Staff matters

A: First of all say nothing until you have thought about it! Then get hold of your disciplinary procedure and see what guidance that gives you. While all procedures may differ, the general format is likely to be similar. The first thing you will need to do is to check the facts to see if there is a case to answer. Are you sure the person was late? Was the lateness really significant?

Assuming all the facts are in order you may then have to decide if you want to have an informal word in his ear or if you want to conduct a disciplinary hearing within the context of your disciplinary procedure. If you decide to call a disciplinary hearing you will need to do the following:

• Gather relevant evidence e.g. clock cards
  
• Arrange a hearing date
  
• Write to the employee telling him he is required to attend a disciplinary hearing into his timekeeping. Also it would be prudent to tell him he has the right to be represented at the meeting.
  
• Make sure you will have a suitable venue for the hearing.

At the hearing itself the basic format should be:

• Explain what has been done wrong
  
• Check to see if he agrees with the facts -does he agree he was late?
  
• Listen to his reasons for lateness
  
• Decide what penalty is appropriate - and tell him! (Then it is wise to put it in writing)
  
• Tell him about his right to appeal against your decision
  
• Tell him that you will continue to monitor his timekeeping and tell him what will happen if things don't improve.

In some ways the most difficult task here is the last one. Continuing to monitor an employee is key in a situation like this. What will often happen is that because of other pressures you take your eye off him until the next time there is a real problem. Then you will find you are in the position where you have not been monitoring him properly and you have implicitly accepted his lateness.

Q: One of my best chargehands has just handed in his resignation. Is there anything I can do about it?

A: It is only in the movies that you can refuse to accept a resignation. As long as the employee has given the amount of notice required by the contract of employment you have no choice but to accept it. All you can do is try to persuade him to change his mind.

If the employee gives you less notice than they are required under their contract there is little you can do about it. In theory you could take them to court but the time and expense involved makes it only worthwhile at the most senior level.

Q: Is it true that I must give an employee a written reference to take away with them when they leave?

A: No, there is no obligation to give an employee a reference of any sort (apart from certain Financial Services roles). I would always regard with suspicion an open reference. How do you know that it was not written by the employee?

If you do give a reference in response to a request from another employer do make sure it is accurate. That is not to say that you have to give the employee's whole life story, rather make sure it is based on fact not conjecture. You may wish to confine yourself to confirming employment dates and the job title. If someone phones for a reference, never give comments over the phone unless you are confident you know who you are talking to. It is not unknown for ex-employees to phone for a reference — only to use the information to support an Employment Tribunal case.