Performance Improvement Plan Employee Rights UK – Unfair Performance Improvement Plan UK:

This page last updated 7.7.26.

Are you being subjected to an unfair performance improvement plan and want to know how to fight the performance improvement plan, and furthermore, how to beat the performance improvement plan?

Are you looking for free examples and samples of how to fight and beat a performance improvement plan?

Look no further! There is most probably no other page on the web, which gives you the level of information outlined below on how to beat a performance improvement plan. Take the time to read this webpage because it could be the difference between you staying employed or being given the boot by your employer.

Below, we have outlined how to challenge a performance improvement plan UK.

My wife Amy & I are employment consultants with 26 years combined experience. We only help employees’ NOT employers.

Read our testimonials.

Since 2010, my wife Amy & I have successfully helped people just like you who have been subjected to an unfair performance improvement plan and want to know how to fight and beat an unfair performance improvement plan.

Amy & I often get asked the following questions:

  • How to beat and fight an unfair performance improvement plan?
  • Performance improvement plan employees rights UK?
  • What to say in a performance improvement plan?
  • Why you should never sign a PIP.
  • Unfair performance improvement plan.
  • Ambushed into a performance improvement plan without warning.

Below we have answered your questions about being put on a PIP UK.

Our top Tips on how to fight and beat an unfair performance improvement plan:

  • Look for the ‘real reason’ for the employer’s rational (the ‘motivation’) behind putting you on a performance improvement plan.
  • Usually, the performance improvement plan is implemented because:

(i) You have a new manager and the manager doesn’t like you.

(ii) Your manager wants to get rid of you and would rather replace you with somebody they know or previously worked with.

(ii) Your face no longer fits.

(iii) The Company is making redundancies.

(iv) You are earning too much and the employer wants to hire someone cheaper.

Thus, question the manager’s ‘motivation’ behind the performance improvement plan.

State (preferably in writing via email) why the performance improvement plan is unfair.

Always challenge the performance improvement plan verbally i.e., if ambushed into a meeting, then via email the employer after the performance improvement plan meeting.

Ascertain with the employer when the alleged performance issues allegedly began.

Ask your employer why any deficiencies in your performance were not raised with you at the ‘material time’ the employer first became aware that your performance was not meeting the ‘required standard’.

Ask your employer to outline the specific support, which was given to you after your manager first became aware of any issues with your alleged performance.

Ask for the date/s any support was given to you, and furthermore, under what auspices the support was given to you to assist you in overcoming any alleged performance issues at work.

Put shortly, it would be unreasonable for your manager or employer to put you on a performance improvement plan without bringing performance matters to your attention at the ‘material time’ the manager knew there were shortcomings with your performance and/or allowing you to continue working knowing that your alleged performance was not up to the ‘required standard’.

If you have a medical condition ask what mitigation (if any) has been considered given the effect of your physical or mental impairment on your day-to-day activities.

If you have a medical condition ask your employer what reasonable adjustments (if any) were implemented.

If your employer has assessed your performance without reasonable adjustments, raise a grievance for disability discrimination.

Ask your employer what ‘standard’ it is alleged that you were ‘required’ to adhere to, and how and when that ‘standard’ was made clear to you, and moreover, under what auspices the ‘required standard’ was communicated to you.

For example, most of the performance improvement plans, which Amy & I see are worded something like this:

“You are not performing to the ‘required standard’.”

Thus, you have every right to ask the employer how they made you aware of the ‘standard’ which you were ‘required’ to perform to i.e., before being placed on the performance improvement plan.

Email us! We can assist you! myrightsuk@protonmail.com or call us 07775943414 (9-5). We work 7 days a week.

If you have a medical condition, impairment, or disability, ascertain what adjustments (if any) your employer put in place to remove the disadvantage caused by your medical condition, impairment, or disability.

Raise a grievance against your manager if you have not been rendered with ‘reasonable support’, which is a statutory requirement in accordance with s.2(2)(c) of The HSAWA 1974.

