Hi Sharon

Is it envisaged that this employee will remain in post doing two days a week assuming they’re not selected for a five day a week role?

If not, and your employers no longer need the two day a week role to continue, then if they don’t want this employee to undertake it they’ll need to deploy a redundancy process leading possibly to her dismissal.

There is a legal argument that it wouldn’t be a redundancy at all, because need for the particular job continues, just for longer hours but there is another one that the need for a 0.4 FTE post has ceased and you need in future a single full time post, so technically it’s a legitimate redundancy situation.

However, even if it were a genuine redundancy, what’s wrong with keeping the present jobholder on 0.4 and selecting another part time person to do 0.6? - the way things are, your employer probably can’t easily defend not doing that, unless they have genuine pressing operational need for one person alone to cover the role.

So, thinking aloud as above, if this is indeed the scenario they are rather stuck with retaining her on 0.4 but I think can select someone better for the 0.6 *provided* they’re most careful to make the process demonstrably fair and non-discriminatory. For example, try to evidence fully all or most of the judgements made, with multiple people signing them off.

Hi Sharon

I have to say that my mind went straight to age discrimination as I read your post. As you identify, there is a problem with the lack of feedback. Not giving feedback leaves a space for all sorts of ideas to fill. If people aren't given a credible reason for a decision, they go with what seems most likely to them. If you and I have thought of age discrimination, this employee, or one of her friends or a family member will think of it too. If the team are showing their resentment and dislike in their treatment of this employee and the manager appears to be endorsing their conduct, she might raise a grievance or she might walk out and claim constructive unfair dismissal, plus age discrimination and harassment.

As you also identify, the obvious question to ask is why the manager hasn't given her any feedback. You aren't hearing that there's a slight issue; according to what has been reported to you, there is a major performance problem with absolutely nothing being done about it which is also causing resentment in the team.

Where is the manager's manager in all this?

I think you need to support this manager to start managing the performance of her people. That means thinking about real examples of where this employee's performance fell short, feeding them back to her and listening to what the employee has to say about them. I'd say that needs to happen before anything is done about the additional hours and it needs to happen with the support of the manager's manager.

In reply to Elizabeth Divver:

Thank you Elizabeth you have fully answered my concerns.

I understand the need to support the manager to feedback etc. but in the meantime the role will be advertised and she will then apply and still think she should be offered.

I feel It's almost too late to throw in some performance management in the hope that she will understand why she has not been successful.

I am thinking of suggesting to the manager that the role is not advertised for a few weeks and during this time we start the feedback process in the hope that she understands where she is falling short so that when we do start recruiting she is aware of where she needs to improve. I think that is what you are suggesting anyway?

My issue is, that our managers think it's HR's job to manage their teams . Goes back a long way and needs a big culture shift. Thanks again

In reply to Sharon :

Yes, that was what I was suggesting. If there is sufficient leeway in the situation, postpone the change and get the performance issues on record first. You do not want the employee hearing about them for the first time as the reason her request for more hours hasn't been approved.

There is also the possibility that once a conversation has been started about performance, it will be discovered that her apparent laziness, slowness and bad attitude is linked to the way the team treats her and with a bit more co-operation she would be able to get her work rate up. Then again, she might genuinely be a poor performer but it is the manager's job to manage this, whatever is going on.