isciplinary rocedures-
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NOUSTRIAL Relations Code of Practice, as far as it s to disciplinary procedures (paragraphs 130 to 133 lye) has been superseded by a new document, "Code of ce 1, Disciplinary Practice and Procedure in Employ', which came into effect on June 20 this year.
; Code, drawn up by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitratrvice, was issued pursuant to Section 6(1) and (8) of the yment Protection Act 1 975 and is available from HMSO, 5p. ; Code of Practice is extremely important, as Section 6(1 1) of iployment Protection Act 1 975 states: "A failure on the part person to observe any provisions of a Code of Practice shall itself render him liable to any proceedings; but in any dings before an industrial tribunal or the Central Arbitration ittee, any Code of Practice issued under this section shall be ;ible in evidence, and if any provisions of such a Code appear tribunal or Committee to be relevant to an'y question arising in )ceedings, it shall be taken into account in determining that an.
; is a very similar position to that which,arises when cases of ;s driving are before the courts. lough the Highway Code is not itself law, a motorist whose I transgresses the Code is likely to have this fact brought out Jence, and it is certain to influence the court when it is ering its verdict. iuently CM carries reports of cases of alleged unfair dismissal heard before industrial tribunals.
riany of the cases where the tribunal has found against the yer, one feels that this is not because the worker did not :e the sack, but that the employer either did not go through rrect procedure, or that he did not collate and present his ice against the employee in the proper way. areful study of the Code, and complying with its suggestions, I prevent mistakes in the former category occurring. vill be remembered that the Contract of Employment Act as amended, requires that employers provide employees written statement setting out the terms of their employment. s statement must specify any disciplinary rules applicable to wioyees, and indicate the person to whom they should apply are dissatisfied with any disciplinary decision. sould seem sensible to incorporate all the disciplinary rules in ntract of employment, or at least state in the contract where les can be seen.
make sure the employee acknowledges he has received a )f the statement, it should be prepared in duplicate, one copy :ention by the employee and the other to be signed by the lyee and retained by the employer. agraph 7 of the Code, in dealing with this aspect, states: s should be readily available and management should make
effort to ensure that employees know and understand them. lay be best achieved by giving every employee a copy of the 3nd by explaining them orally. In the case of new employees iould form part of the induction programme." .agraph 8 goes on to say that employees should be made of the consequences of breaking rules, and that they should en a clear indication of the type of conduct which may warrant iary dismissal.
len formulating new or revising existing disciplinary rules and Jures, management should aim to secure the involvement of. iyees and all levels of management. Trade union officials may or may not wish to participate in the formation of the rules, but they should participate fully with management in agreeing procedural arrangements, which will apply to their members, and in seeing that these arrangements are used consistently and fairly.
The Code requires that disciplinary procedures should: (a) Be in writing and specify to whom they apply.
(b) Provide for matters to be dealt with quickly. (This, of course, is very important. Any delay in dealing with an alleged breach of the rules by an employee is extremely worrying to the man involved and reflects adversely on 'theefficiency of the management.) (c) Indicate the disciplinary action which may be taken. In some companies there are rules which permit a man to be suspended without pay for a period for certain breaches of the rules. If this is the case, the type of offence for which this may happen must be set out, together with the possible time the suspension might run.
(d) Specify the levels of management which have the authority to take the various forms of disciplinary action, ensuring that immediate superiors do not normally have the power to dismiss without reference to senior management. Apart from protecting the worker from unfair dismissal, this requirement of the Code safeguards the employer by restricting the number of supervisors entitled to ' hire and fire".
The authority to dismiss workers should only be given to supervisors who are fully aware of the correct procedures to adopt when an employee is to be sacked, and the consequences which follow a dismissal held to be unfair.
(a) Provide for individuals to be informed of the-complaints against them and to be given an opportunity to state their case before decisions are reached.
tu Give individuals the right to be accompanied by a trade union representative or by a fellow employee of their choice.
(g) Ensure that, except for gross misconduct, no employees are dismissed for a first breach of discipline.
(h) Ensure that disciplinary action is not taken until the case has been fully investigated.
(i) Ensure that individuals are given an explanation for any penalty imposed.
(j) Provide a right of appeal and specify the procedure. to be followed.
A word of warning is necessary over the right of an employer to dismiss an employee at a minute's notice for gross misconduct. It must be possible to prove the misconduct at a later date.
Suppose, for example, a man is caught carrying a set of sparking plugs,, a contact breaker set and a set of brake linings from the stores: It is pretty obvious to everyone that he had no intention of paying for these items and that he stole them. The police are not called, but the man is dismissed.
He accepts this dismissal, but later, on reflection, he decides to claim, before an Industrial Tribunal, that he was unfairly dismissed, alleging that he intended to pay for the parts the next morning.
The employer may have some difficulty in proving that his story is untrue; if he was prosecuted and found guilty there would be no problem.
More about the new Code in the next article.