Investigation

The first step is to determine if you need to hold an investigation meeting, as the facts of the case need to be established, or if you only need to gather the evidence. This will depend firstly on what your disciplinary procedure states, if this states that an investigation meeting / interviews are part of the procedure then you will need to hold an investigation meeting with the employee. If you need to gather more facts, or you suspect that others may be involved then it’s advisable to hold an investigation meeting. If, however you have all the evidence, for instance, if the alleged misconduct is around persistent lateness for example, then the facts and any records can form the investigatory stage without the need to also hold an investigation meeting with the employee.

Evidence

You need to consider who will carry out the investigation, typically this would be line manager and then if required, who could carry out the disciplinary hearing, ideally this should be different people. If you are interviewing witnesses, you need to advise them that the notes or any witness statements they provide may need to be shared as evidence. 

Most of the work required for a disciplinary procedure will be in the development of the Investigation Report, this will summarise the findings and needs to show the evidence for and against the allegations.

Disciplinary hearing

The invite

Writing a formal disciplinary hearing invite can be difficult, especially if you do not write these often, there are several key things that need to be included:

• Any evidence you are relying on needs to be shared
• Confirming that the employee has the right to be represented at the hearing by a work colleague or a trade union representative
• You need to provide reasonable notice when inviting the employee to the hearing
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The hearing

The best advice I can give for the disciplinary hearing – is to be prepared! 

Understand the structure of the meeting to ensure you cover all the formalities e.g., does the representative know their role during the hearing. You also need to ensure you have the evidence to refer to and confirm that you will allow for adjournments for all parties. 

One key area of preparation is the questions or key areas you need to cover. Make sure you have these ready ahead of the hearing and you have given sufficient time to the preparation of these, so that you limit the number of potential adjournments required.

Outcome

Following the hearing you will need to reach a conclusion and follow up with a letter confirming that outcome. You do not have to deliver the outcome at the end of the hearing, you can deliver this the following day, if you feel you need time to reflect on the outcome to be delivered.  The formal outcome letter will need to confirm key information including the sanction, the length of time the sanction will be in place and the right to appeal.

If you need support dealing with a disciplinary issue, please reach out on 01905 900080.