People Management

Accidents and illnesses affect employees from time to time, that’s part and parcel of employing people.

However, persistent short-term or long-term sickness absence can have a detrimental effect on your ability to meet business objectives. Dealing with these issues requires a compassionate, fair and transparent internal process that covers your back from compensation claims, whilst ensuring your team’s welfare is taken care of.

Employment law obliges you to be ‘fair’ to employees. Discriminating against an employee who is considered disabled within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010 (by failing to make reasonable adjustments, for example) could leave you exposed to reputational damage, and large compensation claims.

Outset have your back

To help you navigate this tricky territory, our legal and practical support includes:

Fixed price drafting of an absence management policy.
Advising on the possible disability discrimination implications of any given absence situation.
Guiding you through seemingly intractable and complex absence management situations.

Need to look at your absence management policy? Or dealing with an absence management situation that you can’t reslolve? Call Outset now.

Disciplinary and Poor Performance

The ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures offers a well-trodden path for larger employees dealing with regular disciplinary and poor performance issues in the work place.

However, unusual scenarios still pop up. For example:

An employee raises a grievance in the middle of a disciplinary process.
Data protection issues arise whilst monitoring an employee for other disciplinary issues.
An employee is arrested for criminal behaviour outside of work, and you’re not sure how this should be dealt with from a disciplinary perspective.
An employee alleges that she is being disciplined or performance managed for discriminatory reasons or because she has previously “blown the whistle.”
An employee goes off sick with stress and can’t or won’t cooperate with the disciplinary process.

Scenarios like these, and many others like them, are trickier to handle than your average. Outset’s team of specialist employment lawyers have the experience to deal with them pragmatically, discreetly and with minimum disruption to your business.

Our input will also help minimise your exposure to future employment tribunal risk.

Have a difficult disciplinary or poor performance-related issue? Call us. We can help.