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Employers use Poor Performance Outcome Letters to communicate the outcomes of disciplinary hearings for poor performance to employees. A Poor Performance Outcome Letter informs an employee of the reasons for the outcome and their rights in relation to it (eg the right to appeal). This helps the employer to comply with their obligations under employment law by carrying out a transparent and fair disciplinary process.
This document is GDPR compliant.
Use this Poor Performance Outcome Letter:
when you want to confirm:
that an employee has been given a warning or a final written warning as a result of a poor performance hearing, or
that no further action will be taken following a poor performance hearing, and
only for employees based in England, Wales or Scotland
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Dear ,
Following the poor performance hearing held on the decision has been made to give you a final written warning.
The aspects of your work which fall below an acceptable standard are :.
During the poor performance hearing, we discussed the standards of performance expected of you, namely . We also explained that you are required to achieve these improvements immediately and afterwards to permanently maintain them.
This warning will remain permanently on your personnel record, but will be disregarded for poor performance purposes after , so long as the improvements set out above are achieved and maintained throughout that time.
Failure to achieve and maintain the required standards of performance while the warning is active is likely to result in further poor performance action, which may lead to your dismissal.
You have until to appeal against this decision. To do so, please write to , giving full reasons for contesting the decision.
If you have any questions regarding this warning please contact .
We treat personal data collected during the disciplinary procedure in accordance with our data protection policy. Information about how your data is used and the basis for processing your data is provided in our employee privacy notice and other policies.
Yours sincerely,
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This Poor Performance Outcome Letter template covers:
the outcome of the hearing - ie either a warning being issued or no further disciplinary action being taken (eg if it is decided that there was a valid reason for the poor performance)
if a warning is given, whether it is a first or final warning
the reasons for the warning
the performance improvements required and the timescale given to achieve these
the consequences of not achieving the improvement
any additional measures taken in connection with the warning
the employee's right to appeal the decision
Once a disciplinary hearing has been carried out, an employer must communicate the decision made following the hearing in writing. This is required by section 18 of the statutory Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures (the ‘Acas Code’), which sets out best practice for employers carrying out disciplinary processes. Failure to comply with the code (eg this requirement for written communication of a hearing outcome) can result in an increase of 25% being applied to any compensation awarded by an Employment Tribunal if the employee brings a case for, for example, unfair dismissal and is successful.
As well as meeting the requirements of the Acas Code, ensuring that disciplinary decisions are properly documented reduces the risk of confusion and disputes down the line.
Warnings issued for poor performance should specify how long they will be in effect. If an employee fails to heed an initial warning while it is still in effect, this can lead to a final warning being issued. An initial warning period normally lasts 6 or 12 months. There are no specific rules governing warning periods, but they should always be reasonable (ie they should not last indefinitely). For more information, read Disciplinary warnings.
Employees always have a right to appeal any disciplinary decisions made regarding poor performance. Employers should communicate this right of appeal in the disciplinary outcome letter, as informing an employee of this right when communicating a disciplinary decision is a requirement under the Acas Code. For more information, read Disciplinary appeals.
Making your Poor Performance Outcome Letter online is simple. Just answer a few questions and Rocket Lawyer will build your document for you. When you have all of the information about the disciplinary process prepared in advance, creating your document is a quick and easy process.
You’ll need the following information:
The employer and the employee
What is the employer’s name, address, and legal structure? If it’s a company, what is its company number?
Who is the employer’s signatory, if it’s a company or a partnership? This is the person who will sign the Letter on the company’s or partnership’s behalf.
What is the name and address of the employee who is to receive the Letter?
Who is the employee’s contact regarding this Letter (ie the person within the employer organisation that they should contact with any questions)?
The poor performance investigation
On which date was the disciplinary hearing for poor performance held?
The decision
Has the employee decided to issue a first warning, to issue a final warning, or to take no further action?
If a warning has been issued:
When will it expire (ie after which date will warnings restart at the first stage)?
In which ways was the employee’s performance below acceptable standards? You will need to provide a brief summary.
Does the employee already have an active warning on record?
Which improved standards of behaviour is the employee expected to meet?
Is the employee required to improve their performance to achieve the expected standards immediately or within a specified period of time?
