Disciplinary - Any law I can refer to ?

[Sidewinder]

The law - specifically the Employment Rights Act 1996 - gives you the right not to be unfairly dismissed. That is the legislation, and the framework around which the employer must meet certain conditions in order for any dismissal to be ruled 'fair'.

 

OK - you are not yet at the point where you have been dismissed, but from your post, and from the outline that you have given it sounds that your 'capability' do perform your role is being brought into question. Capability IS a potentially fair reason for dismissal, but in order for the employer to have a defence to a possible Employment Tribunal claim for Unfair Dismissal, they should take clear steps to demonstrate that their decision to dismiss was made reasonably and that you were treated 'fairly'.

 

This (along with matters of 'conduct' - another potentially fair reason for dismissal) should involve a properly recorded warning system, escalating to a point where dismissal may be considered. You will probably be aware already of a system of 'verbal' warnings, 'written' warnings and 'final written' warnings, and that should apply in your case. Your contract or company handbook should contain a disciplinary policy which sets out what procedures should be used. In the absence of any specific code of practice internally, the ACAS Disciplinary Code should be used. An employee would normally (depending on the nature and severity of the offence, or failure to perform) expect to receive at least one formal warning in order to allow for improvement in a given timescale before dismissal would be considered. In many cases there would be a warning, either written or verbal, a final warning and then if still not satisfactory, dismissal may result. At each stage the employee should be informed in writing of the allegation, invited to a meeting and given the option of having a trade union official or colleague present as a witness. After the meeting the employee should be informed of the outcome and what is required to prevent the matter escalating to the next stage.

 

So, although not 'law' in itself, an employer seeking to dismiss an employee fairly, should allow clearly documented steps prior to dismissal or would find it very difficult to justify the decision were the employee to take the case to a Tribunal - as the Judge would be looking at whether the disciplinary policy or ACAS code was followed and if the case went in your favour any award could be increased if this were not the case. Applying this to your case, the employer's concerns over your performance may or may not be genuine, but if your future is being considered, then you should be entitled to formal meetings, with a witness and clear direction on what you need to do to get back on track.

 

In terms of what you should do, I personally would avoid direct confrontation. I would probably be looking over my shoulder and looking at opportunities elsewhere, because if they are losing faith in you - justifiably or not - it is often difficult to come back from that. In the meantime I would still be looking to deal with it head on and persist with a meeting - at whatever level of management - to get an honest appraisal of what more you need to do to be considered a valuable employee. Tell them that you are keen to impress, and ask for some clear steps on how you can achieve this. If loyalty is in question, take the opportunity to dispel their doubt. If it comes to a fight, then you will be in a better position to demonstrate that you took all reasonable steps to resolve the problem and can then consider what more you can do by way of grievances about your treatment or failures to follow procedure.

 

Good luck - these situations are never easy, but can often be resolved before they get nasty - hopefully you will get through this OK

[Sidewinder]

No problem - feel free to come back and give us an update or ask for further advice if you need it