Before anyone is told
The record, the grounds and the decision that have to exist before the first conversation happens.
What Has to Exist Before the First Conversation
The four documents and one note that need to be in an employee's file before a dismissal process starts, and what to do when they are not there.
Dismissal, Redundancy or Something Else?
Why the label put on a departure decides which process applies, what is owed and what evidence will be wanted — and why picking it late is expensive.
Reading the Contract Before You Rely On It
What to check in an employment contract before relying on it: which version applies, what changed since, and where contract and handbook disagree.
When the Handbook Was Never Issued
How to tell whether a policy ever reached the person it is being used against, what counts as evidence that it did, and what to do when nothing does.
Deciding Who Investigates and Who Decides
Separating investigation, decision and appeal between three people, what to do in a small organisation, and how to record the constraint.
The Concern That Was Handled in a Corridor
Why informal conversations about conduct have to leave a trace, what that trace looks like, and how to pick up a concern never recorded.
What a Performance Record Has to Show
The four things a capability file needs — a standard, a measured shortfall, support and time to improve — and why appraisals supply none.