Disciplinary process, theft, and employee who had stroke
My employee is back at work after a stroke. I’ve told him to take it easy but he’s ignoring me. What can I do?
Your employee probably wants to put his illness behind him and get back to ‘normal’. While this is understandable, if he hasn’t fully recovered yet he might be putting himself, his colleagues and your customers at risk.
And if he does cause an accident, you could face a big fine or even imprisonment.
Speak to your employee to find out how he’s doing. Gently remind him that you asked him not to overexert himself, and refer to your health & safety policy if you have one. It should explain that recovering stroke victims should work reduced hours, avoid working with heavy machinery and consent to being supervised.
If he still doesn’t cooperate, tell him that he could face disciplinary action if he doesn’t change his behaviour.
When dealing with ill or recovering employees, remember that their erratic behaviour could be a symptom of their condition. You need to be sensitive—make sure you don’t discriminate against them. You should also make reasonable adjustments for them, like reallocating duties they can’t do anymore.
I found out my employee was accused of theft six years ago. Can I dismiss her?
Before you consider dismissing her, you need to take a step back and find out more details about the case, such as:
- What the allegations were. It could have been anything from stealing a doughnut to armed robbery.
- Whether the court found her guilty.
- If she was found guilty, what the court sentenced her to.
- Whether this information impacts her current role.
Six years is a long time. In fact, the law states that certain convictions can be ignored after a specified amount of time has passed—anything between three months and 10 years depending on what sentence the court imposed and how serious the crime was. This is also known as a spent conviction.
If you do dismiss your employee and it turns out her conviction is spent, she could take you to an employment tribunal and make a successful claim of unfair dismissal.
My employee has been signed off for a month with stress while we were in the middle of a disciplinary process. What should I do?
It sounds like you’re in an awkward situation.
The Acas Code of Practice states that you should act reasonably throughout a disciplinary or grievance process. Because your employee is absent, you might want to consider postponing the process until they’re fit enough to come back to work.
Having said that, you can still carry on with the parts of the process that don’t need your employee to be present, such as any ongoing investigations.
If a month has passed and your employee still isn’t back in work, you could seek expert medical opinion on whether they’re fit enough to attend a disciplinary hearing.