Holding formal meetings via Skype?

[FluffyLamkins]

Any HR people who can share how they are planning to hold formal meetings whilst we are mostly all working from home and no face to face meetings are going ahead.

Meetings on my caseload are capability hearings, disciplinary hearings and ill health retirements, some of which are potentially dismissals.

Some people are used to using Skype but others are operational workers who can barely turn on Skype although we have offered tech support to get them started.

Trade union reps are adamant they will not take part. Three word policy “not a chance”. National Unison website has some guidance about using technology but our other two unions websites haven’t got any advice for their reps.

Aware any process needs to be fair and reasonable but we also wish to avoid unreasonable delays and causing anxiety by having things drag on plus as there is no way to know how long some of this will go on want to try to move them on using technology.

Does anyone else have experience of running such meetings virtually and doing dismissals this way?

Thanks in advance

Grappling with the same at the moment so interested to hear the responses! I have run a few formal meetings with some or all of the participants via Skype previously for various reasons, have to say I didn't find it a particularly satisfactory experience. In between technical difficulties, poor audio quality, not being able to see the participants faces clearly and read body language very well, plus the usual 'etiquette' issues of who gets to speak when etc you always get on Skype, before Corona happened it wasn't something I was wanting to increase usage of particularly. Our workforce are mostly very technically au fait as well so it sounds as though your guys would have more problems there.

Overall I just don't feel it's particularly humane and respectful to hold these crucially important meetings, particularly ones that could lead to dismissal, in a less than ideal way, and if you don't have the support of your TU that concerns me too. A minor point was also that our note-taker found it really hard to take good notes over Skype as it was hard to hear everyone and people were (accidentally) talking over one another at various times - and if she struggled to follow, that makes me concerned that the member of staff, their rep and even the panel chair might not have heard everything properly either!

That being said, I echo your concerns about delays as well and I think if pushed I'd say you are going to have to take it on a case by case basis. In the kind of case where the member of staff is keen for a resolution and there isn't much factual dispute (such as maybe an ill health retirement case where member of staff is in agreement that that is the best outcome and it just needs to be formally confirmed/agreed to by management) then maybe it could be agreed to go ahead over the phone/Skype, whereas if it's a controversial disciplinary with multiple witnesses giving differing accounts etc., a call might have to be made about delaying?

I was on long term sick for a year as a result of failure to make adjustments and discrimination causing me to have a complete breakdown. I got 6 months half pay, still no adjustments etc, so unison got me another 6 months using meikle v nottingham council. Then I was due to return to work - still no adjustments and potentially no pay. Tribunal claim now in.

Then coronovirus hit.

So all grievance meetings, disciplinary meetings etc on hold. My return to work is on hold. And Unison have gotten me another 6 months full pay.

18 months full pay. My union are amazing. My employer on the other hand are fuckwits because the longer they take to pull their finger out, the more it costs them.

I was looking for another job without any luck and obviously its going to be harder in this current climate.

So anyway, back to the point - delay the meetings.

You can't - you won't be able to have an accurate record of the meeting.

You can only see a certain number of people at a time, and audio quality isn't reliable.

I've been involved in three video meetings for serious issues - one investigatory meeting and then subsequent dismissal, which I attended as a manager (but the meeting was held by my manager and two people from HR), and one when I attended as support for someone.

They were on Hangouts rather than Skype, and never with more than five or so people, so everyone was visible at all times and the meetings can be recorded.

Nobody raised any issues, although these were a year or so ago, and in a company where remote working was standard and everyone was expected to be able to dial into video calls. No idea if that makes a big deal!

I've been told I have to have to let two members of my team go after Easter. I'll have to do this via a Skype meeting and it feels absolutely horrible and inhumane to me.

Doesn't help that I vehemently disagree with the decision. I desperately need to keep them and will really struggle to replace them after all this is over. Very shortsighted blanket decisions being made at the moment by some organisations (but that's another story )

We usually have to do formal meetings in person but we're allowed to do them on Teams at the mo. We're all used to working remotely.

I've got to start poor performance proceedings against one of my team next week. Delaying was our absolute last resort as the poor performance is really severe.

I'll take on board the point about the note taker and try to make sure everyone takes turns talking.

Are you in HR Ninjas on facebook? There's a thread on there with some specific tech recommendations.

thread here

you have to be in the group to view it though

I believe unions are actively pushing for meetings to be held in person and to be postponed until the end of this crisis as its hard to get proper representation over Skype.

You can record Skype calls though.

Got some advice from our legal helpline so copying here for your info. Thank you to those who’ve replied. I’ll see if I can join HR Ninjas too! Our TUs not happy - they say that people are supported by their physical presence and they’re not generally used to doing meetings other than face to face.

As you know, if you are going to take formal action against employees, you really should do so within a reasonable period of time. With increased home working and lockdown in place for an unknown period, I can appreciate that logistically, this is going to create difficulties. Rather than postponing processes for an undefined period of time, you should first consider whether the process can still continue, but conducted in alternative ways, such as phone/video conferencing, in writing etc..

Considering the current situation relating to COVID-19, it is perfectly reasonable to conduct meetings via telephone/video conferencing, or indeed in writing. If the employee fails to do engage in the process, you should find out the reasons as to why and see whether you can resolve the issues. If the employee has no good reason for refusing to conduct the meeting via telephone/video conferencing, you should warn them that the meeting will proceed in their absence and a decision will be made based on the information available. You can invite the employee to provide you with their written representations in time for the meeting too if they are adamant they will not be attending. Further if the unions are objecting to your proposals to conduct meetings in this way, it would be prudent to find out the reasons why, not least to consider whether their objections are fair and reasonable.

Ultimately, it’ll be a matter for you to justify why you adopted the process that you did and why in those particular circumstances it was not reasonable to delay the process further. These are very much unprecedented times and it’s impossible to gage how a tribunal may decide on changes in process. I’d assume that if you were dealing with a potential dismissal situation (e.g. on a gross misconduct basis), you may be in a stronger position to argue that it was not reasonable to delay the process any further.

I’ve done loads remotely as or workforce is international and just can’t be helped at times. Skype can be great, better to use the video function so you can all see each other. Where I work we have wireless ear pieces which helps a lot.

I think you have to be reasonable in the circumstances. We all appreciate that these times are less than ideal, but for some meetings the added stress and anxiety caused by delaying these things, well, it’s a balancing act.

I appreciate it is tricky if union not on board, but they also can’t be seen to be undermining the process and delaying things. As everything stands we have no idea when we will get the signal to work in the office again, but if we think September, that’s a very long time to have everything just sat there without any resolution.

I guess that if your place isn’t very forward with tech in the first instance then it may be hard to change that culture, even for an interim time, however long that may be.

I think you just need to have a conversation and have everything in writing. You can hold formal meetings in a variety of ways, even via email, again not ideal, but keeps the process moving.