Employment disciplinary procedure

This at-will relationship can be modified in two different ways. One is by statute, which will be discussed in detail later, and the other is by private contract between the hospital and the nurse. Although it is probably a rare practice in the field, hospitals and nurses can sign employment contracts that spell out the duties and responsibilities of the two parties, and which modify the typical at-will relationship. No doubt more common are contracts negotiated between unions representing the nurses and the hospital itself. Such contracts often spell out the terms and conditions of the job, including hours of work, limits on required overtime work, and disciplinary procedures to be followed if an employee fails to comply with the conditions in the contract. 

If there are 20 or more employees at your place of employment then there should be a disciplinary procedure written down, which must be followed. If you do get a warning, then you might like to see this as a second chance to start again. 

Where disciplinary matters do arise, the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) Code of Practice 1 on Disciplinary practice and procedures in employment recommends that disciplinary procedures should ... 

The Court of Appeal iuT v Cropp, confirmed that Section 1 applies to insiders who access computers, as well as to remote hackers, but the Act itself prevents criminalization of employees who out of carelessness or inattention obtain access to part of an employer s data or computer system without permission, or who inadvertently step outside the scope of their authority to use the system. A person will only be guilty of the offence if the intention was to tty to gain access, knowing at the time of so doing that the access was unauthorized. The employee who is careless or inadvertent is more appropriately dealt with by disciplinary procedures at the workplace than by the criminal law. Furthermore it was confirmed ini v Bignall that an employee who has authorized access, but who uses the information obtained for an improper purpose, is not guilty of an offence under Section 1, but is more appropriately dealt with by internal disciphnary procedures or, may be liable for prosecution under the Data Protection Act. ... 

A record should be kept of any disciplinary actions taken against an employee for breach of the rules including lack of capability, conduct etc. and what disciplinary action was taken and the reasons supporting such action. The disciplinary procedures should be reviewed from time to time to ensure that they comply with the then practices of the employer. A written record should be kept of an oral warning to prove that it was actually given. 

Until the case of Polkey v. A.E. Dayton (Services) ht the courts tended to take the view that where employers did not follow their disciplinary procedures, but even if they had it would have made no difference to the outcome, tiien the dismissal was fair notwithstanding such failure. This principle was summarised by Browne Wilkinson, J. in Sillifant v. Powell Dufjryn Timber Ltd as follows ... 

Further, it is essential for the employer to stick to his disciplinary procedures and give the appropriate warnings. 

Bullying is a form of organizational violence and a potential source of work-related stress. Bullying is primarily an employee relations issue, best dealt with by employers internal and disciplinary procedures before it becomes a risk to an employee s health. 

The same procedure will be followed if disciplinary action is required when a person fails to meet the general terms and conditions of employment, outside or beyond personal performance criteria, agreed with the company. 

In this context, it is first of all necessary to point out the Tjenestemcendslov, which was enacted in 1919 to regulate the remuneration and conditions of service on behalf of civil servants and public-sector employees. Since that time, this public service legislation - similar to the legal situation in Germany - has formed a part of administrative law, not labour law. It applies to state employees in particular positions (i.e. in the judiciary, the police force, etc.), church officials and elemen-taiy school teachers. Municipal public servants are essentially put on a par with state civil servants under municipal law. Notable elements here are the service relationship cannot be terminated by the employer an employee s removal from office is only possible as a result of a severe disciplinary offence followed by a judicial procedure under civil service law and, in cases where an official agency is... 

Information regarding disciplinary rules and grievance procedure must also accompany the written particulars. These requirements are not however conclusive evidence of the terms of the contract of employment, but an employee can ask for the contract to be altered to correspond with the terms if he feels there are discrepancies. It is common also for the particulars to... 

Specify procedures applicable to taking disciplinary action against an employee and the exemption originally given in the 1996 Act to employers of less than 20 employees has been removed. 

Employers are required to follow the statutory dispute resolutions procedures contained in Schedule 2 of the Employment Act 2002. There are two types of disciplinary and dismissal procedure (DDF) the standard DDF and the modified dismissal procedure. Employers may incorporate the steps contained in the statutory DDF in their own internal procedures. 

Dismissal is dealt with in the following section, but a Tribunal, to find a dismissal fair, must be satisfied that the dismissal was reasonable in all the circumstances. In the majority of cases this entails the employer following his own disciplinary and grievance procedures subject to the statutory DDF having been included. It is important that an employer should have formal disciplinary rules which should be communicated to each and every employee. It is a requirement of the Employment Rights Act 1996 that the written particulars of employment include the disciplinary rules that are applicable. Should such communication not have taken place the employer will not be able to rely on such rules, and a dismissal which might otherwise have been fair could be ruled unfair. Failure to follow the statutory dismissal procedure will render any dismissal automatically unfair. 

As well as referring to his disciplinary rules and procedures, an employer should refer to the contract of employment to ascertain what was required of the employee. 

---