Disciplinaries

Humans sometimes make mistakes – be it intentional or not.

At some point in your business, something or someone will go pear-shaped.
From persistent bad timekeeping to a more serious matter such as fraud, Mint HR can support you carry out the formal disciplinary process – so that the issue can be resolved and you can go back to focussing on making your business a success.

As the individual might report directly to you, it can be difficult to keep your distance and remain objective. That’s where Mint HR can step in to provide that fairness as well as ensure the process is compliant to make an ugly situation transform back into one more palatable.

The most frequent issues we help clients with for disciplinaries are:

Refusing to follow instructions
Too much time off work
Poor time-keeping
Failing to follow health and safety rules

We also deal with the more serious gross misconduct matters where you may need to suspend and termination is a possibility.

Contact Mint HR

or Call 01138 630 011

How Mint can help you navigate disciplinaries

Ensuring you have a policy which covers what is expected and what may happen if they don’t abide by your rules and codes of conduct.
Offering general advice, acting as a sounding board to advise if you’re overreacting or if informal/formal action should be taken.
Helping you to investigate, speak to witnesses, the individual, gather evidence.
Formalising the process with invite letters and supporting with suspension if required.
Preparing a brief for the meeting, including pre-prepared questions- that way — if you want to lead — you know exactly what to ask.

Hold the meeting — either as lead or support.
Record the meeting — something to refer back to.
Provide advice to assist in the all-important decision, should a sanction be imposed and, if so, which one.
Follow up in writing, ensuring the individual is aware of the right to appeal.
Support with any appeal.
Check in later down the line to make sure everything is working well and to advise when the formal sanction will lapse.

Case Study

A client contacted us with a tricky situation which involved an employee who was contracted to work for a client of theirs. The client didn’t raise a complaint but when reviewing expenses submitted the employer became suspicious. They reviewed the cars tracker to make sure the employee was where they were claiming to be – they were not!

Mint was brought in to review the evidence and to support with investigation and then the disciplinary process.

The individual tried every trick in the book to deflect from the real issue – that he had fraudulently claimed expenses. With clever questioning and presentation of all the evidence, there was nowhere to hide.

The client was extremely grateful for our calm approach and this individual was dismissed.

Frequently Asked Questions

The purpose of disciplinary action is to correct work-related behaviour. Every member of your team is expected to maintain standards of performance and conduct as outlined in your contract, company handbook, policies and the law and also by their line manager. If you have evidence that an employee is not maintaining standards of performance and/or conduct, a disciplinary hearing give all parties an opportunity to formally discuss these concerns and provide a suitable outcome.

Yes, disciplinary procedures must follow the Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures and the accompanying guidance. Mint HR will ensure this for you.

A copy of your disciplinary procedure should be available for everyone to view in your handbook or relevant policy.

Failure to follow the Acas Code could mean that, if your decision is challenged and taken to tribunal, any compensation awarded could be increased by up to 25%. Similarly, if you fail to follow the Acas Code, any compensation you receive may be reduced by up to 25%.

Besides, it’s best practice and it makes sense to follow.

You should present the findings of your investigation, explain the concern, and give the employee a chance to respond.

Depending on the evidence and the defence provided, outcomes can range from no further disciplinary actions is required, issue a written warning outlining the improvements required to terminating employment.

There’s also the informal option – to provide a letter of concern. It’s always good, where possible, to start out informally if you can and you feel it will bring about the level of change you require.

Yes, employees have the right to appeal any formal sanction. Generally, we would want them to provide clear rationale for that appeal such as new information has come to light or they feel there was an error in the process.

Even without this, if an appeal is requested it should be heard and ideally by someone higher up the managerial chain. This isn’t always easy within small businesses and that’s where Mint can definitely help.

Yes, an employee has the right to be accompanied at a formal disciplinary meeting. At investigation stage or with an informal process they don’t have this right. This can be a colleague or trade union representative. This right is known as “the right to be accompanied” and applies to both grievance and disciplinary hearings.