Legal
Issue No. 15 - February/March 2004
Fair Warning for Under Performing Employees
by Michael Hegarty
Not everyone is gifted enough to continually produce high standard work. No one can be expected to work and not to make a mistake. People’s performance at tasks varies from time to time. No one is perfect. But what should be done in the case of continual or repeated failure to perform to acceptable standards? Must an employer continue to employ a person who consistently fails to perform to an acceptable standard?
By accepting an employment contract an employee promises to work to the required level of skill necessary to perform the job for which they are employed. The employer needed someone to undertake particular tasks. During the selection process the successful applicant convinced the employer that they could do the job. On that basis they were hired.
After a reasonable time to settle in, which can be days or weeks depending upon the task being performed, the employer should be able to leave the worker to do the job, confident that it will be done. But this is not always the case. Extra training or resources may be needed. Sometimes it is a matter of more, or better, supervision and direction. Some people, however, simply do not perform at the level promised.
What is to be done when that happens?
The first step is to identify what is going on.
Is the employee really to blame? The real problem might be faulty plant and equipment, inadequate training or not enough time to learn the job. But what if, after proper investigation, the real answer is that the worker is not performing?
The worker may have personal problems that are causing a drop in performance. Maybe they are giving priority to outside interests that, although legitimate in themselves, are interfering with their work performance. There may be other reasons. What needs to be made clear to the employee is that the problems are affecting their work. They need to be made aware that they are underperforming and that they need to correct the situat...
