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Hi Matt,
From what I understand about employment law is that you must first have a contract or employee handbook that states the disciplinary and grievance procedures. On here it will state the process of meetings/discussions/written warnings that need to take place. Do you have one of these?
Susan
dont have any contract or anything stated above
You do have a contract, whether you think you have or not. A lot of employment law is a statutory obligation, so you have contractual obligations whether you have adhered to them by doing it properly, if if you have been 'winging it'. You aren't going to have any problems getting rid of this guy, but you do need to do it right.
Given the amount of time he has been employed you have no obligation to have a reason to get rid. You can simply tell him he is no longer required. You may simply be digging yourself into a hole by giving reasons that may be argued against.
I think I would make sure all your contracts are sorted and up to date. Make sure you have fulfilled all of your statutory obligations to him, then simply get rid.
If you want more detailed advice than that, you are going to need to consult a solicitor or HR specialist.
The best place to start then would be to look at the government website:
The process of dismissal or disciplinary action must follow the procedures that should have been set out at the begining.
The simply business website has some advice also and an article about dismissing employees:
From the article:
"You are obliged to produce a written set of disciplinary procedures, and to provide these to employees when they start. If you fail to do so, you may be forced to pay extra compensation in the event that a case goes to tribunal."
If I were you I would write a written statement outlining these procedures or even put together a simple employee handbook, present it to your employee in a meeting and use this opportunity to do a review of his work/attitude etc.
If you need any help with the handbook then please let me know.
Get legal advise, employment law is a huge tin of worms, you need to dot every i and cross every t. While this sounds harsh, we are not lawyers and employment law changes regularly, thats your only avenue with this. Although an expense it'll save you possibly 10 times the cost and hassle of an employment tribunal. Long gone are the days of firing on the spot.
Matt, what reasons did he give you for being late or for the days he didn't turn up? You must have made it clear to him on each of those times how unacceptable it was? If so, he would be aware that action might be taken by you. Fair dismissal for not being able to complete or carry out his work for you is a straight forward option BUT before you do you have to be certain that there was no underlying reason for his absence such as an ongoing illness/disability/severe personal reasons which he might have been embarrassed to reveal to you. If this is the case you have to be sympathetic and try and adjust his work to accommodate the problem. If it's downright laziness it's a fair dismissal and I would just get on with it.
Would suggest you visit ACAS website and maybe use their free helpline.
Most PLI policies also have good free legal helplines.
In the meantime, get a notebook and document everything. Confrrm any verbal discussions now in writing.
The moment he starts work he has implicit protection ( often more than is reasonsble ) and any false move on your part may imply constructive dismissal.
Only take true guidance from formal sources or it will bite you.
The law is complex and not always on the side of the right party :-)
Hi Matt,
this is exactly the reason i have never taken on any staff full time. Having said that i do sympathise with your predicament. Have you spoken to the lad with regards to how much it puts you behind when hes off? i think its best to get his employment contract printed and signed by him asap, then tell him without appearing annoyed or angry (although the temptation is there) that the next time hes off without a sicknote he will get a verbal warning, followed by a written warning (check this is still correct procedure, it was a few years ago). This might be enough to get him to pull his socks up as he realises your not messing about, or he might just quit. either way its a better situation than your in now. When i was a shopfloor Supervisor in a Chemical firm many moons ago, this approach worked wonders on the majority of the lads, a minority where brain dead and nothing worked.
As others have said the whole employment law is comnplex and you need to take professional advise.
However can I ask if the person was employed as a temporary / casual worker? You said that you don't have any formal employment procedures in place so guessing this chap is cash in hand rather than PAYE.
Note, a temporary worker must still be treated fairly as in paid holiday, appropriate breaks and fair working hours but very limited protection when it comes to dismissal or termination of employment. However again take legal advise and the longer the temporary worker is with you the more rights they have.
If he was engaged under a self employed worker you have even less to worry about.
If I was in your shoes, I would talk to the person in question and find out why he has been letting you down, you may discover that he doesn't want to work for you and would be happy to leave you. But as Gary has stated, start documenting everything down and in future sort out your employment procedures and contract of employment etc.
Thanks for the replys. He is legit and through the books.
After speaking to one or two people I've decided that I really cannot fire him and need to go through the proper channels by issuing warnings.
That is if he turns in ever again...
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