Lets talks

[dfl]

Is it now normal or has always been normal to be given a lets talk when you take holidays on short notice due to a parent being ambulanced and admitted to hospital for which i was off 2 days, if so would i have been better off just being absent (domestic) apart from i know i would have been unpaid. I think a lets talk was never given before if i was ever off on similar circumstances, parent is 78 has many health issues as well as having had triple bypass and valve replacement last year

[oldfashionedplayer]

a lets talk is an informal discussion, so can be a conversation / raised issue etc..  If you were given holiday, wouldn't see a reason for it, as it's essentially just given a holiday and then them giving a check-in chat (manager), to show they have some compassion...  emergency leave though could be unpaid / paid / given as holiday, paid is i believe manager choice and has an alternate option? I may be a bit incorrect with that but was sure I read something on that.

so not fully sure why you would need a lets talk about it... other-than as I say would be of a "what we discussed and what's going on", but that's not really something that they have to know the full details of, just a case of needing it for that rather than full details etc 

[Rambo1987]

Is it now normal or has always been normal to be given a lets talk when you take holidays on short notice due to a parent being ambulanced and admitted to hospital for which i was off 2 days, if so would i have been better off just being absent (domestic) apart from i know i would have been unpaid. I think a lets talk was never given before if i was ever off on similar circumstances, parent is 78 has many health issues as well as having had triple bypass and valve replacement last year

A let's talk would be used after a domestic absence to document how you wish the days to be taken, unpaid, holiday, work time back ect ect. Nothing to worry about just following process.

[Raven]

The last 'Let's Talk' I had for domestic purposes was simply... "I can see how that situation was difficult and why you needed time off at short notice, is there any support we can give to make things easier going forward?"

[grim up north]

We've been told if you're off for any domestic reason, you have to phone in everyday with updates. Is this policy?

[FarmerFred]

The policy is flexible as there's "no one size fits all" approach. The policy says:

No matter what the emergency, you should phone and talk to your manager (or Duty Manager).  Please don't text or e-mail as your manager will want to discuss the situation with you, and how much time you think you will need to resolve the situation.   If you leave a message, you should make sure that you leave contact details so that your manager can call you back.  In exceptional circumstances, where you are unable to make the call yourself, you should arrange for someone to call in on your behalf.

It's important that you keep in contact with your manager and let them know if the situation changes and if you need more or less time off.

Thus it may be appropriate in some situations for a daily call or other form of contact to update your manager, but in other situations where you are able give a fairly solid indication of time required then it should only be necessary to make contact if there's a change in circumstances.

[WAGs]

a lets talk is an informal discussion, so can be a conversation / raised issue etc..  If you were given holiday, wouldn't see a reason for it, as it's essentially just given a holiday and then them giving a check-in chat (manager), to show they have some compassion...  emergency leave though could be unpaid / paid / given as holiday, paid is i believe manager choice and has an alternate option? I may be a bit incorrect with that but was sure I read something on that.

so not fully sure why you would need a lets talk about it... other-than as I say would be of a "what we discussed and what's going on", but that's not really something that they have to know the full details of, just a case of needing it for that rather than full details etc 

DOMESTIC ABSENCE but they do not like to call it that its either time off for dependents or Emergency Leave, both require a Let's Talk the reason is to make sure the Colleage is a duty of care to make sure the Colleague is OK to return or if they need any support. Just like RTW for sickness.  No problem isn't a disciplinary just a chat unless you are having lots of periods of absence!

[oldfashionedplayer]

yeah wasn't 100% fully sure as I know they never do them at ours for it, had a few cases where i've needed emergency leave and it's usually just been a notify that returning and then carry on as usual, same for others on our shift that have been off.. always been that way with the multitude of managers we've had over the years so just something they obviously don't bother with at ours 

[hesketh]

A "Let's Talk" is not necessarily a disciplinary procedure.

Tesco has just taken the decision to document what used to be dealt with informally, in order to protect you and themselves from misquotes and manipulation.

This could be a less formal warning about performance, or a welfare issue. In both cases it would be beneficial to have a written record of what was said and/or agreed in case of future discrepancies.