Taking disciplinary action against an employee

Overview

You should have written disciplinary rules and procedures to deal with employee performance and conduct and you must tell your staff about them.

Your rules must say what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in the workplace and what action you will take if the rules are broken.

The rules should follow the Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures.

Acas guide to discipline and grievances

The Acas guide to discipline and grievances at work gives more information for employers about taking disciplinary action.

Acas Helpline

The Acas Helpline has further advice on disciplinary issues.

Practical training courses

Acas also runs practical training courses on workplace discipline.

Writing disciplinary proceedings

Your disciplinary procedures should follow the Acas code of practice.

The exact rules will depend on your organisation, but could cover things like:

• acceptable and unacceptable behaviour
• absence and timekeeping
• health and safety
• use of phones and the internet

You can’t normally discipline or dismiss an employee for whistleblowing.

Gross misconduct

Your disciplinary rules should give examples of what will be treated as gross misconduct. This is misconduct judged so serious that it’s likely to lead to dismissal without notice, eg fraud, theft and physical violence.

Telling employees about disciplinary rules

Your disciplinary rules must be in your statement of employment or clearly written elsewhere, eg in a staff handbook.

The rules should clearly say when someone might face disciplinary action and what that action could be.

You must also give the name of someone they should appeal to if they’re unhappy about a disciplinary decision.

Disciplinary procedures and contracts

If you make your disciplinary procedures part of an employment contract then the employee could make a breach of contract claim against you if you don’t follow your procedures.

Example letters and forms

Acas has a number of sample letters and forms for disciplinary proceedings on its website.

Disciplinary investigations and hearings

The law doesn’t say exactly how you should investigate disciplinary issues or hold disciplinary meetings.

However, the Acas guide to discipline and grievances at work has lots of practical advice about running disciplinary proceedings professionally and fairly.

The suggested disciplinary process

The Acas guidance suggests that your disciplinary process should follow the following format:

1. A letter telling your employee the issue and inviting them to a disciplinary hearing.

2. A meeting with your employee to discuss the issue - they should have the right to be accompanied.

3. A letter to your employee saying what action you are going to take. This should be sent as soon as practically possible.

4. Your employee should than have a chance to appeal your decision.

Disciplinary decisions

Disciplinary decisions could be anything that could resolve the problem.

This could include:

• no action
• written warning
• final warning
• demotion
• dismissal
• mediation with a co-worker

Appeals

An employee has the right to appeal against a decision made after a disciplinary hearing.

You should tell them about this when you give them written notice of your decision, and should give them a deadline to tell you they want to appeal.

Your employee’s statement of terms and conditions of employment must legally include the person they can apply to if they want to appeal a disciplinary decision. It must also explain how to do this.

If the employee does decide to appeal, you should try to hold the appeal hearing as soon as possible.