CRAFTY LEARNS
Employment for non-employment lawyers
HR, tribunals & more
Facilitated by CM Murray:
- Merrill April, Partner (merrill.april@cm-murray.com)
- Beth Hale, Partner (beth.hale@cm-murray.com)
The top three questions or themes explored in this session were…
- How to carry out effective and legally protected pre-termination discussions
- How to navigate employee sickness absence and reasonable adjustments
- Understanding tricky issues in employment tribunal litigation
The top three things that attendees should take away from the session:
Pre-termination discussions
- Preparation: Timing and process, company values, key risks
- Positioning: Without prejudice or protected (or both)? Redundancy? Forewarning?
- Practice: Be clear and direct, have the agreement ready, control the timing
- Plan B – what do you do if the meeting is unsuccessful?
Absence amnagement & reasonable adjustments
- Consider reasonableness of proposed adjustments for your particular business and remember that their purpose must be to remove obstacles to doing the job (not to extend their leave)
- Ask the right questions of Occupational Health or other medical experts – tailored, not generic
- Don’t rush your decision making – always make sure you have all the relevant information, including medical evidence
- Document your thinking and decision making (but do so carefully)
- Consider company values and the impact on the wider team of any action you take
Employment tribunal litigation
- Claims become public at the first hearing where there is a substantive issue to be determined by the Tribunal. This is likely to take several months, so don’t be too scared by risk of publicity.
- Process is less formal than High Court litigation, but some time limits must be complied with, including filing of a defence.
If you want to learn more about this topic, here are some additional resources:
- For further information, do visit the CM Murray website and have a look at their Little Book of Employment Law