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When Disciplinaries and Grievances overlap

When Disciplinaries and Grievances Collide.

A significant challenge for employers to overcome when disciplinaries and grievances collide, is when an employee who’s in trouble tries to save their own skin. It’s easy to be cynical about it, that doesn’t make you a bad employer as it’s a very human response. However, your feelings of cynicism must be kept under your hat as you can’t assume anything.

There are three main things that you need to do: a) keep an open mind. b) you’ve got to deal with the grievance. c) keep up to date records of how seriously you are taking it and be prepared to justify your decisions.

There is no need to postpone the disciplinary process in order to deal with a grievance. In fact, in most cases, it makes sense to deal with them both together, especially if there’s a cross over. If you ignore the grievance, you could be in breach of the ACAS code and that may mean more compensation for an employee should action be taken by them at a later stage. There are 3 things that you could do:

1. Postpone the discussion. A large amount of employers see this as a safe option and it shows the employee you are giving them breathing space and a fair chance.

2. Carry on with the disciplinary. If the grievance is unrelated to the disciplinary, there’s no need to stop it.

3. Deal with them both together. If you are going to do this, make sure you give both the grievance and the disciplinary the time and attention it needs. Ensure that you still follow the correct procedures making sure that the employee knows exactly what is happening, and give them time to prepare before any meeting or hearing.

Perhaps most importantly, make sure that you document everything and retain all the evidence you collect in the investigation process. Don’t be tempted to rush the procedure through and be prepared to push dates back if you need to. Keep on top of things and make sure that the grievance doesn’t hold things up unnecessarily and isn’t being used as a delay tactic.

If you require our help with any form of disciplinary or grievance procedure, contact us. We’d be happy to help.

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