Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 4 February 2017.
Margaret’s hotel, A Cardinal’s Inn, is open from 5am until midnight, to accommodate guests who often arrive late and leave early.
She employs four staff, including Simon, who manages the Inn at night. Simon has worked at the Inn for five years and has been working the night shift for approximately 12 months.
Initially, Margaret was happy with Simon’s night shift work but recently, the quality of his work has begun to slip. Simon is either not completing his work properly or not completing it at all.
Margaret considers dismissing Simon.
Margaret seeks advice from a solicitor to ensure she is doing everything by the book. The solicitor advises her that she must comply with the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code, which requires Margaret to:
- Clearly warn Simon that his performance is unacceptable;
- Explain how his performance could be improved;
- Warn Simon that if he does not improve he may be dismissed;
- Provide a reasonable amount of time for Simon to improve his performance;
- If Simon’s performance does not improve, inform him that she is considering terminating his employment;
- Inform Simon of the reasons why she is considering terminating his employment; and
- Give Simon an opportunity to respond to those reasons.
Margaret’s solicitor also advises that she may need to give Simon an opportunity to develop his skills or offer training following the warning.
Margaret follows the advice and has a meeting with Simon. Simon acknowledges that his performance has not been up to scratch and accepts the training.
Simon’s performance subsequently improves and Margaret does not dismiss him. This saves Margaret the significant time and effort of finding and training a replacement.
If you would like Manny to address a particular legal issue, send your request to manny.wood@ticliblaxland.com.au or call him on (02) 6648 7487.
