Tom Walker shares a cautionary tale or two about “protected conversations”
The prime minister introduced “protected conversations” last month as a mechanism to allow “frank conversations with employees” without the prospect of being taken to tribunal. Conversations could be initiated by either the employer or the employee. Business Secretary Vince Cable subsequently explained that such conversations would allow “employers to raise issues such as poor performance or retirement plans in an open way, free from the worry it would be used as evidence”.
Frank feedback
Of course, employers can already give full and frank feedback on an employee’s performance and should not feel threatened by a constructive dismissal claim when doing so. The clear implication of these “protected conversations”, particularly given the reference to retirement, is that they will go further then a mere discussion on performance. They will raise the possibility of parting company. As such, they may well be intended as a shortcut to the arguably cumbersome process of performance warnings and assessment periods under the ACAS code.
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