HR advice

[Tailfeather]

I run my own small business. My general manager has transpired to be a rather tricky character and God help anyone who gets on the wrong side of her. She has very short-term friendships as she always falls out with friends and she holds grudges over the tiniest thing. We are a small team but she has taken a dislike to one of them who was in tears with me today. I also think she doesn't like me. She is disrespectful and rude and very bristly in the office. She's also not great at her job and does the bare minimum even when others need help snd are bending over backwards to help each other out. My worry is if I start issuing formal warnings that things will get worse and she has access to so much sensitive information, expensive product and is the main point of contact for customers and I'm scared of what she could do if she feels spurned. But I don't want her upsetting other staff members and creating such a negative atmosphere and I don't want to feel awkward and on edge in MY office for MY business! But where do I stand? I can't just pay her her notice and ask her to leave, can I? Any advice would be so gratefully received. Thank you. X

How long has she worked for you? Less than 2 years and she has limited rights in employment law. More than 2 years and you essentially have to have a good reason to sack her.

4 years unfortunately. The problem was less obvious during covid as we were working from home!

That's what I thought. But it seems so unfair that someone can be such a negative force within such a small team. If I lose any of my good members of staff because of her it will be awful.

Do you have any sort of managing misconduct policy? The ACAS page belies gives a very details guide of the steps you can take to support your employee to behave appropriately, or move on to dismissal

www.acas.org.uk/disciplinary-procedure-step-by-step

You can't just issue formal warnings. You need to follow a fair disciplinary process. Even in a small business.

Get onto the ACAS website where you can download templates and policies. You can also phone them for free advice as an employer.

You do need to act. But you need to do so fairly and legally

As she has over 2 years service you have a couple of options.

Sit her down and have the very uncomfortable conversation about her behaviour and how it needs to change immediately and any further concerns will be dealt with formally.

Hold an investigation meeting to understand what's happened and invite her to a disciplinary. Depending on what the outcome of that is, you'd be looking at a first or final written warning as a max. Can't see anything worthy of dismissal based on what you've written so far.

Final option is to pull her into a room, tell her that you are carrying out an investigation into her conduct and you will be investigating her for gross misconduct conducive to creating a hostile work place. If found to be well proven then that could result in summary dismissal. As an alternative to going through with it you're willing to have an off the record conversation. You'll pay her her notice and she'll leave immediately.

If you go with the final option you need to get proper advice on how to hold that conversation and the likely outcomes of what you will need to do if she doesn't go for it.

Whereabouts in the country are you OP? A local HR consultancy will be able to give you advice on a pay as you go basis.

Then unfortunately you are going to have to deal with it properly, and quickly too. Do you have any employee policies on performance, conduct, behaviour etc? You need to refer to them, and start managing the employees behaviour in line with the policies you have. Or if not, implement the policies you need, and then start managing the performance and behaviour in line with policy It will be a nightmare, but its not likely she will leave on her own.

Or you could offer her a settlement agreement to just leave. But that will cost you. I'd rcommend getting some HR/legal advice and document everything where you've had an issue with this woman.

You may want to consider buying in some HR advice. Look for a small business HR consultant, ideally Chartered CIPD

Thank you everyone. So much more has come out of the woodwork. I will definitely get some advice. 2 amazing people want to leave purely because of her and I need to put a stop to her workplace manipulation and bullying.

Pay for proper HR advice.
It might seem expensive but not doing things like this properly can cost a lot more

I will do. Thank you. Finding out more and more including 2 people who were suffering in silence and were planning on leaving because of her. Makes me so cross and upset that she is causing so much negativity in such a small, and otherwise happy, team. At the risk of sounding like a 5-year-old, it's so unfair!!! That someone can be so bitter and make a workplace such an uncomfortable place for others who just want to do their jobs.

OP, even if it's just for your own record, make sure you document all the conversations with the people you have spoken to, with date and time information, who was there, what was said and anything you committed to doing. If appropriate, share a copy with the people you spoke to. If not, at least let them know they have been heard and you are looking at what you can do to resolve the issue. The fact that you are actually trying to sort this will help your staff to feel a bit less defeated by this woman.

You might be able to suspend the manager on pay while you investigate, and make a decision. That keeps her away from the team, and away from the premises, company data and anything she can do damage with. But definitely get advice, you want this process to end up resolving the problem, and for the solution to be as bullet proof as possible.

@Tailfeather
I would also look at every policy you might need about employing people from ACAS. Their web site is very helpful. Make sure you have policies in place and you know how to apply them. My DH ran a small company that grew and grew. It really does need policies that you can work with and that employees understand. Do you have a company handbook?

No. I don't have a handbook. But I know I need to get on top of it.

I will take proper advice. Thank you everyone.

If it is your business, get rid of her, but consult a Hr company, they will tell you what to do. Write down everything, as your back up! She seems the type to go the legal route, so be prepared with all meetings with up staff. Remember to write down everything that is said when you interview staff in the dept if you wish to get rid of her that is!Good luck!

An option that hasn't been mentioned is that you could consider a settlement agreement. This starts with you having what is known as a protected conversation with her (which means it can't be used as evidence in an unfair dismissal claim) and try to agree terms to end her employment. This would lead to you paying her a sum of money to leave, in return for which she will give up the right to take you to the employment tribunal. Such agreements usually also include a non-disclosure clause, preventing the employee telling others about it, an agreed reference and other terms needed to protect both parties.

If you want to go down this route, you should take advice from a solicitor who specialises in employment law. They will be able to give you guidance as to the process and draw up the agreement for you.

To add to my post, a settlement agreement is only binding on the employee if they have received independent legal advice or advice from a suitably qualified trade union representative. It is therefore normal for the employer to pay for the employee to get the required advice.

keep doing the best you can