Are any additional measures being imposed in connection with the warning (eg additional training or, if allowed by the employee’s Employment contract, reductions in a discretionary bonus)?
What is the deadline by which the employee must start any appeal they wish to make against the decision?
The Letter
On which date will this Letter be sent?
Poor Performance Outcome Letters inform an employee of the outcome of a poor performance disciplinary hearing. To do this, this Poor Performance Outcome Letter template includes the following terms and sections:
Names and addresses
The Letter begins with a traditional letter format. It is addressed from the employer to the employee and sets out the names and addresses of both and the date of the Letter.
First written warning/ Final written warning/ No further action
The body of the letter starts with one of these headings, which clearly identifies what the outcome of the employee’s poor performance hearing is. This is followed by an identification of the hearing in question (ie by its date).
Next, if a warning has been issued, the Letter identifies whether the employee currently has any existing active written warnings on record and, if they don’t and a final warning is being issued, it notes that this final warning is considered appropriate due to the seriousness of the poor performance matter.
During the poor performance hearing…
If a warning is being issued, this paragraph will identify the performance standards expected of the employee that were discussed during the poor performance hearing. The employee is told that they are expected to meet these standards either immediately or within a specified time period.
We have also decided that the following additional measures…
If additional measures are being imposed in addition to a warning, these are set out here.
This warning will remain permanently on your personnel record, but…
Here it’s noted that the warning will not be erased from the employee’s personnel record, but it will be disregarded for the purposes of poor performance discipline after a specified expiry date (ie if any further warnings are issued after this date, they will start from the start as first warnings or immediate final warnings), provided the employee’s performance improves.
Failure to achieve and maintain…
If a warning has been issued, the Letter informs the employee that if they don’t meet the required performance standards while the warning is active, further disciplinary action is likely to follow, potentially leading to another warning or dismissal.
You have until…
If a warning has been issued, here the employee’s right to appeal against the warning is set out with an explanation of how and by when they should do so.
If you have any questions regarding this warning…
The person that the employee should contact with any questions about the outcome of their disciplinary hearing is identified here.
We treat personal data collected…
This section notes the employer’s commitment to treating the employee’s personal data (ie information from which an individual can be identified) in accordance with the employer’s Data protection policy, Employee privacy notice, and other relevant policies.
Yours sincerely…
The Letter ends with space for the employer to sign and date the Letter.
If you want your Poor Performance Outcome Letter to include further or more detailed provisions, you can edit your document. However, if you do this, you may want a lawyer to review the document for you (or to make the changes for you) to make sure that your modified Letter complies with all relevant laws. Use Rocket Lawyer’s Ask a lawyer service for assistance.
Follow a fair process whenever you are disciplining employees
An employer must always follow the law when dealing with employee misconduct, poor performance, or other similar issues. For example, you should always properly investigate the facts of a matter and should make sure employees are aware of their right to appeal any disciplinary decisions made. Make sure you take all relevant facts into account when deciding on the outcome of a disciplinary hearing and act impartially when making a decision. If an employee appeals a decision you’ve made, make sure you follow a fair process when handling the appeal by, for example, inviting the employee to a poor performance appeal hearing.
For more information, read Disciplinary process, Disciplinary warnings, and Disciplinary appeals.
Act properly if you want to dismiss an employee
If you want to dismiss an employee following a disciplinary hearing for poor performance, you must do so in a legally compliant manner to uphold the employee’s rights and to protect your business from any legal claims the employee may bring in an Employment Tribunal (eg unfair dismissal claims). You must usually give somebody disciplinary warnings before you dismiss them for disciplinary reasons, except in rare circumstances.
For more information, read Dismissal, Unfair dismissal, Wrongful dismissal, and Dismissal for disciplinary reasons. If you do decide to dismiss somebody, this Poor Performance Outcome Letter should not be used - use a Dismissal letter for poor performance instead.
Understand when to seek advice from a lawyer
In some circumstances, it’s good practice to Ask a lawyer for advice to ensure that you’re complying with the law and that you are well protected from risks. You should consider asking for advice if:
you want to issue a final warning when no previous warning is active
you want to issue a warning without first holding a hearing
this Letter does not cover everything you want or doesn’t meet your needs
