The danger in managing an underperforming employee out

The conventional way of formally dealing with a consistently under-performing employee is to begin a disciplinary process.  And the groundwork for being able to do this requires an employer to have in place a rigorous disciplinary process of which all employees have been made aware.

If the employer fails to correctly follow disciplinary procedures they are leaving themselves exposed to an unfair dismissal case in the event that they dismiss an employee.  And the employer could lose such an unfair dismissal case on procedural grounds – even if the dismissal is entirely legitimate on performance grounds.  (Note that it is also problematic for employers if they do not have such