5th January 2012, 05:09 PM
Quote:There would need to be proper checks on people skills and a 'supportive intolerance' of poor work -from individuals as well as employers. If you weren't good enough, you'd be asked to leave.Legally, it's surprisingly difficult to get rid of someone just because they're bad at their job. You certainly can't ask someone to leave - or "encourage" them to do so - without leaving yourself open to all manner of legal proceedings around unfair dismissal.
In order to sack someone, you have to start proving heavy-duty stuff like Professional or Gross Professional Misconduct. It doesn't really cover an employee who's rubbish at what they're supposed to be doing. Sacking someone under those circumstances would leave you or your organisation open to some potentially expensive and time-consuming challenges via employment tribunals. In order to withstand that, your supervision, management and - dare I say it - staff development and training policies, all have to be written down, known to all employees and absolutely watertight. Don't see many of them about these days. The occasional "restructuring" exercise is a much more efficient and legally-sustainable way of cutting out the dead wood in terms of permanent staff.
In a short-term contract environment, operating a blacklist of individuals might be legally dubious but it's a more pragmatic approach. As long as nobody knows you're doing it.