Text Sacking
Monday 6 July 2009 9:34 AM
Recent reports of fashion and body-piercing chain, Blue Banana, sacking one of its employees by text has highlighted a number of issues that SME owners and managers would do well to bear in mind!
Blue Banana defended its decision partly on the grounds of their being a youth business whose staff are all part of the youth culture that uses SMS messaging as a major means of communication. Miss Tanner – the employee in question – had been underperforming (she had been with the company for 8 weeks); her phone was switched off (she was off work with a migraine); and they wanted to spare her the embarrassment and expense of getting to the store only to be sent home again. Whilst they would rather have spoken to her in person, given the above, they thought it was the best course of action to take. Miss Tanner has accused the store of double standards since it is not an acceptable ‘course of action’ to text them if someone is ill and is unable to attend work.
Whilst not being aware of all of the facts of this situation, on first reading it appears that she has a point.
Some things to think about for your own workplace: consider how you deal with under-performing staff. If you have an effective recruitment procedure in place you are more likely to recruit the ‘right’ personnel at the outset. Follow that up with contracts of employment and an efficient and structured induction process and the parameters of your working relationship should be set. If recruits are under-performing good practice calls for support and supervision, especially for new starters. If dismissal is the only possibility after the support and supervision route, then probationary periods built into contracts of employment allow you, as an employer, to fairly and reasonably take that course of action.
Dismissal should never be taken lightly and the way you dismiss someone is just as important to get right as the reasons for the dismissal in the first place. An employer may not have the ‘tightest’ policies and procedures in place but if a decision fails the ‘fair and reasonable’ test, it could spell trouble. If you are about to dismiss someone apply this acid test yourself, for example: Is it fair and reasonable to dismiss an under-performer without first telling them they are under-performing and giving them the opportunity to improve? Is it fair and reasonable to sack someone by text? Is it fair and reasonable to sack them at all? Is it fair and reasonable to sack them without giving them any notice? Is dismissal a fair and reasonable response to your employee’s performance or conduct?
Of course, my perception of what is fair and reasonable may not be the same as yours and for those points of contention the tribunal system, arbitration service, employment legislation to name but a few, all contribute to prevailing guidelines of what is considered to be acceptable. They provide the wider framework upon which to base the ‘fair and reasonable’ test. With legislation in mind then, will it be fair and reasonable for instance, given the impending age legislation, for companies like Blue Banana and their ilk to continue to exercise ‘youth culture’ policies and practices? Time will tell.
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