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LIVING IN A POWDER KEG
Unfair dismissal is blamed for
one in three disputes with staff,
new data reveals. Employment
relations specialist
Employsure
provides tips to help employers
minimise employee claims.
U
nfair dismissal is the main reason
employees make a formal claim
against their employers, and of
these claims, nearly a quarter centre
around serious misconduct (12%) or
misconduct (12%).
The figures were released by
Employsure and were taken from 990
inbound calls to the company, from
employers, between February 2014 and
May 2015. They reveal that over a third
of calls were from employers contacting
Employsure for the first time, to seek
advice on unfair dismissal.
Employsure managing director Edward
Mallet says, “Disputes between employers
and their staff occur when an employee’s
conduct is called into question, but they
feel wrongly accused. This is a difficult
situation and usually the employer has
no official guidelines on conduct in place.
They then call a service like ours to
explore their rights and obligations.”
In 2014, 17,806 unfair dismissal claims
were lodged by employees with the Fair
Work Commission, the highest number of
annual claims ever recorded. The figure
amounts to 70 claims a day.
“There is no doubt this is a major issue
for employers,” Edward says.
“Unfair dismissal was brought about to
protect employees from unjust employers;
however, the number of claims has blown
out. The actual figure is considerably
higher as not all claims are taken to the
Commission, some are settled internally
by the company concerned. Because it is
such a prevalent issue, employers need
to ensure they have robust policies in
place to be clear and equitable in these
matters.”
“Around two thirds of the companies
that contact Employsure in the first
instance have employment compliance
issues or are involved in a workplace
incident and need expert advice and
assistance. Around one in five companies
in the general business population have
workplace issues that result in formal
claims being made.”
EDWARD MALLETT’S TOP FIVE TIPS TO
AVOID EMPLOYEE DISPUTES
1. Have clear descriptions of
unacceptable behaviour:
Employers
need to train staff on good conduct and
include clear descriptions of unacceptable
behaviour in employee handbooks. This can
cover every aspect of employee functions
from absenteeism, sick leave, performance
and, most importantly, conduct.
2. Don’t keep policies in a drawer:
When you have gone to the time and
trouble to craft workplace policies, make
sure your staff know about them. Consider
introducing a written or computer test
and set the pass mark high to make sure
employees have read and understood
policies.
3. Consistency is key:
Ensure all
disputes are dealt with consistently.
Adhere to your own policies and
procedures to the letter, in every case.
Don’t make allowances for some staff
members or come down hard on other
employees. Consistently addressing
conduct issues will help your employees
to perceive what is appropriate workplace
behaviour and what is not.
4. Have meetings before the situation
gets out of hand:
If an employee is
stepping out of your defined code of
conduct, you are within your rights to
schedule a disciplinary meeting to clearly
outline the employee’s unacceptable
behaviour. Following this meeting, you
may be justified in issuing a formal,
written warning. If the misconduct
is repeated or it constitutes serious
misconduct, this could ultimately justify
dismissal.
5. Get the best advice:
Employers often
don’t know how to manage employees
effectively and deal with claims by their
employees. Get expert advice to develop
solid employee contracts, workplace
policies and performance management
programs to put you in the best position
possible. Use your adviser to gain
knowledge of your rights and obligations
as an employer.
When you have gone to the time and
trouble to craft workplace policies,
make sure your staff know about them.
RANKING BY REASON FOR TERMINATION
1 Unfair Dismissal – Other reasons
43%
2 Serious Misconduct
12%
3 Misconduct
12%
4 Redundancy
10%
5 Performance
7%
* Taken from 990 claims from February 2014 to May 2015.
TIPS