Employee Relations

Having to discipline an employee is often a last resort for any business but if that occasion arises in your company, you can rest assured that we’ve got the necessary experience to guide you through what can be a sensitive time. We’re here to advise you on ways to stay objective and fair throughout the process as well as saving you valuable hours of admin time.

Here’s how Perform HR can help you make any disciplinary procedure as straightforward and smooth as possible:

1. Provide a sounding board throughout the process, offering general advice on any queries.
2. Investigate the matter on your behalf– we’ll talk to any witnesses, the individual themselves, assist with sourcing additional evidence, all to help build an accurate picture of the scenario.
3. Create the disciplinary invite letter for you in the correct format following due process.
4. Prepare disciplinary meeting briefing notes that include pre-prepared questions giving you guidance on what to ask (if you prefer to lead it yourself).
5. Hold the meeting on your behalf or attend as support.
6. Record the meeting to ensure all information is logged in an accurate and fair way that meets legal requirements.
7. Provide advice with the outcome helping you to decide your next steps in the disciplinary procedure.
8. Follow it up in writing to ensure the individual is aware of their rights to appeal. 

Get in touch for further advice and information on the disciplinary support we offer.

Business environments are naturally filled with a wide range of employees of all different personality types. In some instances, people will clash and this can pose a challenge to the positive business culture you want to maintain.

It’s important that to get the most out of your employees, boundaries are set in order to have a fair workplace, which is safe, friendly and co-operative, in which they can thrive.

If these boundaries are crossed then a formal grievance may be raised. As an internal manager it can be hard to remain neutral when faced with two sides of disagreement, and often grievances can become messy.

This is where Perform HR can come in as a neutral party to help investigate any allegations and provide workable solutions for all parties: 

1. Lead the grievance process on your behalf as an impartial investigator if required.
2. Provide a sounding board throughout the process, offering general advice on any queries.
3. Investigate the incident creating invite letters for the individual raising the grievance, the alleged perpetrator(s) and any witnesses.
4. Prepare grievance briefing notes for each meeting that include pre-prepared questions giving you guidance on what to ask (if you choose to lead it).
5. Hold the meeting on your behalf or attend as support. Making sure to record all information in order to be fair and accurate.
6. Review the evidence, determine if anyone is at fault and provide advice on what action can be taken.
7. Produce a grievance outcome letter and support to bring the matter to a resolution.
8. Offer follow up support which may include mediation or disciplinary action.

For an initial chat about how we can help support you during the grievance procedure, get in touch.

Redundancies are a sad reality that many businesses will face at some point. Whether down to changes in business needs, external market conditions, company merges or financial pressures, whatever the reason, it can be distressing for everyone involved. That’s where Perform HR come in to help project manage any changes, supporting you through any restructure or redundancy process.

We aim to provide you with the expert guidance you need to support your staff and help you to communicate any changes effectively to maintain an open, honest and respectful place of work.

In the first instance, we’ll be there to talk about the current circumstances of your business and help you to plan and deliver a smooth redundancy process.

We can support with the following stages including chairing meetings, providing scripts to follow, sending out the necessary paperwork, handling queries and ensuring that all processes remain fair and legal in line with the ACAS code of practice: 

1. Identify potential roles at threat of redundancy. 
2. Keep employees informed of any potential redundancies.
3. Develop a list of criteria to help determine which individuals may be made redundant.
4. Arrange and chair consultation meetings with any groups and individuals who might be affected. 
5. Inform the selected parties.

We can also offer advice on alternatives to redundancies, get in touch to talk about the possibility of:

• Recruitment freeze 
• Retraining and redeployment 
• Reducing or eliminating overtime 
• Reducing hours or temporary lay-offs 
• Offering voluntary redundancy 

 Looking at potential redundancies in your workplace? Let our years of experience at Perform HR Consultancy take the stress out of this process for you. For further advice and information get in touch.

Employees are a company’s biggest asset and of course sickness and absences cost businesses money. While absences are often unavoidable, it’s important to always deal with any incidents in a sensitive and professional manner, using the correct procedures in order to avoid any undue stress for you or your employee, or face legal ramifications.

At Perform HR we have a wealth of experience dealing with sickness and absence so don’t hesitate to consult our expertise to help with the following:

1. Initial investigation to gain an accurate understanding of the potential problem.
2. Arranging and chairing return to work meetings after every period of absence. 
3. Support seeking medical advice from GPs or Occupational Health. 
4. Advising employees if the absence is becoming a cause for concern as soon as it is. 
5. Providing a point of contact for the employee (especially those on long term sick). 
6. Follow up service to advise on any further action needed, offer strategies to reduce future absence.

For further advice on how to deal with sickness and absence in the workplace, get in touch.