Human Resources Skills: Discipline & Grievance: Discipline and Grievance Procedures

Course Overview

The Employment Act sets out legal minimum requirements for disciplinary and grievance procedures that all employers must follow. The conduct of the interview as part of this procedure is a critical element in the satisfactory completion of the process and it goes horribly wrong more often than most businesses would care to admit.

While you as an HR professional are reasonably familiar with how disciplinary and capability interviews should be conducted, many of the people carrying out these interviews in your business need further guidance if your organisation is to remove the risk of things going wrong.

Audience

• Line managers and HR staff who are required to operate disciplinary procedures within their own organisation's policies and procedures and within the law
• This course is particularly relevant to newly appointed managers or HR staff
• Managers at any level

Course Outline

1. Introduction and objectives

2. Disciplinary policies and procedures

• Discipline in context - the relevance of current legislation
• The statutory procedures - disciplinary and dismissal procedures
• Contractual procedures
• The ACAS Code of Practice
• Warnings - appropriate stages
• Varying procedures when necessary
• The 'life' of warnings
• The role of employment tribunals
• Knowing where to get help
• Behaving reasonably as an employer
• Identifying the managment responsibilities involved in dealing with disciplinary issues
• The statutory right to be accompanied
• The role of the 'companion'
• The appeal procedure
• Grounds for appeal
• Appeal hearings

3. Dealing with conduct and capability issues

• Identifying the nature of disciplinary problems and the appropriate course of action
• Defining 'capablility'
• Defining 'conduct'
• Where absence cases fit in
• 'Borderline' cases
• Using probation periods effectively
• Using informal discipline effectively
• Recognising the need for a more formal approach
• Working with policies and procedures
• Coping with stress, absence and grievance issues in relation to disciplinary matters
• The importance of investigation
• Suspending employees
• Using witnesses and witness statements
• The 'burden of proof'
• The balance of probability

4. Deal with conduct and capability issues

• Case studies

5. The disciplinary interview

• The role of the disciplinary interview
• The preparatory stage
• Inviting the employee to a disciplinary hearing
• Ensuring that the employee is able to prepare adequately for the interview
• Structuring the interview to ensure procedural correctness
• Facilitating witness input into disciplinary interviews
• Making notes of the meeting
• Ensuring co-operation from employees and their companions
• What happens when the employees does not attend the interview
• Imposing sanctions
• Considering mitigating circumstances
• Arranging for follow-up action
• Writing warning letters
• Keeping a record