Gross Misconduct

[GillsMan]

I regularly bounce emails back and forth between work and personal, not considered an issue.

Your 'evidence' is spurious to say the least and doesn't show any breach. Your deciding to go through their work emails without warrant is a breach though.
To dismiss a member of staff you need to have gone through the right processes. You haven't done that.

Already enough evidence to sue you for wrongful dismissal if you go down that route.

See above quote from the handbook - not a breach to look at their work emails. But helpful to hear another view that maybe it's not a major issue. My concern is that she's dissatisfied, and may be using the information in that email to leave and then contact clients. I can't see any good reason to forward client emails to personal email account tbh.

I haven't started any disciplinary action yet - I'm considering my options, and thought I'd seek wider views. Thanks for yours - it's helpful.

[Wilmslow]

Is she single or unhappy with her partner and good looking norks?

More seriously, have any issues been raised as part of probation? Still tribunal territory. Are you happy to pay off 3 months money plus holiday, and maybe an additional £10K buy-out money?

Although I am back to contracting now I used to line manage for a large team. There are usually reasons that people who can perform well have a change of attitude. Is there a reason she should be feeling unsettled in the workplace? Are there any other stressors in her personal life?

Be VERY careful about keeping attitude worries and this worry as very separate - they are not to get mixed.

There may be a good reason for forwarding an email. She will rightly be asking why you are looking at her emails and will give you serious trust issues.

Suggest you have a good look at your management style as well as where you stand legally - I bet you have a flat structure and are a megalomaniac.

Tread very carefully.

[GillsMan]

Anyways, I'm sure you have to explicitly state no sending to personal accounts, I remember that from a pervious gig where they clamped down on it.

Fair point - that's not stated explicitly tbf.

[Ticktock]

Have you tried actually, you know, discussing with her?

It may very well turn out that she was planning to do some work in her own time one evening / weekend and it's easier for her to access her personal emails from home than work emails. What she did may have been with the best of intentions, even if against the letter of handbook.

Of course, it almost sounds like you're wanting to ditch her anyway and are looking for justification, so I guess you really need legal advice to avoid a wrongful dismissal suit.

[GillsMan]

Is she single or unhappy with her partner and good looking norks?

More seriously, have any issues been raised as part of probation? Still tribunal territory. Are you happy to pay off 3 months money plus holiday, and maybe an additional £10K buy-out money?

Although I am back to contracting now I used to line manage for a large team. There are usually reasons that people who can perform well have a change of attitude. Is there a reason she should be feeling unsettled in the workplace? Are there any other stressors in her personal life?

There may be a good reason for forwarding an email. She will rightly be asking why you are looking at her emails and will give you serious trust issues.

Suggest you have a good look at your management style as well as where you stand legally - I bet you have a flat structure and are a megalomaniac.

Tread very carefully.

Hahaha, I actually have a hierarchy - me, then the manager, then the staff. My management style hasn't been the best; I've been bending over backwards providing a good working environment (flexi-time, generous holiday entitlement, two weeks off over Christmas-New Year, etc), and that has been part of the problem as I'm trying to be a bit more assertive now. As you say, there may have been a good reason, and I agree, if I reveal this, we have trust issues, so I'm not wading in until I've considered my thoughts on this. As others have suggested, it might be innocent, though it's fair to say I'm a bit tired of her attitude, but her work remains more than acceptable.

[MarillionFan]

See above quote from the handbook - not a breach to look at their work emails. But helpful to hear another view that maybe it's not a major issue. My concern is that she's dissatisfied, and may be using the information in that email to leave and then contact clients. I can't see any good reason to forward client emails to personal email account tbh.

I haven't started any disciplinary action yet - I'm considering my options, and thought I'd seek wider views. Thanks for yours - it's helpful.

To be honest, there is no gross misconduct here. It's flimsy to say the least. She maybe dissatisfied because she feels you have it in for her. It sure sounds like it.

I run a team of 12 for a large corp, as well as previously having my own company with around 15 staff. I've had to fire people in both situations and the process is the same. You start by having a meeting. Gross misconduct needs to be something quite exceptional, not something you're a bit pissed off with.

[MrMarkyMark]

Anyways, I'm sure you have to explicitly state no sending to personal accounts, I remember that from a pervious gig where they clamped down on it.

This, your existing contract clauses don't really cover it.
Banks will walk you offsite for it immediately, under certain circumstances.

In this instance, I'm not really comfortable with it being "Gross Misconduct".
You should have a meeting and get her POV, then work it out from there.

[GillsMan]

To be honest, there is no gross misconduct here. It's flimsy to say the least. She maybe dissatisfied because she feels you have it in for her. It sure sounds like it.

I run a team of 12 for a large corp, as well as previously having my own company with around 15 staff. I've had to fire people in both situations and the process is the same. You start by having a meeting. Gross misconduct needs to be something quite exceptional, not something you're a bit pissed off with.

Sound advice actually - I appreciate it. On reflection, I'm inclined to agree with you that it's probably flimsy and not worth pursuing. I'm not a control freak by the way - far from it - but it's always useful to run thoughts by other people - especially given your experience. I've never fired anyone, though I obviously understand what the process is and would follow ACAS guidelines if I did have to. Cheers for your thoughts.

[LondonManc]

Team-building session needed to show to them that you've not turned into a monster after being the inspirational guy that she thought she'd signed up to work for. As someone else has said, maybe she's having issues outside work.

[d000hg]

I regularly bounce emails back and forth between work and personal, not considered an issue.

I've done this before too, for non-dodgy reasons. So in itself it hardly seems like Gross misconduct, you should bring it up if you don't consider this acceptable but it's very harsh to sack someone over. Fine to tell her you view it seriously but you need to ascertain why she did it.

Hahaha, I actually have a hierarchy - me, then the manager, then the staff.

In a company of 6... wow what do you do all day?