Employment law SOS: incompetent employee

If the employee has less than two years' service it could be a commercial option to dismiss him, with notice, for poor performance. However, this would involve a potential risk as there are other types of unfair dismissal claims where completing two years' service is not required. If he is on probation then it would be sensible to invite him to a review meeting to set out the areas where he is underperforming and give him a timescale, within the context of his probation, in which you expect to see a measurable improvement. Otherwise, best practice would be to first investigate the areas of underperformance and invite him to a meeting to discuss your concerns. You would need to collate evidence supporting the employee's poor output and then, depending on the gravity of the evidence, proceed to a disciplinary hearing for poor performance, or consider whether the evidence confirms that improvement is unlikely. If improvement is possible, then you could issue a formal written warning, also setting out specific measurable targets for improvement and a timeframe in which to expect such improvement. The employee should be warned that further failure could result in dismissal. If you have good evidence which supports your assertion that improvement is highly unlikely then dismissal may be potentially fair. If you have identified that improvement is genuinely unlikely, given the evidence you have considered, then you would still need to proceed through the disciplinary procedure, inviting the employee to an investigation before the disciplinary hearing. The employee must be warned that, despite an opportunity for improvement being given, the evidence does not support it being likely and that dismissal could result. A right of appeal should also be given to be consistent with the ACAS Code.