What it does

Someone isn't doing the job, or has done something that crossed a line, and you need the conversation and the paperwork right. Not because paperwork fixes the problem, but because the law judges whether you were fair, and fairness has to be shown, not just felt.

It checks your 1:1 history first, then asks whether this is underperformance or misconduct. If it's misconduct, it asks whether it's serious enough to justify dismissal without the ladder at all - and if so, it stops and tells you to get a lawyer before doing anything. It asks your headcount, how long this has been going on, and where the person sits in their employment.

Before drafting anything it checks for the general protections trap - recent leave, a complaint, a safety issue, an illness, injury or pregnancy, a flexible work request - because adverse action after any of those carries real risk from day one, whatever your size. Then it gives you feedback on what stage this actually is.

Most issues never need to escalate past the lightweight layer: a quarterly check-in and an end-of-probation conversation. When they do, it builds only the stage that's actually needed, one at a time - an informal BEAR note, a formal meeting invitation, an improvement plan, a written warning, an outcome letter. Each one needs the stage before it to have genuinely happened, and every document is levelled for how much legal weight it carries.

What you'll need

• 1:1 notes for this person, if you have them.
• Whether this is underperformance or misconduct, and if misconduct, whether it's serious enough that summary dismissal is on the table.
• Your headcount, including casuals.
• How long this has been going on, and what's already been said.
• Where they sit in their employment: probation, under 6 or 12 months, or past the minimum employment period.
• Whether anything protected is in the mix - recent leave, a complaint, a safety issue, an illness, injury or pregnancy, a flexible work request.
• About 15 minutes for the questions before anything gets drafted.

How to install

To use this skill in Claude, go to Customize > Skills and upload the ZIP file. Once it's installed, describe what's happening - 'I need to give someone a written warning' or 'this person isn't meeting their targets' - and Claude will use it. Check the version date; we update it when the law changes, so grab the latest from the Library.