In this episode 221 of the podcast I bring you my thoughts and reflections on the case of Bates v The Post Office and whilst not directly related to employment law there are lots of lessons that all employers and HR can take from the events that took place.

In this episode of the podcast we cover:

• Why employers and HR need to take internal investigations seriously.
• The key things that investigators get wrong in disciplinary and grievance investigations.
• The civil test of 'balance of probabilities' and what this means.
• The importance of a common sense approach to issues that arise.
• Why communication is important at all levels of the organisation.
• Why large organisations need to have in place a means of obtaining feedback from the ground level through to Board level.
• How setting up employee forums, committees and/or employee representatives is a good way to establish if issues are systemic.
• Why the frequent use of settlement agreements can be a sign of an internal issue.
• That the usage and number of settlement agreements should be reviewed at Board level.
• How culture and leadership plays a key role in both avoiding and creating systemic and serious issues arising.
• The importance of independent and external review of decisions and disputes.
• A reminder that at the end of every decision is a human being whose life will be impacted.

Training for your Team

Would you like to arrange training for your team to reduce the risk of both unhappy employees and claims being made against you? Please get in touch for a no obligation discussion, we can offer training anywhere in the UK in person or delivered remotely via MS Teams.

Please drop me an email [email protected]

Fixed Price Advice from Real Experts

As part of our HR Harbour annual subscription service for employers we provide guidance and training for employers, supervisors and managers. If you would like to know more about the HR Harbour Service and how you can get unlimited support from as little as £210 per month please contact me for a no obligation discussion – [email protected] or you can find full details here: HR Harbour

Don't forget you can contact us by telephone 01983 897003, 01722 653001, 020 3470 0007, 0191 375 9694 or 023 8098 2006

We have a variety of free documents and letters which are available to download here: DIY Documents

We are also on YouTube! You can find a range of topics and also listen to this podcast on YouTube here: YOUTUBE

Zoes Law

Raising awareness of melanoma and skin cancer. You can find more information here: https://www.facebook.com/zoepanayilaw

Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash