This is a straightforward procedure and fairly new to the company (only started in June 02). At the moment there is not much thought put into the appraisals by either the employees or the operations manager but I think that over the years the appraisals will develop as both parties realise the benefits that can be gained. They are also not taken very seriously and appointments are always getting delayed or cancelled, sometimes for weeks.
3. DISCIPLINARY AND GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES
- THE DISCIPLINARY AND GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES AT TD TRAVEL GROUP AND THE CHESHIRE BUILDING SOCIETY
- HOW EFFECTIVE THE DISCIPLINARY AND GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES ARE AND WHY
Under a grievance procedure, an employee dissatisfied with a disciplinary decision can apply to a higher authority. A grievance procedure generally advises an employee on how he can seek redress and what further steps may be taken. Under the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978, a grievance procedure must be supplied to new employees. It is normally a condition of the employment contract that it is subject to the grievance procedure in force at the time.
The objective of the Grievance Procedure is to provide a formal channel for the upward communication of grievances and to settle them as soon as possible in the interests of sound labour relations in the company.
A grievance is defined as an individual employee's or group of employees' dissatisfaction pertaining to:
- An interpersonal problem with another employee at work; or
- His or their immediate work situation at the Company.
The disciplinary procedure for TD Travel group is as follows:
DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURE - PURPOSE AND SCOPE:
This procedure is designed to help and encourage all employees to achieve and maintain standards of conduct, attendance and job performance. The aim is to ensure constant and fair treatment for all.
Principals - No disciplinary action will be taken against any employee until the case has been fully investigated. At every stage in the procedure you will be advised of the nature of the complaint against him/her and will be given the opportunity to state his/her case before a decision is made. You may not be dismissed for the first breach of discipline except in the case of gross misconduct when the penalty will be dismissal without notice or payment in lieu of notice. You have the right to appeal against any disciplinary penalty imposed. The procedure may be implemented at any stage if your alleged misconduct warrants such action.
Minor faults will be dealt with informally but where the matter is more serious the following procedure will be used:
Stage 1 - Oral Warning
If conduct or performance does not meet acceptable standards you will normally be given a formal ORAL WARNING by John Owen (MD). You will be advised of the reason for the warning, that it is the first stage of the disciplinary procedure and your right to appeal. A brief note of the oral warning will be kept but it will be spent after six months, subject to satisfactory conduct and performance.
Stage 2 - Written Warning
If the offence is a serious one, or a further offence occurs, a written warning will be given to you by John Owen (MD). M This will give details of the complaint, the improvement required and the time scale. It will warn that action under stage 3 will be considered if there is satisfactory improvement within a specified time and will advise of the right to appeal. A copy of this written warning will be kept on your personnel file but it will be disregarded for disciplinary procedures after 12 months subject to satisfactory conduct and performance.
Stage 3 - Final written warning
If there is still a failure to improve in conduct or performance is still unsatisfactory, or if the misconduct is sufficiently serious to warrant only 1 written warning but insufficiently serious to justify dismissal (in effect both first and final written warnings), a final written warning will normally be given to you by John Owen (MD). This will give details of the complaint, will ward that dismissal well result if there is no satisfactory improvement within a specified time and will advise of the right to appeal. A copy of this final written warning will be kept on your personnel file but will be spent after 12 months (in exceptional cases the period will be longer) subject to satisfactory conduct and performance.
Stage 4 - Dismissal
If your conduct or performance is still unsatisfactory or you still fail to reach the prescribed standards, dismissal will normally result. Only John Owen can take the decision to dismiss. As soon as is reasonably practical you will be provided with written reasons for dismissal, the date on which your employment will terminate and your right to appeal.
Gross Misconduct
The following list is a non-exhaustive list of examples of offences which are normally regarded as gross misconduct:
Theft, fraud, deliberate falsification of records, fighting, assault on another person, deliberate damage to company property, serious incapability through alcohol or being under the influence of illegal drugs, serious negligence which causes unacceptable loss, damage or injury, serious acts of insubordination, unauthorized entry to computer records.
If you are accused of any act of misconduct you may be suspended from work on full pay, while the company investigates the alleged defense. If, on completion of the investigation and disciplinary hearing the company is satisfied that gross misconduct had occurred, the result will normally be summary dismissal without notice or payment in lieu of notice.
Appeals
If you wish to appeal against a disciplinary decision you should inform Simon King (MD) in writing within 2 working days. Simon King will hear all appeals and his decision is final. At the appeal any disciplinary penalty imposed will be reviewed but it cannot be increased.
Right to be accompanied
When required or invited to attend a formal disciplinary or appeal hearing (i.e. not an informal interview or counseling session) you are entitled by law to make a reasonable request to be accompanied to a hearing by either:
- An employee colleague
- A full time official employed by a trade union
- A lay trade union official so long as they have written certification from the union that they have experience of or have received training in acting at an employees companion at disciplinary hearings.
If your chosen companion can not attend the disciplinary hearing on the date proposed by the company you may request an alternative date so long as this is reasonable and falls within five working days of the original date. Your companion has a legal right to address the hearing but not to answer questions on your behalf.