Do not agree to the performance improvement plan.

Do NOT sign the PIP or else you will affirm and acquiesce to the performance improvement plan (affirmation).

Put shortly, if you signed the PIP and are subsequently dismissed on grounds of ‘capability’ for failing to meet the requirements of the performance improvement plan, then you would unlikely be able to claim ‘unfair dismissal’ if you signed the performance improvement plan. Thus, we recommend never sign the perform improvement plan. Never sign the PIP!

You need to object to the performance improvement plan by informing your employer you intend to raise a formal letter of grievance regarding the reasoning,  rational, and motivation behind the performance improvement plan. As stated above, usually the performance improvement plan is initiated because the manager wants you gone. To this end, throw a spanner in the manager’s works.

Always challenge (in writing) any allegations against you regarding your alleged performance.

If reasons are outlined within a letter for putting you on a PIP, then ask for further and better particulars behind the allegations germane to your alleged ‘under performance’.

Example, the manager writes you a letter and says something along these lines:

“Your performance is not up to the required standard”.

These are the steps to take to challenge an unfair performance improvement plan or PIP UK:

  • Step 1 = What date was the ‘required standard’ outlined to me before putting me on a performance improvement plan?
  • Step 2 = Under what auspices was the ‘required standard’ outlined to me i.e., verbally, via email etc,?
  • Step 3 = What was the name of the person who outlined the ‘required standard’ to me?
  • Step 4 = Specifically, what support (if any) was I given to achieve the ‘required standard’?
  • Step 5 = What was the nature of that support?
  • Step 6 = What date/s was the alleged support given to me to meet the ‘required standards’.
  • Step 7 = Why were any alleged performance issues not discussed with me during our 1-2-1’s?
  • Step 8 = Why was the ‘required standard’ not outlined to me during our 1-2-1’s?
  • Step 9 = Why was I not given a verbal warning during our 1-2-1’s before putting me on a PIP i.e., to let me know that my performance was  not up to the ‘required standard’?
  • Step 10 = Do you agree that it would have been reasonable to have undertaken the aforementioned steps? If not, why not?
  • Step 11 = Make a Subject Access Request for all correspondence whereas your manager informed you of any alleged performance issues ‘before’ putting you on a performance improvement plan.
  • Step 12 = Make a Subject Access Request for all correspondence between your manager and the HR Department regarding your alleged performance issues before putting you on the PIP.

The above are each of the steps, which you should take in order to challenge a performance improvement plan UK.

Point the finger of blame onto HR and management for failing to assist you and support you in meeting their ‘expectations’ of you, and furthermore, what was ‘required’ of you.

Ask for the policy or procedures, which the employer is utilising, which governs the’ expectations of management’, and how this policy and procedures were communicated to you before putting you on a performance improvement plan.

Make sure the policy and procedures were dated at the relevant times. Sometimes, Amy & I will see that the employer has recently updated the PIP policy or procedures. If this is the case, ask for the old policy and procedures, which governed your performance before the policy was recently updated.

Challenge any timeframe, which the employer gives you for improving your performance when putting you on a performance improvement plan. Usually, a minimum of 3 months is reasonable, but not if you have a disability, impairment, or medical condition.

Do NOT go on the defensive during the PIP meeting/s.

Instead, go on the ‘offensive’ and challenge the performance improvement plan as outlined above.

Be firm, but not aggressive.

We have created a webpage on the legalities of making covert recordings during a PIP.

Object, protest, and challenge the performance improvement plan.

Ask to audio record the performance improvement plan meetings. If the manager or employer objects, ask them why they would object if the performance improvement plan was / is ‘transparent’.

Do not agree to any allegations regarding your performance especially if you are ambushed into a meeting without knowing the nature of the meeting in advance. Simply say – “I do not agree with the PIP and will be raising a formal grievance letter”.

Contact us – myrightsuk@protonmail.com or call us on 07775943414 (9-5 UK time).

