Do’s and Don’ts of Carrying Out a Disciplinary Procedure in England

In Short

• You must follow a fair, transparent written procedure aligned with recognised codes (e.g. ACAS) when disciplining staff.

• Key steps include acting promptly, investigating thoroughly, holding a hearing chaired by someone different from the investigator, and allowing representation.

• Always give warnings (unless misconduct is gross), provide reasons, and offer a right of appeal.

Tips for Businesses

Make your disciplinary policy easily available, train managers on applying it fairly, and keep clear records at each step (investigation notes, hearing outcomes, appeals). That helps reduce legal risk and ensures consistency across your team.

Summarise with:

ChatGPT Gemini Perplexity Microsoft Copilot

Open now

---

Table of Contents

• Do’s for a Disciplinary Procedure
• Don’ts for a Disciplinary Procedure
• Key Takeaways
• Frequently Asked Questions

When disciplining a staff member, following a fair procedure is essential. Disciplining your staff can result in dismissal, so if you have not followed your disciplinary procedure correctly, you risk exposing your business to a claim for unfair dismissal or discrimination. An employment tribunal will consider the procedure you followed when assessing the employment claims. This article will explain the do’s and don’ts when carrying out your disciplinary procedure in England.  

Do’s for a Disciplinary Procedure

1. Have a Written Disciplinary Procedure 

Your disciplinary procedure or policy should be written and easily accessible to your staff at work. Importantly, managers should be able to access it easily and understand the process of disciplining staff. 

It is also vital that all employees understand and know where to find your disciplinary policy. You may wish to place your disciplinary policy in your staff handbook. Remember that your policy must follow the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures. Otherwise, you could pay an employee up to 25% more compensation at a tribunal.

2. Act Quickly

You should act quickly if an issue arises with your staff, and you need to deal with it using your disciplinary procedure. Even if the issue is minor, failing to resolve it quickly could cause more significant issues to arise later. Indeed, you may be able to find a solution that avoids a formal disciplinary investigation. As such, your business can save time and resources.

3. Investigate Thoroughly 

As part of your disciplinary procedure, you must investigate the issue correctly and with an open mind before holding a disciplinary hearing or disciplinary meeting. A thorough investigation will help you gather evidence and speak to all parties involved. Remember, you must present this evidence to your employee.

4. Appoint a Suitable Chair for the Disciplinary Hearing

According to the Acas Code of Practice, the staff member in charge of the disciplinary hearing or disciplinary meeting should be different from the person who carries out the disciplinary investigation. You will also wish to ensure that they can chair the meeting and whether they have any experience in chairing.

5. Maintain Consistency 

One crucial aspect of implementing disciplinary procedures is maintaining consistency across all cases and employees. Inconsistency in applying disciplinary measures can lead to accusations of unfair treatment or discrimination.

Guide to UK Employment Disputes

Learn how to manage employment disputes and protect your business from legal action.

Download Now

Don’ts for a Disciplinary Procedure

1. Fail to Tell Your Employee the Potential Action You May Take

When disciplining your employee, you must let them know what potential action you may consider due to the disciplinary procedure. Importantly, tell your staff member about these potential actions before you hold the disciplinary meeting. This enables your employee to appreciate the seriousness of the problem and defend themselves accordingly.

2. Deny Your Employee the Right to Be Accompanied

You must hold a disciplinary meeting when carrying out the formal disciplinary procedure. Likewise, your employee has a legal right to be accompanied by a companion, and you should make them aware of this right. The companion can be a:

• work colleague;
• trade union official; or
• trade union representative trained or certified to act as a companion.

3. Forget to Give Lesser Warnings

Before resorting to dismissal, ensure that you have first provided lesser warnings to your employee. However, your employee’s conduct might be so severe, such as gross misconduct, that it warrants summary dismissal. Summary dismissal is immediate dismissal where you do not give your employee their notice or pay in lieu of notice.

4. Deny Your Employee a Right to Appeal

You will decide what action to take against your employee at the end of your disciplinary hearing. The employee may wish to appeal your decision, and you should not deny them the right to do so. Furthermore, you should include this right in the outcome letter of your disciplinary meeting, stating the date they have to appeal and to whom they should address the appeal.

5. Suspend Your Employee Without Reasonable Cause

You should not suspend an employee as a part of a disciplinary investigation without reasonable cause to believe that the employee is likely to disrupt your investigation by interfering with witnesses or other staff members, or where the misconduct relates to serious issues that could put the business, other employees, or customers at risk if the employee remains at work. Suspension should be a last resort and not a default action. 

Suspending an employee without reasonable cause could result in the employee claiming a breach of trust and confidence, potentially leading to a constructive dismissal claim against your company. Additionally, any suspension should be paid and not serve as a punishment.

Key Takeaways

Disciplinary procedures should be full and fair and mirror the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures. You must follow them correctly when carrying out disciplinary action on your employees, including both actions you should and should not take. For example, you must make your disciplinary policy available to all staff in a clear, written and easily accessible format. Additionally, you should not deny your employee the right to be accompanied by a companion during their disciplinary hearing. 

If you need help understanding the do’s and don’ts when carrying out your disciplinary procedures, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. So call us today on 0808 258 4780 or visit our membership page.

Frequently Asked Questions