As the summer draws to a close, there are a few HR matters for businesses to have on their agenda. Ending temporary employment ‘the right way’, assessing whether any new hires are up to the job and identifying (and implementing) improvements can help your business to finish the summer on an HR high.
- Handling the exit of temporary employees
- Is your new hire a ‘keeper’…(and have you checked)?
- Identifying (and implementing) improvements
1. Handling the exit of temporary employees
If you have hired a temporary employee, for example, to cover an increase in work over the summer, their time with your business may be drawing to a close. If this is the case for someone in your workforce, it will be important to think about ending that contract in good time and to do it in the right way. It’s usually not difficult to do, but it’s important to bear in mind that in law the ending of a temporary contract counts as a dismissal – it doesn’t just neutrally ‘cease.’
If you plan on ending a temporary contract and your employee has less than two years’ service (which is often the case for this type of contract), your first step is to get in touch with us for advice on the individual facts of your case. We can take you through a checklist to identify if there are any risks in not renewing the contract in your circumstances, with a view to doing a quick ‘short service dismissal’ if your employee is under two years’ service.
2. Is your new hire a ‘keeper’…(and have you checked)?
If you have an employee who has under two years’ service, it’s worth checking whether their employment is working out, for example, is their performance up to scratch? Are they consistently complying with your workplace rules and expected standards of behaviour? Sometimes businesses are unlucky, and an employee doesn’t work out as well as expected. If you have concerns about a new starter in your business, please get in touch as it may be possible to safely dismiss a short-serving employee more quickly and easily than would usually be the case, with no formal procedure required. This is because at least two years’ continuity of service is required for ordinary unfair dismissal rights.
As you may already be aware, there are some claims that employees can bring from day one of their employment, such as dismissal for a prohibited reason, e.g for whistleblowing, or discrimination, so it’s important to make sure that a quick dismissal is safe in your particular situation. To find out, please get in touch before taking action.
3. Identifying and implementing improvements
Many businesses will be taking stock as the summer comes to a close, considering what went well and whether (and what) improvements can be made. From an HR perspective, areas for consideration are likely to include:
- Performance – on a business level: whether expectations have been met, whether any changes need to be made to targets, ways of working or if any upskilling of the workforce is needed. On an individual level, whether any interventions are required, for example, to support an employee whose performance has dipped, or where there is a more serious or persistent issue, steps to tackle poor performance.
- Employment contracts, policies and procedures – keeping employment documents under periodic review will help you make sure they remain appropriate and relevant for the needs of your business. Sometimes a business changes, for example, it grows or changes how it does things, which can impact how employees operate. This can lead to changes needing to be made, for example, to an employee’s contract of employment. If your business is in this position, please get in touch for help. As you would expect, not only is it important to ensure employment documents are carefully and appropriately drafted, but it is also important that you go about introducing changes in the right way.
- Ongoing staffing needs – as summer draws to a close, some businesses will be assessing their ongoing staffing needs; for some, no action may be needed, but for others, times are still challenging. If you are concerned about a reduction in work, you think you may be overstaffed, or you are considering a possible site closure (e.g. closing a branch), you may have a redundancy situation. If you think this could be the case in your business it’s important to bear in mind that you will usually need to follow a fair redundancy process, identify the pool of employees who are at risk of redundancy, meaningfully consult, where applicable carry out a fair selection process and consider suitable alternative work (if there is any). There is a lot to think about when it comes to making redundancies, and planning is key, so please get in touch for advice and support before taking action.
Have an HR matter you would like assistance with? Please don’t hesitate to contact us.