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Issue with employee. HR opinions welcome

34 replies

cocochanel73 · 25/03/2021 09:43

I manage a small team of office staff. A few months back I put one of them, let's called him "Tim" on a performance plan. This was due to performance issues and my concerns over his capability to do the job. Tim had been on my team about 3 months at that point. He agreed to the plan and any extra support that I suggested.
Fast forward a couple of weeks after being put on the plan, Tim broke down during a 121 and disclosed a mental health problem, said this is what is affecting his work. Seeking HR advice I removed Tim from the plan and instead referred him (with his agreement) to talking therapies. He also went to his GP and got some tablets to help manage the condition.
Tim had been having therapy and was on strong medication last year before joining my team, but the end of his therapy was just before he joined the team (he's provided me with evidence to verify all this btw). So, throughout his short time on my team he hasn't been feeling great, and this shows in his work.
To show compassion towards him, I thought it unhelpful to keep him on the informal performance plan as this could stress him further.
Occupational Health are involved too.
Since being taken off the plan, Tim has made 2 more mistakes which have taken me a lot of time to rectify, and could have potentially cost approx £500 in losses.
He's taking the rest of this week off (annual leave), but not sure how to go forward.
Would I be best to reinstate the performance plan?

OP posts:
DayBath · 26/03/2021 09:53

Agh! Posted in wrong thread, apologies.

KihoBebiluPute · 26/03/2021 10:12

Anti-discrimination leglislation does not oblige employers to keep employing someone who cannot do the job effectively. Yes people with health conditions may need extra support and understanding and certainly should not be managed out just because they have these conditions, but if the job isn't getting done then managing them out is a reasonable thing to do. However it MUST be done properly, legally, with all due process and with every attempt made to give the employee reasonable chances to turn things around without prejudice. You cannot achieve this via free advice given on an internet forum, you need proper professional paid advice. You can't sustain employing him if he regularly causes issues that lose the business significant amounts of money like that, but equally you could lose a lot more via botching the HR processes for this issue.

Plonthy · 26/03/2021 11:16

The fact this employee didnt disclose his health issues earlier means he knowingly hid it and played this card when the game was up regarding his work errors.

He knew what he was doing and was/is playing the system.

People like this should be summarily fired.

smallgoon · 26/03/2021 17:37

@missbridgerton

If someone isn't performing to the expected standard, I'd be managing them out, MH issues or not.

As a business owner myself, I go to work to make a living, not have my staff making mistakes time after time that financially impact cashflow and have a damaging effect on morale around them.

You seem nice.
smallgoon · 26/03/2021 17:45

The fact this employee didnt disclose his health issues earlier means he knowingly hid it and played this card when the game was up regarding his work errors.

What an ignorant comment. Do you think it's easy for people with MH issues to just disclose them willy nilly, let alone males?

Oblomov21 · 26/03/2021 17:50

I think you need proper HR advise OP. We have great HR advice which is dead cheap!
He didn't disclose any medical diagnosis before did he?
No small company can keep having huge financial losses because someone is not competent.
It's perfectly possible to manage someone out, if it's done carefully, with good HR advice at every step.
How long has it worked there? Less than 2 years.

Plonthy · 26/03/2021 19:08

@smallgoon

The fact this employee didnt disclose his health issues earlier means he knowingly hid it and played this card when the game was up regarding his work errors.

What an ignorant comment. Do you think it's easy for people with MH issues to just disclose them willy nilly, let alone males?

Might be ignorant to you, but it doesnt excuse the employee from failing to disclose anything impacting him/his work - which is now impacting the business financially.

People who do things via subterfuge like this need the sack, not sympathy.

Pinkraven · 26/03/2021 19:16

You seem nice It's not nice to have to tell the rest of the team there's no bonus or you'll have to make people redundant or the business has run out of cash and can't pay your salary.

daisychain01 · 26/03/2021 21:25

Those on here who would get rid of Tim "whether he has MH issues or not", or who would intentionally "manage him out" because he is too much of a hassle to have to deal with, would be breaking the law.

The law is clear that the employer's obligation towards their employee in terms of supporting MH challenges, which could be classed as a disability (it isn't clear from the info given) commences from Day 1 of employment They don't get to pick and choose the nice easy bits and discard what isn't convenient or comfortable, they have a duty of care to all their staff, as human beings. We can all succumb to a physical or MH disability at any stage in life, so let's remember that if it would ever happen to us we would want to be treated with dignity and humanity. So Tim deserves that treatment. Disabilities can come and go, once a person has a diagnosed disability, even if the disability is somehow resolved or mitigated through treatment, they are still protected under the law for that disability,

Those who place the burden on Tim to disclose his mental health issue are misinformed as to what an employee is obliged to do. They do not ever need to disclose a MH issue, and a large number of people elect not to disclose if it saves them being exposed to negative attitudes as on this thread. That's why the Equality Act exists, to put people who struggle with disability on a level playing field with others who don't have that daily battle. Once they have disclosed, then the employer cannot conveniently "forget" that disclosure as if it were an inconvenience.

@cocochanel73 Tim has made 2 more mistakes which have taken me a lot of time to rectify, and could have potentially cost approx £500 in losses.

It isn't clear from your OP whether Tim's mistakes were specified as improvement points in his PIP or were they different errors?

Some points to consider:

Are you sure he has received adequate and thorough training to be equipped to do the job you need him to do? If there is a process he needs to follow, has he been given supporting documentation, eg: describing the end to end process (within reason), or has he been told to do parts of a process without seeing how it all fits together holistically?

Was the training delivered in a way that Tim could assimilate the key information as delivered. People have a variety of different learning styles, as to how they take on board and process information (visual, learning by doing, reading, verbalising).

Some people need extra time to process information, and may need a follow on session to ask questions. Has Tim been offered any follow-on mentoring?

These are a few considerations to cover with Tim when he returns. Have a proper conversation with him, engage, find out what's happening, don't just tick a box and think it's sorted. That's not what being a good manager is. And failing to do these steps could see you on the wrong side of the law as an employer.

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