(PDF) Formal and informal learning in the workplace

P6) Present client advice, explaining how formal and informal problems in the
workplace can be resolved.
In the workplace is important to make a decision on how you address a problem and in what manor
you do it, whether it be a quite whisper in the ear or going down the lower but more substantial
route of a formal response. In Peter’s case, he has been in the job for 10 years so is a valued
employee. As he has been praised by his old manager for 9 years and the new one comes in and
criticises him this seems to be unfair. Setting him targets that he can’t reach is demoralising.
I would recommend Peter initially takes an informal approach to this as to just quietly say to bob
about how he feels and how he is being treated in front of his fellow employees. Taking it down the
informal route saves them both a lot of time and may be more beneficial in the long run as it saves
going down the formal route. This takes more time money and resources. After a short while is Peter
is not seeing any improvements to his work life and how he is being treated by Bob then he should
consider following their workplace grievance procedure. Following this means following the acas
code as a minimum which is the full procedure in line for any grievance case. The procedure
followed will be taking into account when the case reaches an employment tribunal. They should
make sure all the investigative as much as they can so they are prepared when it comes to taking it
to a tribunal. A tribunal is a institution or a person who determines a conclusion in disputes between
2 party’s. Without following the grievance procedure this could result in the tribunal refusing to take
action and a lot of wasted time.
While Mary works for a large company employing 4000 staff, however 450 of them have become
redundant with short notice. Your employer should follow the redundancy process which means
they should give a notice period where you can gather your things and tie up any loose ends in the
workplace. This means when it comes to leaving it is much smoother. If Mary has been employed for
more than 12 years she should have a 12 week notice and at least one week if you’ve been
employed between one month and two years. All the people who lost their job should be paid the
legal minimum which is half a week's pay for every year of service while you were under 22 years
old, one week's pay for every year of service between 22 and 40 and one and a half week's pay for
every year of service over 41. Your employer should follow the redundancy process which involves
discussing the redundancy with at least 1 individual in a meeting not over the phone, if your
employer does not follow the process correctly you might be able to make a claim to an
employment tribunal for unfair dismissal.
James is being late for work consistently this may be disrupting the flow of work within the
workplace and leaving others set back on work as James won’t be completing his tasks on time.
Considering his supervisor is constantly bugging him and reminding him to arrive early he should
take account of this and take action. After missing a meeting he is now affecting the business and
how it operates. His supervisor has attempted to have an informal chat with him to get to the
bottom of why he is so late and his response was with little respect and shows laziness. This is why
his job was terminated. If he continued it would only be right to terminate his contract or any
existing job he has at the company as he is affecting their workflow and shows no sign of improving
even after numerous chances.
P5 Present client advice, explaining the ways employment can be terminated.
All jobs come to an end at some point, sometimes it’s the employees choice and other times it is the
employers . the termination of a contract may result in various claims, including a claim for unfair
dismissal, breach of contract or discrimination. In Pauls case bob is the one who has a job at risk. He
is unfairly treating his employees making them feel unwelcome and unhappy in their workplace. If

Paul were to terminate the employment of Bob he would have to speak to a more superior
employee to see what they thought. If they continued to see this poor behaviour then they could
make a decision. When it is the employer’s decision to terminate the employment of an employee, it
is essential that the employer give the employee at least the notice stated in the contract of
employment or the legal notice period. The legal minimum notice required to dismiss is one week if
the employee has been employed between one month and two years. This fits into Bobs
circumstances so would be applied in this case. This way Bob would take it more seriously from a
higher member of the company and things would change quicker.
An employer can only dismiss without notice when something has happened that it considers to
gross misconduct. Gross misconduct is usually an incident that is so serious that there is no way the
employment can continue. Examples of gross misconduct could include theft violence and any form
of harming employees in the workplace. Essentially anything that causes a threat to the company or
other members of staff.
For Mary she works for a large company who should have policies set in stone regarding
redundancies and other policies surrounding employment law. Giving a very short notice and letting
the employees over the phone is out of order and does not comply with the redundancy policies.
Mary should be given a notice period for her leaving, this should be 12 weeks’ notice if she’s been
employed from 12 years or more at least one week if she has been employed for one month to 2
years. An employer always has to discuss with employees before dismissing them on grounds to
redundancy, they must tell you what’s going on and what is going to happen.
James is constantly being informally reminded about his punctuality. To the point where it is gross
misconduct as he has been warned many times and has started to missing meetings. He is affecting
the way the business runs and he could be easily replaced. The procedure for being late for work
should be followed to ensure James knows the risk this is why James was sacked on the spot. As
James was showing I’d say indecent behaviour by showing up late this falls under the gross
misconduct sector which makes it ok to sack an employee.
M4 Discuss the likely consequences if a problem cannot be resolved in the
workplace.
Most of the problems within the workplace can be resolved informally if not then it is best to take a
more formal approach and take it up with a tribunal. However this is not ideal as it takes up time and
money
If you have tried to sort the problem informally, you should seek advice before taking matters
further. The Labour Relations Agency offers free, confidential and impartial advice on all
employment issues. If you are a trade union member, you can contact your trade union
representative for advice and support on employment issues.
The impact of continuing with poor problem-solving skills can be devastating to your company. It is
common for employees, as well employees and managers to have disagreements. Conflict can often
be helpful. But when conflict escalates and is allowed to go on without a resolution it can become
distracting and costly to an organization.
The best option is to speak to your employer or raising a grievance, this means going to an
employment tribunal, you can check if this is necessary online. Most tribunals are held in a large
room rather than the more formal court rooms. After opening statements the tribunal invite

