How To Deal With Employees Who Don’t Pull Their Weight

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If you own a business, you’re going to want to employ the best team possible to help achieve your ambitions. However, there will be occasions where you make a wrong move and give someone work who is less than enthusiastic about assisting you. Some people are just lazy, and others will do things to sabotage your efforts on purpose. With that in mind, this short post will present you with a step-by-step guide to dealing with unruly workers and those who refuse to pull their weight. While they do have certain rights, you can still get rid of them if you tackle the issue correctly.

The last thing you want to do is sack someone on the spot for anything other than gross negligence. Even then, you need to suspend them pending a thorough investigation. That is especially the case if you run a small business. The legal costs involved if your worker takes you to a tribunal could be enough to bankrupt you, and so you need to be very careful about how you approach the problem.

Create a suitable disciplinary process

If you haven’t done so already, you need to draw up a standard disciplinary process that your firm will follow. That way, all employees will know what’s in store if that act in an unsuitable manner. This process should include everything listed below…

Verbal warning

When you are satisfied a worker is not pulling their weight, you should first give them a verbal warning. That doesn’t mean just going over and having a word, the warnings needs to be recorded on paper too. That way, they can not argue about the situation if the case goes to a tribunal. You have acted in the right manner by giving them a verbal warning before things progress.

First written warning

If the employee still is not paying attention to your requests, and they are still lazy or irresponsible in the workplace, you need to give them their first written warning. You should do this in front of a panel that consists of yourself, the employees team leader, a member of management and a union representative.

Second written warning

Presuming the employee still refuses to take heed, you should present them with their second written warning. Mark Reynolds Solicitors claim this is where some employers slip up. If you sack the worker or go straight to their final warning, they may have a case for unfair dismissal.

Final written warning

By this point, most people will have worked out they’re going to lose their job if they don’t improve their attitude. Even so, some people will continue to push you. The final written warning should state you will terminate their contract if a single other incident occurs within a certain period (usually, six months.)

So long as you follow that procedure to the letter, you can rest assured you are covered if you have to let an employee go. Sure, some of them will try to take you to a tribunal anyway, but you will have done everything within your power to act appropriately. At the end of the day, shedding any dead weight will help your business run faster.

We hope this informative article will help you to make the right moves in the future, and we look forward to seeing you back here tomorrow.