With fees no longer in place and employment tribunal claims on the rise, we are here to give you some top tips on how to avoid costly tribunal cases.
- Documentation
Ensure you get back to basics and have clear policies and procedures so both the business and employees know what is expected of them.
There is a legal requirement to ensure all employees are issued with written statement of terms (i.e. a contract) within 2 months of starting employment. More than this though, having terms to refer back to in a dispute may prevent it escalating.
- Follow your own procedures
Ensure you are consistent in what you do and lead by example. Where policies and procedures are in place, make sure that everyone within the business is following them.
- Be fair
Along with consistency, ensure that your policies are fair in how you deal with people.
Ensure recruitment is transparent and you have clearly defined specifications in what you are looking for with candidates. Remember, a candidate doesn’t need to be employed to bring a claim if they feel you discriminated against them.
Ensure you have a clear pay system that doesn’t discriminate against individuals. Grading systems are useful to evaluate against a job task rather than individuals.
- Communication
Communication is essential within a work environment. Excellent communication first time and keeping people involved and informed not only keeps them engaged, but also encourages them to raise issues before they can spiral.
- Don’t ignore issues
Whilst often it’s tempting to try and ignore problems or put off dealing with them, this usually results in a situation escalating out of your control. It may be difficult to approach some issues but leaving matters to fester typically makes things worse.
- Train your Managers
Often issues are ignored because Managers don’t know how to deal with them. Protect your business from this by supporting your Managers. Ensure they understand the correct way to approach an employee and how to get to the root cause of an issue. If it escalates, they should be trained on how to follow the correct process; from investigations to dealing with disciplinaries and grievances.
For more help and advice on avoiding or dealing with employment tribunal claims please do contact Clover HR on 01905 824051, 0121 516 0299 or info@cloverhr.co.uk.
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