DISCIPLINARY MATTERS - 27.04.2011

Disciplinary hearing unearths other misconduct

Getting the procedure right

It was recently alleged that an employee failed to follow your workplace procedures. A manager was appointed to conduct a thorough investigation and they decided that a disciplinary hearing was appropriate. In accordance with your procedures, a notification of disciplinary hearing was sent to the employee (see The next step). It correctly set out the allegations against them.

Came out in the wash

Another manager, with no previous involvement in either the investigation or the allegations, was asked to chair the hearing. So far, so good.

Now for the problem. During that meeting further serious misconduct came to light; apparently, on occasion, the employee falsified certain documentation. This is clearly a serious matter, but what should the manager do now?

Crack on with it (or not)?

Their gut reaction might be to carry on with the disciplinary hearing and take this information into account when making a final decision. They may also be tempted to use it to dismiss the employee on the grounds of gross misconduct and/ or because it adds weight to the other allegations.

Worst case scenario

However, although it’s tempting, continuing with the proceedings is the worst thing the manager could do; if there’s any mention of the further misconduct in a subsequent dismissal letter, the employee would, almost certainly, have a claim for unfair dismissal. So what’s the answer?

Ask for an adjournment

As soon as further misconduct is revealed, the disciplinary hearing should be adjourned. But this doesn’t mean that you have to go right back to square one or commence separate proceedings for the new matter(s) that have come to light.

Tip 1. If wrongdoing has been admitted, add it to the list of existing allegations and put them all into a fresh notification of disciplinary hearing.

Tip 2. Also attach copies of the evidence that you wish to rely on. Not only will you have to enclose all previous documents (as a matter of good practice), you should include a copy of the minutes which record their damaging admission. Further documentation may also be necessary, e.g. copies of the falsified documents.

Tip 3. A new disciplinary hearing date should be set and the letter then sent to the employee. The process then continues in the normal way.

Safe and sound

Allegations of misconduct crystallise at the point a notification of disciplinary hearing is sent, i.e. that’s the case the employee must answer. But provided you amend them as detailed above, further misconduct can be relied upon when imposing a disciplinary sanction. The tribunal always checks that the allegations of wrongdoing and grounds for dismissal match. If not, it’s a losing battle, i.e. the process is automatically unreasonable and any dismissal will be unfair.

For a free sample notification of disciplinary hearing, visithttp://personnel.indicator.co.uk(PS 13.09.04).