Firms ill-prepared for employment reforms

Small firms in the profession need to consider their existing disciplinary and grievance procedures to meet the new Employment Act (2002) regulations which come into force next month. All companies in the UK, regardless of their size, will have to conform with the new rules which start from October 1. This includes providing formal details of terms and conditions of employment, with financial penalties for non-compliance. From that date also, when optical bosses who employ less than 20 employees carry out dismissal procedures or disciplinary matters, they will have to show that there were opportunities for the staff member to improve their performance. Failure to provide a three-step statutory procedure will make any dismissal automatically unfair. Employers who wish to sack a member of staff must: