Download Slide 1 - First Practice Management

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 1981.
• 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.