Sir Alan Sugar fires people with a frightening finger, Donald Trump with an intimidating voice - one of the unpleasant realities of running a business is that occasionally an employee relationship breaks down. But employment lawyer Natasha Jones, from Lymm in Cheshire, is cautioning businesses of the mistakes that are often made when firing people. "In most situations, firing someone should be a sequence of legal and logical steps, rather than something that comes as a shock to the system," says Natasha, who has more than 12 years of experience handling such cases. "If it comes as a 'bolt from the blue' to the employee, then you probably haven't followed the correct procedures which could result in the employee claiming substantial compensation." "There needs to be an initial discussion between the employee and employer - and the chance to put things right. Then there should be follow-up discussions and reviews of performance, with opportunities for both parties to talk openly and document concerns. It is best for the employer to outline to the employee in writing areas for improvement. Whilst it is hard for someone to lose their job if the employee is not interested in bucking up their ideas, that's when I lose sympathy for them because the situation can then affect other hardworking members of staff and can have detrimental effect on the entire company's performance" .
Natasha Jones of Darbys Solicitors LLP has over 13 years experience working as a qualified employment lawyer and has been a member of The Employment Lawyers Association for the same amount of time.…
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