Now this is something that rings true to me. Firstly check you local laws relating to employment as well as National Law.I have been give a written warning (your equivalent for poor performance) in the past. Certainly in my experience this sort of thing is as much to do with office politics than actual u201cpoor performanceu201d. There are a number of lower level managers who have their own concept of u201cpoor performanceu201d.First of all you should have had a face to face meeting with the HR Department and the Manager/Supervisor prior to the issue of the letter. That should have given you a right of reply.If they still insist in serving you (with what we call a written warning), they you do have the right of appeal both in the HR and he manager in writing.In that letter you would have expected them to outline the reason or the issue of the letter and the points that they feel that you have u201cfallen down uponu201d.That gives you an idea of the mentality of the people you are dealing with and whether it is clear that this is a method of removing you as your ideas of dealing with you job are different to theirs.If that is the case, this is where keeping your Job Description and variation over the course of time is important.In your reply to their list of u201cshort-comingsu201d you can point by point lay down your counter argument why you believe their views are wrong. That would be providing examples where their criticism is wrong. The classic of course is: u201cFailing to reach targetsu201d.If the targets were outlined in the written agreement and its amendments were reasonable then you have to show that you have exceeded them, and that would require you to prthat information. For example you may have not reached your target that week/month because of a series of events which were beyond your control, for example a major computer crash. Alternatively in my game (Credit Control) why you have not hit the number of required calls per hour.The latter in my case when on consultancy, I have no idea what is sitting in that ledger or in the companies affairs as a whole. There have been occasions where I have been told that I have not reached my target by some u201cover egou2019edu201d manager and that I should be reprimanded, only to show them why. Very often they will not accept the fact that actually there accounts and ledgers are a complete fiction and there is multiple invoicing for the same transaction. That sort of things takes time to resolve.To that end I am not going to hit my u201ctargetu201d since the ledger is in such a mess I will be lucky to get four phone calls, letter alone 20 ! There is an assumption that just picking up the phone and asking for the money automatically means that the money will just come in without question. Actually there are many occasions where I have walked in to a cavern to find a whole pile of errors, mis-postings and billings on one account which need investigation.I have often said to the client: u201cWhat would you prefer: I deal with one account all morning and sort out the issues, get the Credit Notes and re-invoicing settled, as well as fishing money out of bank accounts to apply to the ledger (actually double accounting) and received u00a320 00 in a weeks time. Alternatively make 20 phone calls with vague promises to pay, which invariably do not come about, and perhaps recover u00a310 00.There have been occasions where I have looked at a ledger to see that the old invoices (120 days over due) should have been either Credited off as they were incorrect in the first place. Alternatively the invoice has been paid but the money still sitting in the bank account u201cunappliedu201d (See above).So a letter outlining why your short falls have taken place on a bullet pointed letter, in the same way as their accusation of shortfall and why you disagree with their point of view. Of course if this is backed up by paper work all the better. There is another advantage if you can do this in a formal styles where the meeting is minueted all the better as everyone in that room has to be copied with the minuetsIf you take the matter higher, say (in the UK) to an Employment Tribunal, that will make your case stronger. Normally by this stage the employer will know that they are on a losing field, and either re-instate your job, or pryou with a severance payment which you would not otherwise got.On that note, always make sure that you have a written reference before you officially leave the company, as there can be no questions of them telling a would be employer something to the contrary over the phone. If they do you can issue legal proceedings (in the UK) for defamation of character.I did actually do this about 20 years ago when I was u201cconstructively dismissedu201d (forced to leave under duress) from a company and threatened them with legal proceedings. As I had set up their legal department and one of the Directors had a legal Degree, they knew I would win a Tribual Case. The only reason I couldnu2019t stay on was because the department I was in was no accessible by car.As a result of the medical incident which triggered the constructive dismissal ( I took an epileptic fit in the office- actually a life threatening one) and basically they just wanted to get rid of me. Rather stupidly on their part they had given me a written offer to work 4 out of 5 days a work in the office I could reach easily, 1 day at the other, and then 2 days a month for month end.It had not dawned on them that the meeting had been minueted and I had a copy and that this would be offer. To that end their removal from office was in fact illegal.In any case the working relationship had broken down, however I received a much greater severance payment than they had originally offered as they knew I would carry out my threat. Also I made sure that I had a written reference on letter head when I picked up my severance cheque.So all three ways they were locked up and couldnu2019t back off.The reason I go in to so much detail about this is to show that you may need to write more than one letter and raise the matter higher through the company and so you know the routes open to you.The last thing that you company needs (particularly high profiles) is to have this spread across the local press and media, no to mention higher level on the internet and national media.Best of luck and hope that you do no have to resort to the extremes which I did.RegardsChris R.-London.
