An employee taking a personal grievance against a business can be a very stressful time for an employer and can also have negative financial implications is the grievance is upheld. All employment relationships are based on a good faith basis and employers should at all times remember their obligations to their staff in terms of how they are treated in the work environment. However, times often arise when employees are not meeting the expectations of employers and need to be Performance Managed. This process is crucial as an employer to try and minimise the likelihood of a personal grievance being raised as part of a dismissal process. Therefore, some important things to remember regarding processes to follow when disciplining and performance managing a staff member are:

  • Notice of Process – Employees are entitled to be advised when there are disciplinary measures taking place. You should organise structured meetings and advise the employee of the nature of those meetings
  • Support – Employees should be offered the opportunity to bring a support person along to formal disciplinary meetings
  • Two-way process – When disciplining a staff member the employer should always be seeking the employee’s side to events and consider the feedback provided as part of the process
  • Upskilling – If some form of training or additional assistance can be provided to an employee who is lacking in an area that is of concern to you as an employer, you should provide suitable assistance and a communicated time frame within which you expect the employee’s performance to improve
  • Warnings – Appropriate verbal and/or written warnings need to be provided to employees in terms of the performance management process.

If you are an employer with a staff member who you do not believe is performing within the business, contact us to ensure that you approach the issue in a structured manner that will hopefully reduce the risk of you having a personal grievance raised against your business.