Disciplinary and grievance

From ACAS draft Code of practice

ACAS has a code of practice on disciplinary procedures and practices at work, upon which most procedures are based. In essence, the code recommends the following points which any procedure should cover.

Drawing up disciplinary rules and procedures

• Involve management and staff, where possible.
• Make rules clear and brief, and explain what will happen if workers break them.
• Make sure every worker has a copy of the rules and procedures or has access to a copy.

Operating disciplinary procedures

• Deal with cases of minor misconduct or poor performance informally.
• For more serious cases, follow formal procedures.
• Advise the worker of his/her right to be accompanied at a hearing.
• If giving a warning, tell the worker why, when their contract will end and what they can appeal.
• Before taking disciplinary action other than issuing a warning, always follow the statutory dismissal and disciplinary procedure.
• In cases of possible gross misconduct, establish the facts before deciding whether to dismiss the worker.

Holding appeals

• Arrange an appeal hearing and inform the worker of his/her right to be accompanied.
• Where possible, arrange for the appeal to be dealt with by a more senior manager not involved with the earlier case.
• Inform the worker about the appeal decision and the reasons for it.
• When dealing with absences from work, find out the reasons for the absence before deciding on what action to take.

Records

• Keep records for future reference.

Unfair dismissal

The law on unfair dismissal requires employers to act reasonably when dealing with disciplinary issues. What is classed as reasonable behaviour will depend on the circumstances of each case, and is ultimately a matter for employment tribunals to decide. However, there are core principles of reasonable behaviour that employers should work to.

• Use procedures to encourage workers to improve, where possible, rather than just as a way of imposing a punishment.
• Inform the worker of the complaint against them, and provide them with an opportunity to state is/her case before decisions are reached.
• Allow workers to be accompanied at disciplinary meetings.
• Make sure that disciplinary action is not taken until the facts of the case have been established.
• Never dismiss a worker for a first disciplinary offence unless it is a case of gross misconduct.
• Always give the worker an explanation for any disciplinary action taken and make sure they know what improvement is expected.
• Give the worker an opportunity to appeal.

The law also requires that employers follow a specific procedure if they are planning to dismiss an employee or are proposing to impose some other disciplinary penalty that isn’t paid suspension or a warning. If an employee with the necessary qualifying service is dismissed without the employer following this procedure, and they make a claim to an employment tribunal, the dismissal will automatically be ruled unfair.

Further information is in Disciplinary and grievance procedures. This is part of the draft ACAS Code of Practice – Disciplinary practice and procedures in employment. The ACAS self-help guide Producing Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures provides practical advice on setting up a disciplinary procedure.

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