advice on wrongful dismissal...

[clipclop1]

Well, its not REALLY dismissal... but a member of my staff broke her wrist back on xmas day and could maybe need to go for yet more surgery and be off a further 9 weeks... she says that as soon as she can, even before its all better she'll be in at work even thought she wont be able to do much... now i manage a small playgroup so obviously need able-bodied people to pick up children, play etc.... and would obviously like to have her off until she is fit to work properly... rather than have her come in and staff work extra hard to compensate for her not being able to do certain jobs... now what im wondering is if this is wandering into the relms of being un-just and unfair...?? any ideas????

[factor-fiction]

How long has she worked there? If less than 2 years you could just dismiss her and then consider taking her back on when she's fit to work. Sounds harsh but if it's a small business you may feel you can't carry someone who can't fulfill their role

[clipclop1]

To be honest id like to get rid and that be it! she's useless! lol
but yeah u may be right... il have to maybe give her proper dates just want to be aware of any 'lines' that i shouldnt be crossing if u see what i mean....!

[B00]

Why didn't you sack her prior to her breaking her wrist if she's that useless?

[Androcles]

Dead right, Boo! One of the things that always used to p*ss me off was managers who suddenly find somebody was useless when a reason presented itself to sack them for some other reason, (because they did not have the b*lls to do it, when they were working.)

Sorry Clipclop,you need to wait until she is back and then sack her for being useless after due warnings - the money you pay out in the interim is your "fine" for not having the guts to do it when you should!

[factor-fiction]

Regarding my reposnse- I meant to say less than one year not two years for the service.
Even after a year you can dismiss on grounds of capability but you need to follow a process and should explore alternative ways of working

[clipclop1]

man u lot have got some anger to vent havent ya?!
well me tryin to be a nice manager and not sack her after the country has just come out of the credit crunch could be part of the reason...anyway, its only part time and she doesnt work enough hours to qualify for SSP so there! enough of the bad attitudes... if you lot didnt have anything helpul to say why bother yourselves with answering... ! duh!

[factor-fiction]

Eh?
The answers seemd pretty helpful to me , clipclop1.
And I could have sworn you had said "To be honest id like to get rid and that be it! she's useless". The responses seemed in line with this comment and your comment would have served to encourage the sort of response you got.
What exactly would you like to do?

[buildersmate]

If she hasn't got 12 months continuous service, just have done with it by writing to her giving one week's notice of her dismissal. If she doesn't earn enough to qualify for SSP you are not currently funding her for anything. Then you can get on with recruiting someone else.

[joko]

i may be wrong but 4 and a half months sounds a little bit long for a fractured wrist ...isnt it?