'Understanding the disciplinary process'   A workshop for just £50

Pregnant Workers Risk Assessment   

'Understanding the disciplinary process'

How confident are you and your managers about implementing a disciplinary?

'Understanding the disciplinary process' workshop will leave you feeling confident about when to and when do to invoke a disciplinary. We will talk you through each of the stages and also discuss the relevance of various employment legislation.

• Half day for £50 + VAT + 3 months telephone support
• Just 20 exclusive places per session
• Monday 31^st September and Thursday 3^rd October 2002
• Felaw Maltings, Ipswich

Case Study 1

Frank, a car mechanic has been with you for 2.5 years. He has had a reasonably good performance record but recently he has started taking two or three days off sick, for different reasons. Someone suspects him of ‘moonlighting’, having seen him working on a car by the side of a road on one of the days he was meant to be off sick.

Case Study 2

George works in the office. He has been with you 4 years. Someone has told you that they have seen some ‘funny’ things on his computer. There is a suspicion that he is downloading ‘offensive material’ from the Internet.

• Do these situations require you to take disciplinary action?
• If so would you class the situations as gross misconduct, or misconduct?
• What would be your next step?

Disciplinary rules and procedures are essential in any organisation in order to help to promote fairness in the treatment of individuals within the organisation. The purpose of the procedure is to be corrective rather than punitive.

Within this session we will be discussing the principles underlying any disciplinary policy, providing some guidelines for applying the policy, and using some scenarios to consider how to use the policy in practice. The session will also help delegates recognise when a disciplinary route is inappropriate. Every delegate will be encouraged to draw up an action plan to implement in the workplace.

The session will also include an introduction to workplace coaching. Coaching is a powerful way of helping employees address any difficulties that they might be experiencing, thus reducing the need for disciplinary action. In addition, coaching can help you unlock the maximum potential of your workforce, helping your business run more efficiently and profitably.

This training is being delivered by Picasso HR, a well known and respected Suffolk based company specialising in Human Resource Management consultancy and outsourcing. HR Partners is working in association with A.I.R. who have European funding to subsidise certain training and development initiatives. Because of this funding this training, which would normally cost £80 can be brought to you for just £50 per delegate.

Who should attend?

Supervisors and managers responsible for people at work, who would like to build their knowledge about and confidence with the disciplinary process and employment legislation surrounding it.

Please book early as places are limited to 20 delegates per session. For a booking form please email Lina Hogg or telephone 01473 890037.

Pregnant Workers Risk Assessment

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has found in a very recent case that failure to undertake a risk assessment for pregnant workers amounts to sex discrimination.

The case concerned a care worker who informed her employer that she was pregnant. She discussed the need for a risk assessment due to the heavy lifting involved in her job and after some deliberation was offered a cleaner’s job. She refused this job as it was less favourable than her existing job and claimed that as she was unable to undertake her normal job she should be suspended on full pay for the duration of her pregnancy in accordance with the provisions of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Her employers refused this request and repeated the offer of the cleaning job. The care worker made the following argument:

In reaction to this the care worker presented her three applications:

1. Her employer should have undertaken a risk assessment specific to her and her pregnancy
2. As a result of their failure, she had suffered a detriment in accordance with the Sex Discrimination Act
3. As no offer of suitable alternative employment was made to her pursuant to the Employment Rights Act 1996, she should be suspended on full pay.

The EAT found that by reading the regulations regarding risk assessments it was a positive requirement on all employers to undertake risk assessments for pregnant employees as soon as they employed women of child-bearing age.

It also found that it was not necessary to find a comparator in respect of the discrimination claim and that failure to carry out a risk assessment impacted disparately on pregnant workers and was thus discrimination.

Furthermore she was entitled to be suspended on full pay if no suitable alternative employment was available.

The information in this newsletter is of a general nature and is not a substitute for professional advice. You are recommended to obtain specific professional advice before you take any action.

For further information, advice or assistance on any of the matters raised in this newsletter please contact Picasso HR on 01473 890037.

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