Employment Law Update – Something for Nothing
Employment Law Update – Something for Nothing
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Home Page > Business > Human Resources > Employment Law Update – Something for Nothing
Employment Law Update – Something for Nothing
Posted: Nov 18, 2011 |Comments: 0
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My partner tells me I was born in the wrong era. I am old fashioned, he says, and yearn for old fashioned values and hand written notes carefully crafted with a fountain pen, not carelessly dashed off in” orfl txt spk LOL”. He may be right. In one way at least I am out of sync with 2011. Brought up reading books like Little Women, the Thirty Nine Steps and Lord Peter Wimsey, I aspire to very high standards of personal and professional integrity and long to see the same approach around me. Increasingly fewer people seem to accept the concept of personal accountability. In my line of work, what I see most is people wanting something for nothing.
Yesterday I received an extraordinary email from a female client. She had come to me in the first instance because she had problems at work and wanted advice. Initially, because she was the friend of a good client with whom I have worked for many years, I gave her several pieces of advice for which I didn’t charge her. She has never offered to pay, even though I gathered from my original client that she was very pleased with the work. After that she instructed me formally and as part of the process I had to read through six months of correspondence and 136 page disciplinary investigation report. It was quite clear that despite some very good performance by the employee, the employer had substantial grounds for concern and that despite some clumsiness on the part of the employer, it was reasonable to explore those grounds with her. The woman in question is a manager, but reading the correspondence one was put forcibly in mind of a petulant two year old. No wonder the employer was concerned. It was clear that both parties were heartily sick of each other and the sensible thing to do was to negotiate an exit as gracefully as possible. Having given this advice to her and carefully drafted a letter which opened the door to a negotiation, she has done nothing about it, but six weeks down the line has refused to pay my invoice saying that she is not satisfied with the quality of my work. I empathise with her to the extent that she did not hear what she hoped to hear. She expected me to say “oh poor you! Fancy your employer being as unreasonable as to expect you to justify certain actions; well, never mind, the tribunal will give you shed loads of money”. That won’t happen. She hasn’t been constructively unfairly dismissed and won’t win if she goes to tribunal. As a matter of fact the employer has been surprisingly patient with her. Her lack of emotional clarity means that (irrespective of the evidence) she can’t believe that she has contributed to her situation. However, just because I have given her some straight and accurate advice that she doesn’t like doesn’t give her the right to bilk me.
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While still fulminating about that I received a call from a client who was worried about an email from one of their managers. The man in question is a good performer, something the company recognises and acknowledges. However, recently he’s been on a bit of a short fuse and it has led to one or two fairly minor problems. On Monday, they had an informal discussion with him. It emerged that he has significant financial worries and is looking for a new job to earn more money. The company empathised with him and said how sorry they would be if he left. They are not in a position to offer more money, but if he needs to go for job interviews they will support him and work around it. All very positive, one would think. Next day he failed to turn up for work and did not make contact. They wrote to him expressing concern and reminding him of the rules, only to receive an emailed stream of invective about how the company are trying to push him out. Clearly, he has taken advice and thinks he can turn this into a constructive unfair dismissal situation. We have stamped on that very firmly.
What’s wrong with people? Why is it my fault that the woman in the first instance is unhappy and potentially facing job loss because she has not conducted herself in a way that the employer reasonably requires? And why is it the company’s fault in the second case that the man in question has run up debt and tried to help him? It’s time we encouraged people to accept personal responsibility and the risk that go with it. It is not someone else’s fault all the time. If people continue to cry “wolf” at every opportunity because they want something for nothing, the time will come when they really are in need and the reasonable employer will simply turn away because they’ve heard false cries so many times.
Russell HR Consulting provides expert knowledge in the practical application of employment law as well as providing employment law training and HR services. For more information, visit our website at http://www.russellhrconsulting.co.uk or call a member of the team on 0845 644 8955.
Russell HR Consulting offers HR support services to businesses nationwide, including Buckinghamshire (covering Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Banbury, Northampton, Towcester and surrounding areas), Nottinghamshire (covering Chesterfield, Mansfield, Nottingham, Sheffield, Worksop and surrounding areas) and Hampshire (covering Aldershot, Basingstoke, Reading, Farnborough, Fareham, Portsmouth, Southampton and surrounding areas).
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Kate Russell -
About the Author:
Kate Russell started Russell HR Consulting in 1998 and now divides her time between advising businesses of all sizes on HR issues, and delivering a range of highly practical employment law awareness training to line managers, including a range of public workshops. Her unique combination of legal background, direct line management experience and HR skills, enables Kate to present the stringent requirements of the law balanced against the realities of working life. She is a senior presenter for several companies and a popular public speaker. Kate completed an MA in strategic human resource management in 2004.
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Kate Russell started Russell HR Consulting in 1998 and now divides her time between advising businesses of all sizes on HR issues, and delivering a range of highly practical employment law awareness training to line managers, including a range of public workshops. Her unique combination of legal background, direct line management experience and HR skills, enables Kate to present the stringent requirements of the law balanced against the realities of working life. She is a senior presenter for several companies and a popular public speaker. Kate completed an MA in strategic human resource management in 2004.
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