Following a lengthy eight-year tribunal process former Co-op CHRO won a case based on sex discrimination and unfair dismissal. The employment appeal tribunal overturned this decision in 2019, which was followed by subsequent unsuccessful appeals to the Court of Appeal and to the Supreme Court.
In 2018, the tribunal found the Co-op directly discriminated against Walker after rating the claimant’s performance as only ‘partially achieved’ for 2015, without a robust year-end appraisal.
It’s not enough to just have a good appraisal process on paper, highlighted Natasha Adom, Partner and Head of Client Training at legal firm Littler to HR magazine.
Employers must therefore test how their process operates in practice, and whether it’s applied consistently and fairly by managers, she said.
Check consistency and language, advised Adom, and ask questions like: “Are certain employees, especially those with protected characteristics, scored more harshly? Do they receive less time, or face more loaded commentary?”
“This means that documenting decisions carefully, preserving the audit trail, and assuming your process may be scrutinised long after the decision-makers have moved on, is increasingly essential,” advised Adom.
She also suggested introducing guardrails such as moderation panels or at least two reviews for senior ratings, or training for those assessing performance.
