re in the meeting, you’ll follow this tried and tested agenda:
Issue – tell them the issue you’ve identified with their performance/conduct, provide clear examples where possible
Response – give them a chance to respond to each issue and document their response
Expectation – if they already knew what was expected of them, point that out. If they didn’t know what was required of them, spell it out very clearly now.
Consequences – let them know exactly what will happen if this performance/conduct continues, ie: will it be another serious, disciplinary meeting or will it be the termination of their employment?
Following the meeting, send an email outlining the meeting you just held following the points above.
But what about serious misconduct? You just found out your staff member is stealing from you, has turned up to work under the influence of alcohol, or has lied to you! Well, the above still applies! If you sack the person on the spot or tell them to just get out of your sight, it doesn’t matter how bad their actions were (even criminal matters!) you will be unfairly dismissing them if you don’t follow a fair and just process. Now, given the seriousness of the situation, you may add in suspending them so they are not in the workplace while you go through the process.
After all this, do you have to have three of these meetings? No, the number of meetings and process will completely depend on the nature of the poor performance/conduct and a number of other factors. What you need to be able to show is that the expectations of their performance/conduct were clearly explained and understood by the staff member, you provided reasonable time, training, and support to meet those expectations and that the staff member understood the consequences of failing to change or improve. Depending on the seriousness of the situation, this could be achieved on the first meeting, or after 5 meetings.
Watch this space for a separate post soon about probationary periods and how this differs if someone is on probation.
And as always, if you need help managing someone’s performance or dismissing them, whatever the circumstances, please get in touch with us!
