“Carolyne and the team helped the Club successfully terminate a contract with a member of staff, saving them the high costs associated with an Employment Tribunal”
Before General Manager at Marlborough Golf Club Les Trute met Carolyne from Golf HR, the club’s handbook hadn’t been comprehensively updated for almost two decades. As a result it was lacking in a number of quarters, particularly when it came to updated employment laws.
“I was well aware it needed quite a bit doing to it, especially with regards to changing legislation,” said Les. “I’d tried updating sections over the years but it was only really when I met Carolyne, after watching her give an excellent presentation, that I realised here at last was someone who not only knew exactly what she was doing, but was also more than au fait with current employment laws. It would mean the club would be getting an excellent handbook and I could concentrate on other matters for the club, knowing it was in Golf HR’s capable hands.”
Marlborough Golf Club in Wiltshire has actually been in existence since 1888. The Private Members Club boasts 680 members and rarely ever closes.
Having received final copies of the handbook Colin then went on to ask Carolyne and the team to update the Club’s employment contracts at the same time. It was fortunate he did, since earlier this year, an incident rose which could have proved extremely expensive had Marlborough not handled it correctly.
“It was a serious staffing issue,” explained Colin. “Without going in to too much detail, we needed to quickly terminate a member of staff’s employment. At the same time we were aware that this individual had legal rights and we obviously couldn’t trample all over them. My main concern was that we removed the member of staff in a manner which wouldn’t result in the club having to pay out a fortune at a Tribunal Hearing at a later date.”
Les consulted Carolyne on the issue who instructed him to go down a particular path. At the same time a friend of a club committee member was an attorney and also provided very similar advice. The result was Marlborough Golf Club was able to terminate the individual’s employment without any costly legal repercussions.
Despite having worked with Carolyne and her team for more than two years, this was the first staffing issue they had required advice for.
“Initially Carolyne’s coming on board was all about improvements, but when this incident arose very suddenly I was pleased Carolyne was just at the other end of the phone and very ready to advise me on the next step forward,” said Les. “In other words, it’s great to have her there as a back-up. Things can always go wrong, after all.”
“We paid for the help from Golf HR upfront for both the first year,” said Les. “And we were keen to carry on for a second year too. For us, a monthly retainer service proved the most cost-effective. It worked out less expensive and yet we still had the benefit of Carolyne’s advice and attention at the drop of a hat, whenever we needed it.”
Les Trute
General Manager – Marlborough Golf Club