Stokers A5 Handbook Policies APR24

• identify any training needs; and/or • set targets for improvement and a time-scale for review.

The employee also has the right of appeal following any formal decision under this procedure. Stage 1: First Capability (Performance Management) Meeting The relevant manager will write to the employee notifying them of the concerns over their performance and the basis of those concerns, and will invite them to a meeting to discuss the matter. The aims of a first capability (performance management) meeting will usually include: • Explaining the way in which the required standard has not been met, using examples and evidence that may have been gathered to support concerns. • Setting out the required standards that need to be met moving forwards. • Allowing the employee to ask questions, present evidence, respond to evidence and make representations. • Establishing the likely causes of poor performance including any reasons why any measures taken so far have not led to the required improvement. • Identifying whether there are further measures, such as additional training or supervision, which may improve performance. • Where appropriate, discussing specific targets for improvement and a time-scale for review. Following the first capability (performance management) meeting, if the manager decides that it is appropriate to do so, the employee will be issued with a Written Warning, setting out: • The areas in which the employee has not met the required performance standards. • Targets for improvement that is required. • Any measures, such as additional training or supervision, which will be taken with a view to improving performance. • A time period for review. The Warning will stipulate that failure to reach the required performance standard may result in further formal action being taken and could ultimately lead to dismissal. The Warning will be disregarded for capability (performance management) purposes after 12 months or such other period as specified at the time it is issued. At the end of the specified time period for review, a meeting will be held to review the employee’s performance. The manager will write to the employee in advance explaining the purpose of that meeting.

Notes of any such informal discussions should be documented by the employee’s manager, and placed on the employee’s personnel file.

Interim Review The employee’s manager will usually hold at least one interim review meeting to assess the individual’s performance following the informal discussion. Where progress towards the agreed objectives is satisfactory, it will be recognised and continued improvement encouraged. If the individual is not making sufficient progress towards the objectives the manager will discuss with the employee whether to proceed with Stokers’ formal capability (performance management) procedure. FORMAL PROCEDURE At all formal meetings under this procedure the employee has the right to bring a companion with them. The companion can be a co-worker or an accredited formal trade union representative. The employee must tell the manager conducting the meeting who their companion is, in good time before the meeting. A companion is allowed reasonable time off from duties without loss of pay but no-one is obliged to act as a companion if they do not wish to do so. If an employee or their companion cannot attend a meeting under this procedure, the employee must inform the business immediately and an alternative time for the meeting will normally be arranged. If a companion is unavailable at the time a meeting is scheduled the business may require the employee to choose someone else. Employees must make every effort to attend formal meetings under this procedure, and failure to attend without good reason may be treated as misconduct. If an employee fails to attend without good reason, or is persistently unable to do so (for example, for health reasons), Stokers may have to take a decision based on the available evidence. Employees, and anyone accompanying them, must not make any electronic recordings of any meetings or hearings conducted under this procedure. Companions may make representations, ask questions, and sum up the employee’s case, but they will not be allowed to answer questions on the employee’s behalf. The employee may confer privately with their companion at any time during any meeting.

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