Sometimes you may need extra help and support to achieve and maintain the required level of performance for your role. Ultimately, we need you to be effective in your work. However, if the reason that you are not performing effectively is not due to misconduct or genuine sickness, then we will use this procedure to work with you to improve your levels of performance.
We reserve the right to implement our Performance Procedure at any of the stages set out below, taking into account all relevant circumstances, including your level of under-performance, the nature of your role and the performance issues in question. In cases of gross negligence or in a case involving an employee who has not yet completed their probationary period, summary dismissal without following this procedure may be appropriate, at our discretion.
This Performance Procedure does not form part of your Contract of Employment and therefore may be amended at any time and we may depart from it, if necessary, depending on the circumstances of a given case.
This procedure applies to all employees regardless of length of service. It does not apply to freelancers, consultants, interns or self-employed contractors.
Principles
The core principle is that you are expected to carry out the work you are employed to do to the required standard. Unsatisfactory performance due to carelessness, negligence or lack of effort or application is not acceptable.
Your Line Manager is responsible for setting realistic standards of performance, for explaining these standards to you and providing training, support and guidance, where appropriate, so that you have the opportunity to perform satisfactorily. Your Line Manager will discuss your performance with you and give you feedback on an ongoing basis as part of their job. If they have concerns about your performance, we will undertake an assessment to decide if there are grounds for taking formal action under this procedure. The procedure involved will depend on the circumstances, but may involve reviewing your employment file, including your annual appraisals, gathering any relevant documents, monitoring your work and, if appropriate, interviewing you and/or other individuals regarding your work. All such interviews will be conducted on a confidential basis. A breach of confidentiality may result in disciplinary action being taken against the disclosing party if they are an employee.
Disabilities
Consideration will be given to whether poor performance may be related to a disability and, if so, whether there are reasonable adjustments that could be made to your working arrangements, including changing your duties or providing additional equipment or training. We may also consider making amendments to this procedure in appropriate cases. If you wish to discuss this or inform us of any medical condition you consider relevant, you should contact your Line Manager or our Head of HR.
Informal action
In the first instance, performance issues will be dealt with informally between you and your Line Manager as part of day-to-day management. Informal discussions may help:
- Clarify the required standards;
- Identify areas of concern;
- Establish the likely causes of poor performance and identify any training needs; and
- Set targets for improvement and a time-scale for review.
If we consider your performance is not satisfactory, your Line Manager will make clear what we are expecting from you and over what review period. We will work with you informally to address issues of under-performance without invoking a formal procedure. However, where appropriate, a note of informal discussions may be placed on your employee file.
We will give you a reasonable opportunity to improve and offer you support and, where appropriate, training to reach the right level of performance. The period of time to improve and level of support and training will be balanced against the needs of the business.
However, if improvement is not apparent, we will have to consider invoking our formal Performance Procedure.
Formal action
The formal procedure will be used in more serious cases, or in any case where informal action has not resulted in a satisfactory improvement.
Step 1: first meeting
Your Line Manager will invite you to a meeting to discuss the concerns that he or she has about your performance. The invitation will be in writing and detail the concerns we have relating to your performance, the reasons for those concerns and the likely outcome if it is decided, after the meeting, that your performance has been unsatisfactory. You will also be provided with any supporting documentation.
We will give you written notice of the date, time and place of the meeting. The timing of the meeting will enable you to have reasonable time to prepare your case. If the date and time of the hearing is not convenient, you should let us know immediately and we will endeavour to reschedule the meeting. However, it is in everyone’s interests that the meeting takes place as soon as possible. You must make every effort to attend the meeting, and failure to attend without good reason may be treated as misconduct. If you fail to attend without good reason, or are persistently unable to do so (for example, for health reasons), we may have to take a decision based on the available evidence including any written representations you have made.
The meeting will be attended by your Line Manager and our Head of HR or another member of HR if the Head of HR is a witness or otherwise involved. You may be accompanied at the meeting by a companion who may be a co-worker or trade union representative, provided you notify us of this in advance. Your companion must respect the confidentiality of the hearing and failure to do so may constitute misconduct on their part if they are an employee of T&H. A companion may make representations, ask questions and sum up your position, but are not permitted to answer questions on your behalf. You may confer privately with your companion at any time during the hearing.
You may ask relevant witnesses to appear at the hearing, provided you give us sufficient advance notice to arrange their attendance. You will be given the opportunity to respond to any information given by a witness.
You must provide copies of any written evidence you wish us to consider at least three working days before the meeting. If necessary, we may reschedule the meeting to allow us to properly consider your written evidence.
During the meeting your Line Manager will go into more detail about how you are not meeting the standards expected for your role. You and your Line Manager will aim to identify and discuss the reasons for your unsatisfactory performance and how this may be ameliorated. Where appropriate, you and your Line Manager will discuss targets for improvement and a time-scale for review.
