Staff sickness, flexi-time, & ageism
Here’s your latest update packed with free expert employer advice, keeping you prepared and your business protected for the months ahead. Let’s begin…
My employee, who has a minor disability, is off sick during his probation period. Can I dismiss him?
It depends on both his reason for being off sick and your reasons for wanting to dismiss him.
You have to be careful because, if his disability’s causing his absence, you’re at high risk of him making a discrimination claim against you.
Always try to make reasonable adjustments for any staff member who has a disability, such as extending the probation period or adjusting your dismissal process.
I want to refuse my star employee’s request to work flexi-time, but I don’t know whether that’s legal. What should I say to her?
First, you must treat her request in a reasonable manner and respond to her as soon as possible.
Meet with her and discuss both the advantages and disadvantages of flexi-time and offer her the right to appeal against your decision.
Be warned: you can only refuse a statutory flexible working request for one of eight business reasons. But if it’s a non-statutory request, make sure you follow your company policies.
I want an older employee to improve in his role, but I’m worried I might accidentally say or do something classed as age discrimination. Can you help?
No matter how old your employee is, you should follow a capability process.
Discuss your concerns about his underperformance and, together, make a performance improvement plan.
Explain how you’ll support your employee through the plan with training, one-to-ones, or perhaps a buddy system.
Give your employee a reasonable amount of time to show improvement before you decide to take any stronger action, like starting the dismissal process.