Records
Minutes of all disciplinary hearings will be kept on your personnel file and you will be provided with a copy. The company form time to time in its absolute discretion may amend this procedure. The company reserves the right to leave out any or all of the stages of the procedures where it considers appropriate to do so.
The disciplinary procedure for the Cheshire Building Society is as follows:
The efficiency, and ultimately our success, depends to a large extent on the ability of all our employees to achieve and preserve high standards of performance and to comply with the rules that regulate the business.
To achieve these standards it is important that employees are aware of what constitutes unacceptable behavior, or low standards of performance, and how this will be dealt with. This procedure has been agreed between the society and the staff Association to ensure that staff are treated equitably in relation to any complaints against their conduct and that no action is taken against any member of the staff without full knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the case.
It is always our aim to resolve any differences / problems and the purpose of the procedure is for employees to be made aware of, and given the opportunity to improve on unacceptable behavior or low standard performance. When necessary, assistance will be given by the Society in achieving this.
Minor problems e.g. lateness, absenteeism, will initially be dealt with on an informal basis without going through the disciplinary procedure. Further details of the scheme are included in the procedure manual.
GREIVENCE PROCEDURE - PURPOSE AND SCOPE
The objective of this procedure is to settle work related grievances of individual employees as quickly as possible to avoid escalation of minor issues into problems, which may affect the smooth running of the company.
The procedure - Where there is a grievance relating to any aspect of employment, the following procedure should be adopted:
- The grievance should be raised verbally or in writing, with your immediate superior.
- Where appropriate a meeting will be held to enable you to give full details. Sufficient time will then be allowed for the facts of the case to be considered, and the outcome notified to you in writing within five working days of the meeting.
Should your immediate superior not be able to satisfactory resolve the grievance, the matter should be referred either verbally, or in writing, to John Owen who will hold a meeting to enable facts of the grievance to be established. The outcome of the grievance will be notified to you within five working days of the hearing.
Appeals
If you wish to appeal against a disciplinary decision you should inform Simon King (MD) in writing within 2 working days. Simon King will hear all appeals and his decision is final. A meeting will be held to establish the facts of the grievance. The outcome of the grievance will be notified to you within 10 working days of the hearing.
Right to be accompanied
You are entitled by law to make a reasonable request to be accompanied to a grievance hearing by either:
- An employee colleague
- A full time official employed by a trade union
- A lay trade union official so long as they have written certification from their union that they have experience of or have received training in acting at an employees companion at grievance hearings.
If your chosen companion can not attend the grievance hearing on the date proposed by the company you may request an alternative date so long as this is reasonable and falls within five working days of the original date. Your companion has a legal right to address the hearing but not to answer questions on your behalf.
Records
Records will be kept at each stage of the grievance procedure and you will be provided with a copy of these. All stages of the grievance procedure will be dealt with on a confidential basis and the records will be carefully safeguarded. The company form time to time in its absolute discretion may amend this procedure. The company reserves the right to leave out any or all of the stages of the procedures where it considers appropriate to do so.
The grievance procedure at the Cheshire Building Society:
The maintenance of good staff relations is very important to us and we try to ensure that all employees are treated fairly. If you have a grievance you should try to resolve it initially with your immediate manager. If you are unable to settle it, you should then refer it to the formal procedure until it is resolved:
- Stage1 – Matter raised formally with Branch manager / Department Head
- Stage 2 – Grievance put in writing to the Executive concerned, with a copy to Branch manager / department head
- Stage 3 – Grievance committee convened to hear the grievance
There are two further stages involving external conciliation and arbitration but information is only given on this in the personnel procedure manual.
Both the Cheshire Building Society and TD travel group have simple and effective grievance and disciplinary procedures, as they are both very formal and clearly set out, as shown above.
4. EMPLOYEE EXIT PROCEDURES
- THE EMPLOYEE EXIT PROCEDURES USED BY TD TRAVEL GROUP AND THE CHESHIRE BUILDING SOCIETY
- THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF THE EMPLOYEE EXIT PROCEDURES AND HOW THEY ARE APPLIED
- THE SELECTION CRITERIA USED FOR REDUNDANCY BY TD TRAVEL GROUP
There are three ways of exiting an organisation. These are:
- Termination of employment
- Dismissal
- Redundancy
Contracts of employment can be terminated in several ways:
- By mutual agreement – both parties agree that they are entitled to terminate the contract
- By performance – common in fixed contracts or contracts for specific purposes. The employee does what they were hired to do and the contract is fulfilled.
- By notice – One party terminates the contract but must give notice to the other. This happens in case of resignation, dismissal and redundancy.
- Breach of contract – If one party breaks or fails to fulfill the terms of contract, the other party has the option of considering the contract to have been terminated.
- Frustration – This is when the contract is prevented from being fulfilled, e.g. because of death, illness, or imprisonment of one of the parties.
Dismissal is the termination of an employees contract by their employer with or without notice, including the ending of a fixed term contract without renewal on the same terms.
Constructive dismissal is resignation by the employee, in circumstances where they are entitled to assume that the employer has in effect terminated the contract by; Conduct (on the part of the employer) which is a significant breach of the contract of employment or which shows that the employer no longer intends to be bound by one or more of the essential terms of the contract.
