West amd East Midlands Areas' meeting in Telford.

The BAR East and West Midlands Areas came together for an Area meeting on 21 November at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Telford. The meeting was conveniently held between the two days of The Movers & Storers Show to allow attendees to visit the show.

The joint meeting was considered necessary as attendance, from the East Midlands Area in particular, had been down recently.  Bringing the two Areas together meant that the meeting was well attended by around 25 people which enabled a lively discussion.  The guest speaker was John Merry, of Lanyon Bowdler Solicitors who had some practical advice on employment law.

The Chairman welcomed everyone.  Items discussed were: 

BAR Linked-In group: around 90 people had joined. 

BAR lead generator on the website: members were disappointed with the system as it was providing leads that were frequently out of area for some members.  It appears that not enough members have signed up for it so the catchment area for some is very high. Customers coming through the system, however, are keen to use BAR members. It was suggested that it might be better to offer the enquiries free to stimulate greater interest. The Chairman did not believe that sufficient money was being spent on Search Engine Optimisation to drive visitors to the site. Nigel Shaw said that the CMG was addressing the problem for the commercial sector.

William Burdon presented a report on the BAR National Council Meeting held on 11 October, 2011:

• Conference next year is in Windsor from 17-19 May.  The theme is ‘A New Focus’.  The conference will be organised in workshops run by the different functional groups. The keynote speaker will be Mike Nattress, the UKIP MEP for the West Midlands area. There will be a vehicle exhibition for the first time in some years. There has been a minor increase in the cost of attendance – the first increase for three years.  Day packages will also be available.

• The previous model for the removals apprenticeship will be abandoned in favour of a single qualification.  It will be called simply the Removals Apprenticeship.

• The BAR’s new Marketing Manager Caroline Suard has been tasked with the job of increasing lead generation and brand recognition through corporate alliances and mutual agreements. She will also work on networking through social media, including Twitter, Linked-In, etc., and conferences.  An agreement with Re:Locate magazine will link to BAR’s website online estimating system.

• The BAR website has a new section on the Olympics showing the exact route the Olympic torch, with its entourage of 70 vehicles that you may not overtake, will be taking.

• The current financial situation in BAR is becoming more defined since the discovery of alleged fraud by a member of staff. It is believed that the problem goes back to 2004. The exact figures involved are still to be determined. 

• The East Met Area has been struggling since the death of its Chairman Ray Slemmings. 

• The BAR OFT leaflets are no longer available other than as a pdf download from the BAR website. This was discussed at some length. It was suggested that this was more expensive and of inferior quality to having them professionally printed. However it was pointed out that quotes generally go by e-mail nowadays so the pdf can be attached.

Nigel Shaw reported for the CMG. He explained that the CMG was having a section of the BAR website dedicated to commercial moving.  He also reported on changes to the CMOTY (Commercial Mover of the Year) competition; the CMG golf tournament at Belton Woods; the Commercial Moving Apprenticeship; and the integration of the CMG and BAR conferences which was viewed as a positive move.

Robert Bartup reported for the Overseas Group.  He said that it had been proposed that companies should be required to have to have BS 8564, the overseas Standard, or FAIM to be eligible for Overseas Group membership from July 2013. He also reported that some overseas movers had reported an increase in insurance claims for iPods going missing in shipments. He found this extraordinary as most kids can’t be separated from their iPods for a second let alone during international transit. On a similar note, there are a lot of reports of laptops going missing from owner packed boxes – so much so that one mover has resorted to X-raying boxes before loading to confirm their contents.

John Merry, Lanyon Bowdler Solicitors

John Merry was asked to provide advice on how to dismiss people if necessary without risking legal action.  He said that it was important to have a well-drafted performance procedure and disciplinary policy. These do not need to form part of the employment contract. He explained that staff that had been employed for less than 1 year could be dismissed at any time without fear of legal action (this is increasing to 2 years in June 2012).  However, for employees that have been with the company for longer than 1 year the procedure is as follows:

• The first thing to do if someone isn’t doing their job properly is to give an oral warning: a conversation explaining the problem, saying how you would like the job done in future.  Keep a date note of the conversation.

• If that doesn’t work you go to the formal stage of the performance review.  You should right to the employee, set out the problem and invite them to a meeting, give them time to prepare and the right to be accompanied.  Make it clear what the meeting’s for.  At the meeting decide how you want to proceed. The aim is to improve performance.  Tell them what they need to do to improve and time to do so. Confirm it in writing and give them the right to appeal.

• The next step, if there’s no improvement, is to repeat the process making it clear that a final warning will follow if the problem persists. Again give time to improve and an opportunity to appeal.

• If there is still no improvement the potential outcome is dismissal.

It can be a drawn-out process for some employers but John explained that each step might succeed in improving the performance so that it becomes satisfactory.

A more practical approach for some, however, might be to dismiss a person immediately and accept that compensation might have to be paid. The compensation could be less than the disruption the person is causing. Another approach might be to agree a compromise agreement with the employee.  It’s not a decision to be taken lightly, you have to do the maths and weight up the risks.

It’s always wise to have a chat with a lawyer or HR professional before starting the process.