Can I be made to have an appraisal with no notice?

Swampy_2

Hello there,

Not sure who to ask about how things stand with this.

I was asked to go on lunch at a certain time by my employer yesterday (small IT firm, only 5 employees).

When I got back I was immediately asked into the office where I had a formal meeting with the 2 directors, saying I was not earning my salary (they have stopped me going out of site visits, so I'm in the office more, plus I have been doing a lot of non-chargeable work for one of the directors)

They also said 50% of our clients think "the sun shines out of your !!!!" and 50% think "you're a patronising git".

When I asked for meeting minutes today I see that the points made at the end of the meeting "just focus on getting chargeable websites done" and "before you go out on any jobs, tell me when you are going to do before you leave" have been turned into formal action points.

Now I do have some issues with what was said. I always clarify what I have done to clients to demonstrate that an IT problem has been fixed.

I have also been doing a lot of work for a project which was miss-quoted by our director, which has taken up weeks of my time.

My main director also told me some weeks ago not to go out on jobs & to assign them all to him, so I cannot go out & do chargeable work.

I am not an idle man & have always worked hard. I certainly have not wasted my time with chatter at work.

My question is: Am I allowed to have such a meeting sprung on me with no notice? I can see now that they used my time out of the office to prepare for this meeting.

Am I also allowed to provide a response in writing to what was said?

The wording of the minutes is very formal & what was said to me in the meeting was done so in a very unprofessional manner.

Any advice appreciated.

AP007

That's not an appraisal it sounds morelike a disciplinary

ILW

They are not disciplining you or anything, just giving instruction on what they require from you. So where is the problem.

AP007

ILW wrote: »

They are not disciplining you or anything, just giving instruction on what they require from you. So where is the problem.

no I think it is and it sounds like the are going to be monitoring the OP with the bullet points raised etc with no prior warning

Lovelyjoolz

OP, they clearly have some issues with you, but short notice maybe they have chosen to sit down with you and go through these issues rather than just put you on notice.

You have the choice of either leaving and finding another job or sucking it up and behaving more like they want/expect you to.

How long have you worked there?

ILW

AP007 wrote: »

no I think it is and it sounds like the are going to be monitoring the OP with the bullet points raised etc with no prior warning

It's a tiny company, things tend to work differently to a large corporation.

This seems the boss has told employee how and what he wishes him to do and let it be known it will be monitored. Still cannot see the problem.

AP007

ILW wrote: »

It's a tiny company, things tend to work differently to a large corporation.

This seems the boss has told employee how and what he wishes him to do and let it be known it will be monitored. Still cannot see the problem.

I am not talking about a large anything I have worked for small places with 20 staff in the office and one person was put on a monitor but had warning of the meeting and her work etc before the meeting took place

Two4Tuesday

Swampy wrote: »

Hello there,

Not sure who to ask about how things stand with this.

I was asked to go on lunch at a certain time by my employer yesterday (small IT firm, only 5 employees).

When I got back I was immediately asked into the office where I had a formal meeting with the 2 directors, saying I was not earning my salary (they have stopped me going out of site visits, so I'm in the office more, plus I have been doing a lot of non-chargeable work for one of the directors)

They also said 50% of our clients think "the sun shines out of your !!!!" and 50% think "you're a patronising git".

When I asked for meeting minutes today I see that the points made at the end of the meeting "just focus on getting chargeable websites done" and "before you go out on any jobs, tell me when you are going to do before you leave" have been turned into formal action points.

Now I do have some issues with what was said. I always clarify what I have done to clients to demonstrate that an IT problem has been fixed.

I have also been doing a lot of work for a project which was miss-quoted by our director, which has taken up weeks of my time.

My main director also told me some weeks ago not to go out on jobs & to assign them all to him, so I cannot go out & do chargeable work.

I am not an idle man & have always worked hard. I certainly have not wasted my time with chatter at work.

My question is: Am I allowed to have such a meeting sprung on me with no notice? I can see now that they used my time out of the office to prepare for this meeting.

Am I also allowed to provide a response in writing to what was said?

The wording of the minutes is very formal & what was said to me in the meeting was done so in a very unprofessional manner.

Any advice appreciated.

By all means prepare a written response clarifying where you feel you have done what was asked of you in the past.

However I don't see anything unreasonable in what has been asked of you going forward, so it's wise to include in your response that you will go along with that.

zzzLazyDaisy

There is a difference between an 'informal meeting' (even if conducted in a formal manner) and a meeting held pursuant to the company's formal disciplinary procedures. With an informal meeting, you have no legal right to be given notice, to be accompanied, etc. However, equally any targets or instructions that are given as a result of that informal meeting do not constitute a formal warning, do not form part of your disciplinary record and cannot be relied upon by the employer, should they later decide to commence formal disciplinary action.

The meeting you describe was (legally) an 'informal meeting'. However, you should be aware that, if the required improvement is not forthcoming, the employer may well proceed to invoke the disciplinary procedures.

Perhaps more importantly - you do not say when you started work for this company. If it was after 5th April 2012, then you have far fewer rights and your position is potential much more precarious.

Swampy_2

Thank you for the replies.

I have been working for this firm since October 2012.

The stuff put down on my action plan is not unreasonable & it's not a problem. I just wasn't sure if they could just hold a meeting like this with action points to be reviewed in a month & just spring it on me. Just feels quite sly.

Considering the fact that all the non-chargeable work I have been made to do by the two directors, it just leaves a bit of a bitter taste in the mouth.

I'm simply going to gather the evidence to demonstrate that I am doing what I'm told for the next meeting, the date of which I have no idea of (month's time) and I guess I will not know until the moment it is sprung on me.

Thanks again for the advice.

harrys_dad

You need to be careful, as you have only been employed since October 2012 they can dismiss you whenever they wish, and unless you can show certain specific grounds (such as discrimination) you have no employment rights at all. Seems to me they have made it clear what they expect from you, and the best course of action is to do what they have asked, and keep all the evidence that you are doing so.