Certificate in Human Resource Management Employment Law Session Six Disciplinary and Grievance 11/26/2018

Disciplinary Procedure Condition of employment – subject to grievance procedures Must have a Discipline and Grievance policy Employers responsibility to draw them up Ideally incorporated into the contract If in the contract, failure to adhere to the procedure may be breach of contract Jones v Guilding – headmaster dismissed due to divorce

Discipline and Grievance Must be fair and consistent Designed to ensure the employee is given every possible opportunity to put right any conduct Corrective rather than punitive

Procedures in Operation Three categories of hearing: Informal Interview or Counselling sessions Investigatory Disciplinary Selwyn’s Law of Employment

Investigation No employee should be disciplined until the proper investigations have been carried out If the allegations are severe enough the employee made be suspended pending investigations

Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures All D+P procedures should take into account ACAS code of practice Should be studied in detail by management so they are familiar Employment tribunals should always take the code into account https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSITa- FeaBk

Right to be Accompanied Employment Relations Act 1999 Right to make a reasonable request to be accompanied by a single companion who can be either: Official of a trade union Another of the employers workers The companion can address the hearing to put across the workers case, sum up, confer with the worker

Disciplinary Powers What are the main course of disciplinary action that an employer might take, and can you think of a situation where each course of action might be appropriate? 8 main courses of action

Dismissal Fair dismissal: What reasons can you think of based on the last activity?

Dismissal Unfair dismissal: ou must have worked for your employer for a minimum period before you qualify for the right to claim unfair dismissal at a tribunal. If you’re classed as an employee and started your job: on or after 6 April 2012 - the qualifying period is normally 2 years before 6 April 2012 - the qualifying period is normally 1 year No length of service requirements for automatically unfair grounds

Acas Guidelines Dismissing employees should be the last resort and employers should carry out necessary investigations without unreasonable delay to establish the facts. Employers should use a fair and consistent procedure when dismissing employee. It's always best to try to resolve any issues informally first - often a quiet word is all it takes to sort out problems. Employees have the right not to be unfairly dismissed

Dismissal Automatically unfair dismissal: Pregnancy and all reasons relating to maternity Family reasons – covered by parental leave, paternity leave, adoption leave or time off for dependants Acting as an employee or TU representative Part-time and fixed-term employees Discrimination Pay and working hours, including working time regulations, annual leave and the minimum wage

Dismissal Remedies for unfair dismissal: Re-instatement, normally including an award of compensation for loss of earnings Re-engagement, normally including an award of compensation for loss of earnings Compensation

Compensation Actual losses Future losses Expenses in job seeking