Bite-Size HR: The Sixth Bite

Hi, I'm Tanielle,

the Face-to-Face Field Services Manager

here at Peninsula.

Today, I'm answering the question:

“How do I discipline an employee?”.

Employees often will do the wrong thing,

and it can be extremely tempting

just to terminate them.

But by doing so,

you run the risk of having an unfair

dismissal claim.

So, how do you stop that?

The Fair Work Act

sets out rules and regulations on how

to run a disciplinary process

that's going to help you

protect the business and yourself

from these unfair dismissal claims.

How do you do it?

So, you need to ensure

that the reason for dismissal

is not unjust, unfair or unreasonable.

To do that,

you would invite an employee

to the disciplinary meeting.

24 hours notice is required

and you need to list

what the allegations are.

So why are they potentially

being disciplined?

During this meeting,

you would look to allow the employee

an opportunity

to respond to the allegations,

give their side of the story

and possibly defend

their ongoing employment

with your business.

You need to also ensure

that you allow a support person

as reasonably possible for this employee.

Because this is another area

that the Commission

will look at

to ensure that the process

was followed fairly.

After you hold this meeting,

you would go away and consider

what the employee has told you.

Was there any mitigating circumstances

in response to the allegations?

After that,

you would meet

with the employee again

to deliver the outcome of the meeting.

This could be a written warning

or termination

of their employment,

depending on the misconduct.

You would also be confirming this

in a letter

outlining any entitlements

if it was termination.

As you can see, it can be a bit tricky

with terminating an employee

or disciplining them.

That's what Peninsula is here to do.

We're here

to handle the trickiness of employees

so you can focus on

running your business.

Give us a call on 1300 651 415

to see how we can help

the business today.

And also,

there's a Face-to-Face service

for when things really get tricky,

and my team is readily available

to help you along the way.