Under s.98 of The ERA 1996, the employer can fairly dismiss you on grounds of ‘capability’.

For the avoidance of doubt, the performance improvement plan is unlikely to actually help you improve your performance, but rather to dismiss you ‘fairly’ and to prevent you bringing an ‘unfair dismissal claim’. Forewarned is forearmed!

The Performance Improvement Plan or PIP is the fastest way for an employer to give an employee the boot. This could potentially result in a claim to the Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal or disability discrimination.

How do I beat or pass a performance improvement plan example and sample?

We have created an in-depth webpage to tell you how to beat a performance improvement plan, and the steps you should take if you are being subjected to a PIP.

Remember, you don’t have to be alone in going through your employment dispute with your employer. We took our own employers to the Employment Tribunal and know what you are going through. If you feel you need assistance writing your grievance letter to object, protest and challenge the PIP, Amy & I can write your grievance letter for you.

We only charge £35 for an initial telephone consultation up to one hour. During the initial consultation, we can talk through your employment situation, provide guidance, and support you from beginning to end.

Amy & I can assist you in avoiding the pitfalls that employees often make and help you understand the psychology behind the PIP process so that you get the upper hand. Remember, you only get one chance to get this right, so make sure you do just that!

Go on, don’t hesitate, pick up the phone and call us 07775943414 (9-5 UK) or email us at: myrightsuk@protonmail.com

Over the past 15 years Amy & I helped thousands of clients. Read our testimonials page.

Amy & I can write you a custom grievance letter for any of the following employment issues:

Reach out to us on 07775943414 (9-5 UK) or email us – myrightsuk@protonmail.com

We work 7 days a week because we know your employment problems don’t just end on a Friday afternoon!

Please remember that the very reason this website exists is because we have already gone through what you are now experiencing. This is what drives our sense of justice. Having gone through the grievance process ourselves, and having taken our claims to the Employment Tribunal, Amy & I know all too well the stress and anxiety, which you now feel, because we have already trodden the path, which you now tread.

Amy & I know all too well the dirty tricks used by management and the HR Department when subjecting an employee to a PIP.

The majority of time the real reasons why the employer instigated the performance improvement plan, is for one of the following reasons:

1. Because the employer is making redundancies, and wants to save money by managing people out of the Company by using the performance improvement plan as the vehicle to procure the dismissal;

2. A new manager has started, who is indifferent to you, and can’t stand you;

3. The employer needs to downsize. For the avoidance of doubt, I usually find that people whom work in IT, or as accountants are more often than not put on a PIP.

Is the performance improvement plan fair, and more importantly, within the range of reasonable responses?

The answer to this question lays in looking at employment law.

Pursuant to s.98(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, it states that an employer can dismiss an employee for grounds relating to ‘capability’. This means – “In relation to an employee, his capability assessed by reference to skill, aptitude, health or any other physical or mental quality.”

Thus, the employer can lawfully dismiss you on grounds of (a) capability (b) skill (c) aptitude and/or (d) health. However, putting you on an Personal Development Plan or Performance Improvement Plan and/or dismissing you on grounds of ‘capability’ could open up Pandora’s Box for your employer. Buy the Performance Improvement Plan Template Aid and find out how to take your employer to task for putting you on a (1) Performance Improvement Plan; (2) Personal Development Plan; or (3) subjecting you to a Capability or Discplinary for your performance.

You can reach Sam Stone at: myrightsuk@protonmail.com

You cannot afford to wait to the last minute to contest the Capability / Disciplinary. If you feel the performance improvement plan is not fair or equitable, then make sure you contact me to lodge a grievance letter to enter the grievance procedure. Please visit my testimonials page. All enquires are held in the strictest of confidence.

Disclaimer – The Template does not amount to ‘legal advice’. I accept no liability for the use of the Template. The Template will ‘aid’ you in writing a letter of grievance in the event you have been put on a performance improvement plan.