HR Advice Line Queries

“How can I create or introduce a fair pay rise and bonus system for Practice Staff?” As GPs are independent contractors it is their decision as to whether their Practice can afford a staff pay rise. If they decide it can then there is no ready made next step they must ensure that whatever they do it is – Appropriate for the Practice and sustainable for the future – That it effects both full and part-time employees equally – And that none of the 9 “protected characteristics”, such as gender, are discriminated against Following on from this…

Some Practices have made us aware that they are considering introducing performance related pay, our advice has been that if they are considering this then… – They need to take care to ensure that it is overtly fair and non-discriminatory. – One way of doing this is by basing it on measurable SMART targets for all those individuals involved.

“What do I do if someone is on long term sick and failing to maintain contact with the Practice?” Managing long-term sickness can be difficult, but is made less so if the employer establishes some “ground rules” with the employee involved, at the outset. These should include: An agreed plan for regular contact Likely duration of absence and the potential impact of the reason for absence on the person’s ability to do their job upon return Agreement on seeking input from objective medical advice A clear shared understanding of sick pay entitlement And finally a “getting back to work” plan if needed to support the employee’s return

However, if the employee does not comply and keep in touch whilst absent…... Then such behaviour has the potential to be progressed through the Practice’s disciplinary procedure Which would include: Inviting the employee to an investigation This then being possibly followed by inviting the employee to a disciplinary hearing If the employee fails to attend any of these meetings – then the Practice could make decisions in their absence, based on the information, as they understood it.

“What do I need to do if I want to outsource our Practice’s Cleaners?” TUPE would apply in such circumstances. It stands for “Transfer of Undertaking Protection of Employment” and it is legislation dating from The purpose of which is to protect employment rights when employees transfer from one business (the outgoing one) to another (the incoming one). In these circumstances and for the purposes of TUPE this Practice would be the outgoing employer.

If they are outsourcing all cleaning - then all cleaners will be effected As this is likely to be less than 10 people they can consult directly with them on: The business reason for the transfer What the transfer will involve, what will stay the same and what may change An opportunity for those employees effected to make suggestions on the plans Following this the Practice should provide each employee with a letter to confirm the details of the transfer.

The Practice will not be involved in any redundancy process that will be for the new, incoming employer, to take on. The Practice will need to provide the new employer with the details of each employee. If any employee chooses to resign in advance of any such transfer this should be treated as a normal resignation. For information - refusal to transfer by an employee is not a valid reason for constructive/unfair dismissal.

“I am new to the Practice and one of the employees is struggling with their role – I’ve held a review but nothing is changing what can I do next ?” In such circumstances you should act in a fair and reasonable manner and we advice doing this by following a performance improvement process - holding a meeting with the individual to get to the root of the issues: Lack of training? Other issues at work Domestic distractions? Lack of understanding of what is expected? Technical issues? Disability related matters? If the reason is disability related – then you should explore this with the appropriate experts such as an Occupational Health Advisor

The outcome from this process should be an agreed personal improvement plan. That include any necessary training, sets expectations by means of SMART objectives. Subsequently performance should then be formally reviewed with management of it then being escalated or de-escalated as appropriate.

“How can I manage behaviour – as you can’t measure it?” Our answer to this is Behaviour is ‘conduct’ which is one of the fair reasons for dismissal - via the disciplinary procedure It is often good to set behavioural standards for the Practice and communicate these through team meetings. These can also be discussed in appraisal and performance reviews. When looking at formal processes, such as disciplinary – it is all about documented examples and discussing whether any cited behaviour was appropriate to the situation Other things to be aware of is that the Practice, as the employer, has a duty of care towards its employees which includes such things as preventing them from being victims of any bullying and/or harassment behaviour.