New Year blog – Common mistakes employers make

Happy New Year everyone and goodness I have had quite a gap since my last blog.  2 years to be exact but some content from it did get me quoted (well quoted out of context) in Private Eye which was fun. 

Our new blog is going to have an HR take as we will share some of our expertise but we will also challenge some traditional HR thinking and identify practices that we may want to throw on the HR bonfire

The New Year is inevitably a time to review the existing workforce and it is often when redundancies or dismissals are on the agenda. 

The key thing for employers is to avoid making costly mistakes.

Oops!

The most common mistake employers make 

• Not keeping good records so they have no evidence when challenged
• Firing in the heat of the moment without any investigation 
• Telling people they are redundant without any consultation period 
• Suspending someone as a punishment but with no good reason or no pay 
• Forgetting that positions can be made redundant but not people – ie if a job is going, consider other options for that employee 
• Saying someone is redundant but writing a letter that sites a performance issue as the cause – will automatically be unfair. 
• Being kind and allowing friends and family to get involved but making the situation more complicated – especially if those friends and family understand the process better than the employer 
• Ignoring grievances or letting situations go on for too long 
• Not using probation periods for new employees properly – 6months always 
• Deducting money from wages for damaged or lost goods without the permission of the employee – you just can’t do this. 
• Hiring quickly and firing slowly. If at all.

In our next blog we will look at 10 Golden Rules for Firing people effectively. It’s never a nice thing to do – but done well and for the right reasons helps everyone move on quickly.