Keeping the peace at work
Employers face difficult decisions when disciplining and dismissing staff, but clear guidelines and policies can minimise the risk of problems arising in the first place.
As an employer, proper grievance procedures can also help you to retain key staff by giving them the opportunity to resolve any issues they face before becoming so disgruntled that they want to leave. You should also be ready for recent law changes that could catch you out; for example, the abolition of the default retirement age on 1 October 2011, and the right to request training that was introduced for employees in organisations with 250 or more employees on 6 April 2010 (which will apply to all businesses from 6 April 2011).
At a minimum, employers should be aware of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures (www.acas.org.uk). Although the law does not oblige you to use the Code, it is strongly recommended that you do because a failure to follow it will be looked on with disfavour by an Employment Tribunal.
You should clearly define and communicate to staff what constitutes misconduct. As a general rule, you cannot dictate to employees what they do on their own time. However, your business may require strict rules on drug and alcohol use, or not permit inappropriate or conflicting secondary employment. If you have not done so already, you may also consider issuing guidelines covering what may and may not be posted online – whether on company time and equipment or at home – about the company and its personnel.
If misconduct results in disciplinary procedure, a three-stage process should be followed: a letter, a meeting, and an appeal procedure. Employers should first write to the employee, setting out the nature of the issue and reminding the employee that he or she is entitled to have a representative present at the meeting. If you do decide to take action after the meeting, this should take the form of a written warning and a timescale for improvement. Failure to improve would then lead to a final warning.
Whatever you intend to achieve with your discipline and grievance policy, you should ensure that your aims and the way they are communicated are both clear and reasonable.