One member of staff was recently dismissed due to poor attendance records and not fulfilling their duties sufficiently. Due to company legislation they were escorted off the premises in order to protect sensitive information, they were however, paid their full months notice.
An employee can claim wrongful dismissal if they can show they were dismissed without notice and without reasonable cause. Damages are claimed under common law and are restricted to compensation for loss. In practice such claims are less common because unfair dismissal provisions offer wider remedies.
There are two basic approaches to retirement policy:
- Flexible retirement, whereby a stated retirement age is a minimum age at which a contract is ended for retirement purposes. This is the method used by both TD and the Cheshire Building Society.
- Fixed retirement, whereby retirement is forced at the stated age.
Whatever is done should be done carefully because the way an organisation treats its retiring workers sends powerful messages to its other employees.
The sex discrimination act 1986 introduced equal retirement ages for men and women. Employers setting a compulsory retirement age must apply it equally to men and women alike. Women made to retire earlier than male colleagues could claim unfair dismissal and discrimination. Entitlement to a state pension is still 65 for men and 60 for women, but it will be equalised to 65 for both by 2010.
Resignation is the process by which an employee gives notice of his or her intention to terminate the employment contract. Both TD and CBS require 4 weeks notice by employees before terminating their contracts.
Employees may resign for many reasons, both personal and occupational. By law they do not need to give a reason for leaving, but management should attempt to find out why people are leaving in an exit interview to provide feedback on its policies and practices.
Policies dealing with resignations must consider the length to which the organisation will go to try and dissuade the employee from leaving.
Recently the manager of the Bolton office at TD Travel Group terminated her employment by handing in her notice. She was asked to leave immediately with pay in lieu of her notice to prevent her from gathering sensitive information for a competitor and to prevent loss of morale.
At TD Travel Group it is John Owen the Operations director that is responsible for designing the procedures for dismissal. These include:
- Ensuring that standards of performance and conduct are set, clearly defined and communicated to all employees
- Warning employees where a gap is perceived between standards and performance
- Giving a clearly defined and reasonable period for improvement with clear improvement targets and help/training where appropriate
- Ensuring that disciplinary procedures (e.g. appeal procedures, rights to representation, etc) are clear and followed
- Implementing progressive discipline procedures (ideally according to ACAS guidelines) so that dismissal is a last resort
- Evaluating all disciplinary decisions and actions in the light of policy, legislation and the requirement to act reasonably at all times.
Both TD and CBS have clearly set out procedures for employee exit. The procedures are concise and formal.
The selection process for redundancy used by TD Travel Group is as follows:
Where managers have to choose between individuals doing the same work, they take the following approaches:
- Enforced or early retirement
- Seeking volunteers
- Value to the organisation or retention by merit – keeping those who perform well (according to competence tests, appraisal ratings or similar criteria) and dismissing less effective workers
- Last in first out (LIFO)
Redundancy is defined by the employment protection legislation as dismissal:
By reason that the employer has ceased to carry on in business
By reason that the employer has ceased to carry on the business in the place where the employee was employed (this recently happened at TD travel group when the Bolton office closed)
By reason that the requirements of the business for employees to carry out work of a particular kind have ceased or diminished, or are expected to
For reasons ‘not related to the employee concerned.’ (The TU Reform and Employment Rights Act, 1993 says that all such dismissals shall be presumed to be redundancy, for the purposes of statutory consultations with TU’s – not for redundancy pay. This complies with the EU directive on collective redundancy).
5. EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT
THE NEED FOR EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF PERSONNEL RECORDS AND EMPLOYEE DISSMISSAL
There is a system called management information system (MIS), which is designed to collect data from all available sources and convert it into information relevant to managers for the purposes of planning and controlling the activities for which they are responsible.
The advantage of computers is that they are fast and accurate at storing, retrieving, transmitting, formatting and manipulating data. They can generate management information in a wide variety of formats and can store huge amounts of information with easy accessibility. Records can be updated and amended easily.
Computers in personnel administration and management have several uses:
- Keeping records
- Preparation of management information
- Analysis and comparison of different records
- Calculation
- Routine paperwork
- Graphics facilities
The basic blocks of a computerised personnel information system (CPIS) are the employee records. Such a system can be used for:
- Employee records
- Time and attendance records
- Shift work / flexi time coordinating
- Human resource planning
- Modeling and data analysis
- Recruitment and selection
- Training management
It is necessary for a company to have good management of these systems in order for the company to carry on in an organised business like fashion. Without these effective management systems there would be no way to monitor the above records and negligent employees may get away with not following company policies. These records will be needed in the event of employee dismissal to give proof and back up management decision otherwise they company may be held liable for unfair dismissal.
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY
BPP PUBLISHING LIMITED 2001
BTEC HNC BUSINESS AND PERSONNEL
OPTIONAL UNITS 21 – 24
SHAUN TYSON AND ALFRED YORK
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
PUBLISHED 1996
DEREK TORRINGTON & LAURA HALL
THIRD EDITION
PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT – HRM IN ACTION
PUBLISHED 1995
