Capability Policy & Procedure - June 2026

3. General Principles

Employers must be mindful of their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 when considering capability issues. If concerns about performance relate to an employee’s disability, then ‘reasonable adjustments’ must be considered to assist the employee to improve their performance. This may include providing additional equipment, changing work duties and/or hours, seeking redeployment if appropriate. For further advice, please contact the HR Team.

All agreed records relating to an employee’s performance including those relating to this procedure will be retained on the employee’s personal file.

An employee has the right to be accompanied by a companion. A companion can be a trade union representative or official1 or a work colleague, at all formal stages of this procedure.

A minimum of 14 calendar day’s written notice of a performance management meeting will be given to employees (except at the informal support stage when a shorter timescale can be agreed). This notice period can be reduced by mutual agreement but should be long enough to give the employee time to prepare.

In the written notification of the meeting the employee will be advised of the nature of the performance concerns and where appropriate, copies of any information that will be discussed during the meeting.

At the meeting the employee will be given the opportunity to explain why they are not performing at the required standard before agreeing any steps to remedy the situation.

If an employee cannot attend a meeting arranged under this procedure, they must advise of the reasons as soon as possible. If the reason is outside the employee’s control and unforeseeable at the time the meeting was arranged (e.g. illness), another date will be arranged. If the companion cannot attend, another date can be arranged, provided it is not more than seven calendar days after the original date.

Failure to attend a performance management meeting without good reason may result in a decision being taken in the employee’s absence. The decision will be based on all the information available at the time of the meeting.

If it is decided to proceed with a meeting without the employee being present, s/he should be given the opportunity of sending a representative to attend the meeting on his/her behalf or to make written representations which can be considered at the meeting.

If an employee is represented by a Trade Union representative or official, or work colleague, copies correspondence, meeting notes, etc. will be sent to that person, unless the employee advises otherwise, in writing.

The timescales contained within the procedure can be varied with mutual agreement.

It is good practice to give employees at least one chance to improve before they are issued with a final written warning/improvement notice. However, if the performance is likely to have a harmful effect on the Authority or its services, then it may be appropriate to move straight to a final written warning/improvement notice.

Managers must consider disabled employees’ needs during the process and make reasonable adjustments as necessary. For example, ensuring that meeting locations have appropriate access, written information is provided in a suitable format, etc.

All proceedings and records arising must be treated as confidential and kept in accordance with the principles of the Data Protection legislation.