Making somebody redundant - where do I stand legally?

Lifeisbutadream

To the ones saying that he is not redundant, how come? I will not be replacing him, so why is he not redundant? what is the definition of a redundant position?

He has had a written warning and has not 'done' anything since then - does that mean that I have to keep him until he does something else? surely that is worse as I will be picking up on the slightest thing?

Zazen999

The problem is, if you make one staff member redundant; that it unsettles the other staff and you can end up losing good staff at the expense of the bad ones.

If you have other staff at that level, you need to tell them all that you are having to make redundancies; and then fairly select him. In fact, you should really tell ALL the staff that one person is being made redundant. Again, this unsettles the other staff.

Personally, in your situation [you missed out on sacking him for the issues that you have mentioned before and just gave him a warning], I'd get legal advice on a compromise agreement - but this also means he has to take the agreement to a solicitor [paid for by you]. Or wait for the next thing to crop up and take the disciplinary to the next level properly this time.

cavework

This is not redundancy . This is termination of employment.
You can terminate his employment due to misconduct.. ie he has failed to improve after a verbal and a written warning.
Please note .. this is not Gross misconduct, that is a totally different issue and his benefit claims, should he go down that route are based on this.
You have been fair, but be prepared to show this should it come to a tribunal .. you will be required to produce written evidence and any records .
Talk to Acas .. it's something we always do when faced with this situation..
PS the 3 verbal warnings are no longer applicable.
One verbal warning and one written are acceptable as long as the employer can proove grounds for dismissal.

Lifeisbutadream

Zazen999 wrote: »

The problem is, if you make one staff member redundant; that it unsettles the other staff and you can end up losing good staff at the expense of the bad ones.

If you have other staff at that level, you need to tell them all that you are having to make redundancies; and then fairly select him. In fact, you should really tell ALL the staff that one person is being made redundant. Again, this unsettles the other staff.

Personally, in your situation [you missed out on sacking him for the issues that you have mentioned before and just gave him a warning], I'd get legal advice on a compromise agreement - but this also means he has to take the agreement to a solicitor [paid for by you]. Or wait for the next thing to crop up and take the disciplinary to the next level properly this time.

I don't have any other staff.

Everyone else who works for us are contractors - they are also of a completely different level to him - i.e. they are actual joiners/electricians or plumbers etc.

I can't believe that I really would have to go to all that rigmarole surely???

Lifeisbutadream

cavework wrote: »

This is not redundancy . This is termination of employment.
You can terminate his employment due to misconduct.. ie he has failed to improve after a verbal and a written warning.
Please note .. this is not Gross misconduct, that is a totally different issue and his benefit claims, should he go down that route are based on this.
You have been fair, but be prepared to show this should it come to a tribunal .. you will be required to produce written evidence and any records .
Talk to Acas .. it's something we always do when faced with this situation..
PS the 3 verbal warnings are no longer applicable.
One verbal warning and one written are acceptable as long as the employer can proove grounds for dismissal.

Why is it not redundancy???

As I said I really do not want to sack him as I know that it will affect his ability to find another job. Believe it or not I do like him a bit.

Zazen999

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

I don't have any other staff.

Everyone else who works for us are contractors - they are also of a completely different level to him - i.e. they are actual joiners/electricians or plumbers etc.

I can't believe that I really would have to go to all that rigmarole surely???

You don't have to. However, if you don't you might find yourself in a tribunal if he finds a chink in the process.

You need to spend some time reading up on employment law I think.

Debt_Free_Chick

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

I can't believe that I really would have to go to all that rigmarole surely???

Unfortunately, you do.

You have to take him down the disciplinary process.

What was the written warning for? And did you set him goals for improvement?

If the reason for the written warning has continued (e.g. late) and he has not met the improvement goals, then you return to that issue, refer to the first written warning and progress the original issue from there.

Whether you use the redundancy or disciplinary route doesn't really matter as the process must be open, fair and reasonable.

You need to follow the ACAS guidance here.

I assume that he is wholly your employee and there are no additional conditions attached due to his apprenticeship ..?

Lifeisbutadream

Zazen999 wrote: »

You don't have to. However, if you don't you might find yourself in a tribunal if he finds a chink in the process.

You need to spend some time reading up on employment law I think.

I appreciate your thoughts and help on this, but I really don't understand why I cannot make him redundant? his job will not be filled with anyone else and nobody else works for us. What could he take us to a tribunal for? genuine question - on what grounds could he do that?

I do not like the idea of a compromise agreement as it sounds like we are doing something wrong, which I dont think we are.

I do want to do the right thing here - this is the first employee that we have had (and it will probably be the last with all the hassle he is causing us)

Zazen999

Do you have work for him to do?

Lifeisbutadream

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Unfortunately, you do.

You have to take him down the disciplinary process.

What was the written warning for? And did you set him goals for improvement?

If the reason for the written warning has continued (e.g. late) and he has not met the improvement goals, then you return to that issue, refer to the first written warning and progress the original issue from there.

Whether you use the redundancy or disciplinary route doesn't really matter as the process must be open, fair and reasonable.

You need to follow the ACAS guidance here.

I assume that he is wholly your employee and there are no additional conditions attached due to his apprenticeship ..?

Yes he is wholly our employee.

His written warning was for fiddling his timesheet (i.e. stealing from us) he has not done it again but it has unsettled me and OH and we have decided that we don't want to carry dead wood any more.

We only have a small business and cant afford to keep throwing money away.