Following the meeting, your Line Manager will decide what action needs to be taken and inform you of their decision and the reasons for it in writing. If they decide that your performance is unsatisfactory and that it is appropriate to do so, you will be issued with a written Performance Improvement Plan (a PIP) containing a First Written Warning relating to your performance.
PIP
The objective of a PIP is to provide detailed information on the areas you have to improve to reach a satisfactory level of performance and in what review period.
Your Line Manager will set out the areas in which you have not met the required performance standards and will set clear, measurable and realistic targets/objectives for improvement and confirm them in the PIP. Your Line Manager will make sure that the specified improvement objectives are detailed. Actions to support these objectives may include training and development activities, advice, guidance and/or other support. You and your Line Manager will review your progress against the PIP on a regular basis.
When your Line Manager gives you the PIP they will make sure it sets out the time-scale for improvement and review and they will ensure this is reasonable and takes into account all the relevant circumstances, including the level of under-performance, the performance issues in question, the improvement required and the nature of the role. The PIP will also set out the consequences of failing to improve within the review period, or of further unsatisfactory performance.
The time-scale for the PIP will not usually exceed six months.
Your Line Manager will meet regularly with you during the period of the PIP. If you make satisfactory progress to meet your objectives, your Line Manager will acknowledge this and will continue to encourage your improvement. However, if you are not making satisfactory progress, your Line Manager will discuss what further improvement is needed and what support may be needed.
The First Written Warning will usually stay on your employment file for six months from the end of the review period or such other period as specified at the time it is issued. After the active period the warning will remain permanently on your employment file but will be disregarded in deciding the outcome of any future performance proceedings.
At the end of the PIP period, your Line Manager will invite you to a meeting to discuss your performance. The possible outcomes of the meeting may include, but are not limited to:
- No further action: if your Line Manager decides that the objectives have been met and you are now performing at a satisfactory level then no further action will be taken. You will receive this confirmation in writing;
- Extension of the PIP: if your Line Manager decides that although you have made improvements these are insufficient and they still have concerns, they may decide to extend the period of the PIP. If your performance does not meet the objectives during this extension you will be invited to another formal meeting; or
- Performance remains unsatisfactory: if your Line Manager decides that you have not made sustainable improvements and they still have significant concerns, you will be invited to a Step 2 Meeting.
Step 2: second meeting
We may decide to hold a Step 2 Meeting if we have reason to believe:
- That your performance has not improved sufficiently within the review period set at the First Meeting; and/or
- That there is further evidence of poor performance during such review period.
We will send you written notification as set out above and the meeting will be conducted along similar lines as set out in Step 1 above.
Following
A Final Written Warning will usually remain active for 12 months from the end of the review period or such other period as specified at the time it is issued. In exceptional circumstances, such a warning may remain in force for more than 12 months or never be removed from your record. After the active period, the warning will remain permanently on your employment file, but will be disregarded in deciding the outcome of future performance proceedings.
Your performance will continue to be monitored by your Line Manager and, at the end of the further review period, he or she will write to you to let you know the next steps. If your Line Manager is satisfied with the improvement in your performance, no further action will be taken. If your Line Manager feels that you have made substantial, but insufficient improvement, the review period may be extended. If your Line Manager considers that no improvement has been made or is otherwise not satisfied, they may progress to Step 3.
Step 3: third meeting
We may decide to hold a Step 3 Meeting if we have reason to believe:
- Your performance has not improved sufficiently within the review period set out in the Final PIP;
- Your performance is unsatisfactory while a Final Written Warning is still active; or
- Your performance has been grossly negligent such as to warrant dismissal without the need for a Final Written Warning.
We will send you written notification as set out above and the meeting will be conducted along similar lines as set out above in Steps 1 and 2.
As the result of a Step 3 Meeting may be dismissal, before a decision is made to proceed, a full investigation will be held using all of the information gathered in previous meetings. If you have failed to improve your level of performance despite support through a Final PIP we may dismiss you with or without notice depending on the circumstances. Dismissal must be authorized by a director of T&H or, if you are a director, by the Chief Executive or Chairman.
Before making a final decision on dismissal, the authorizing director, Chief Executive or Chairman will again review the facts of the case with our Head of HR and your Line Manager to confirm that dismissal is appropriate in the circumstances or whether we might first consider redeploying you, with your agreement, to another available position at the same or lower grade, more suited to your abilities, extending an active Final Written Warning and setting a further review period (in exceptional cases where we believe a substantial improvement is likely within the review period) and/or giving a Final Written Warning (where no final written warning is currently active).
You will be notified in writing of the decision following the Step 3 Meeting as soon as is reasonably practicable. Any dismissal letter will include the following information:
- The reasons for your dismissal;
- The date on which your employment will terminate; and
- Your right of appeal.
Last updated: 07/03/19