witnesses to give evidence and put forwards any information that may help. The judge will then
decide on who has won at the end of the hearing. If so the judge will go on to compensate.
Making a settlement agreement with your employer, If you have a complaint against your employer
which you could take to an employment tribunal, they might try to settle that dispute to stop you
making a claim or taking an existing claim any further. If your employer wants you to give up your
right to go to a tribunal, there are only two ways they can do this. Negotiate a COT3 agreement or
agree a settlement agreement. A settlement agreement might involve your employer promising to
pay you a sum of money, stop treating you unlawfully or both. The settlement agreement is a legal
contract between you and your employer - you both have to stick to it. Your employer will discuss
with you what should be in the agreement, either face-to-face or in writing. When you consider the
employers offer you need to consider how strong your case is, how far their offer is off what you
could get or your other options if you don’t accept the offer.
If you think the offer is reasonable, it’s probably worth accepting. If you don’t think it’s reasonable,
you could ask them to increase it or decline the offer and go to a tribunal.
M3 Analyse how formal and informal grievance and disciplinary procedures can
be used to determine the potential outcome of work-based problems
If an employee's performance or conduct does not meet your standards, you should try to help them
improve. Have an informal discussion with them as soon as you're aware of a problem. Explain what
they are doing wrong and agree actions to be taken.
This should give them a booster to try and improve and fix what they were doing wrong. If the
employee's poor conduct or performance continues, you may have to take formal disciplinary action.
Your disciplinary procedure should at least comply with the basic disciplinary procedures, and meet
the good practice principles set out in the LRA.
When taking formal disciplinary action, the employer should comply with the Statutory Procedures.
The employer must provide to the employee a written statement of the misconduct which has led to
the consideration of formal disciplinary action or dismissal. The employer should invite the
employee to a hearing to discuss the issue. Prior to the hearing the employer should give any
information that is relevant to the claim being made allowing the other half enough time to gather
the detail for a response. After the meeting the employer should inform the employee of the
decision and offer the right to appeal.
If the employee wishes to appeal he or she will inform the employer within five working days. The
employer will invite the employee to a further hearing to discuss the appeal. The final decision will
be communicated to the employee.
D6 - Evaluate the impact and effectiveness of formal, and informal, grievance and
disciplinary procedures on employees and businesses, using appropriate
illustrations to substantiate a conclusion
I think the best way to inform your employee in most of the situations would be
informally to avoid any unnecessary further action that would be taken that didn’t
need to be. Most of the time the employee would change their attitude and
behaviour after this informal conversation, however on other occasions it may be

better to take it down the formal route of a judge to sort things that don’t get
sorted through a calm chat.
The employer can only raise grievance once if they feel raising informally has not
worked, if they do not feel it is adequate to deal with it informally or if it’s a very
serious issue which cannot be sorted through an informal chat, like sexual
harassment. Sometimes it is best to take it straight to raising grievance as it is
pointless dealing with a much bigger issue informally, doing it that way will not
change anything and it would need severe action taken as a result of the
employees or employers actions. Taking formal actions is to be avoided at all
costs it is a last resort, when taking formal advice it involves taking employees out
of the workplace word prolonged periods of time which disrupts the companies
work load and means others have more to do.
To conclude I think it is better to take things up informally as it can get most
situations sorted easily with limited resources and time wasted. If it can be
avoided try to not take things formally and raising grievance. If it is a more serious
situation it Is best to take it up informally to get the message across and make a
change to the attitude of the person in the wrong.