News Article

New Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures

23/04/2009 - The Employment Act 2008 has repealed the statutory dispute resolution procedures.

The Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004 came into force on 1 October 2004. They introduced provisions which were designed to encourage employers and employees to resolve disputes without recourse to employment tribunals by laying down minimum procedures to be followed before taking disciplinary action, dismissing employees or in relation to grievances. The reality of the Regulations was far from what had been expected. They were onerous and inflexible with disputes becoming formalised at an earlier stage. Put simply, they did not work.

The Regulations have now been replaced with the Employment Act 2008 providing for an alternative mechanism to encourage compliance with any relevant statutory code on disciplinary and grievance procedures. The statutory code which will apply in most situations will be the ACAS Code of Practice for handling disciplinaries and grievances in the workplace.

Failure to follow the Code will, unlike the old regime, no longer make the employer liable for automatic unfair dismissal for failure to follow the Code. However, tribunals will have the power to adjust any awards made in relevant cases by up to 25 per cent for unreasonable failure to comply with any provision of the Code.

The Code and the Guidance are not legally binding, but it is likely that tribunals will use the Guidance to interpret the Code. For example, employers and employees are encouraged to seek to resolve disciplinary issues and grievances in the workplace and, where it is not possible to do so, should consider using an independent third party. The general principle behind the Code is the importance of dealing with issues fairly. The Code suggests the following:

• Issues should be dealt with promptly.
• Employers and employees should act consistently.
• Employers should carry out necessary investigations.
• Employers should be informed of the basis of any problems.
• Employees should be allowed the opportunity to put their case in response.
• Employees should be given the right to be accompanied at any formal disciplinary or grievance meeting.
• Employers should allow employees the right to appeal.

In light of the changes employers should review their disciplinary and grievance procedures and ensure that they incorporate the provisions of the Code. Any amendments required to existing procedures must be circulated to all staff.

The Code does not apply to dismissals relating to a redundancy – there's a separate Code of Practice for this (Consultation, Suitable Alternative Employment, Selection Criteria).

A copy of the Code is available at: http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2174.