Taking disciplinary action against an employee
Disciplinary proceedings and taking disciplinary action
1. Overview
You should have written disciplinary rules and procedures to deal with employee performance and conduct and you must tell your staff about them.
Your rules must say what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in the workplace and what action you will take if the rules are broken.
The rules should follow the Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures.
Download 'Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures' (PDF, 1MB)
Not following the code isn't illegal. However, if someone wins an employment tribunal against you and you didn't follow the code, then their award could be up to 25% more.
Acas guide to discipline and grievances
The Acas guide to discipline and grievances at work gives more information for employers about taking disciplinary action.
Download 'Acas guide to discipline and grievances at work' (PDF, 1MB)
Acas Helpline
The Acas Helpline has further advice on disciplinary issues.
Acas Helpline
Telephone: 0300 123 1100
Textphone: 08456 06 16 00
Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm
Saturday, 9am to 1pm (telephone only)
Find out about call charges
Practical training courses
Acas also runs practical training courses on workplace discipline.
2. Writing disciplinary proceedings
Your disciplinary procedures should follow the Acas code of practice.
Download 'Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures' (PDF, 1MB)
Not following the code isn't illegal. However, if someone wins an employment tribunal against you and you didn't follow the code, then their award could be up to 25% more.
The exact rules will depend on your organisation, but could cover things like:
- acceptable and unacceptable behaviour
- absence and timekeeping
- health and safety
- use of phones and the internet
You can't normally discipline or dismiss an employee for whistleblowing.
Gross misconduct
Your disciplinary rules should give examples of what will be treated as gross misconduct. This is misconduct judged so serious that it’s likely to lead to dismissal without notice, eg fraud, theft and physical violence.
Telling employees about disciplinary rules
Your disciplinary rules must be in your statement of employment or clearly written elsewhere, eg in a staff handbook.
The rules should clearly say when someone might face disciplinary action and what that action could be.
You must also give the name of someone they should appeal to if they're unhappy about a disciplinary decision.
If you don't provide this information and an employee then wins an employment tribunal claim against you, they could be awarded 2 to 4 weeks' pay.
Disciplinary procedures and contracts
If you make your disciplinary procedures part of an employment contract then the employee could make a breach of contract claim against you if you don't follow your procedures.
Example letters and forms
Acas has a number of sample letters and forms for disciplinary proceedings on its website.
3. Disciplinary investigations and hearings
The law doesn’t say exactly how you should investigate disciplinary issues or hold disciplinary meetings.
However, the Acas guide to discipline and grievances at work has lots of practical advice about running disciplinary proceedings professionally and fairly.
Download 'Acas guide to discipline and grievances at work' (PDF, 1MB)
The suggested disciplinary process
The Acas guidance suggests that your disciplinary process should follow the following format:
A letter telling your employee the issue and inviting them to a disciplinary hearing.
A meeting with your employee to discuss the issue - they should have the right to be accompanied.
A letter to your employee saying what action you are going to take. This should be sent as soon as practically possible.
Your employee should than have a chance to appeal your decision.
Disciplinary decisions
Disciplinary decisions could be anything that could resolve the problem.
This could include:
- no action
- written warning
- final warning
- demotion
- dismissal
- mediation with a co-worker
4. Appeals
An employee has the right to appeal against a decision made after a disciplinary hearing.
You should tell them about this when you give them written notice of your decision, and should give them a deadline to tell you they want to appeal.
Your employee’s statement of terms and conditions of employment must legally include the person they can apply to if they want to appeal a disciplinary decision. It must also explain how to do this.
If the employee does decide to appeal, you should try to hold the appeal hearing as soon as possible.
You should follow the Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures' when dealing with appeals. Otherwise, if someone wins an employment tribunal against you their award could be higher.
Download 'Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures' (PDF, 1MB)