How to: prepare for and run a disciplinary hearing

Please read [INSERT COMPANY] disciplinary procedure as well – this can be found
[INSERT RESOURCE].

1/ Getting the hearing organised

 Give at least two clear working days notice of the hearing – but remember
for more complex cases particularly if crime or compliance are involved,
you’ll need to give much longer notice, see section [INSERT APPLICABLE
SECTION IN DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURE]

 Start the meeting at a reasonable time – normally this is between 10 –

11am depending on how far people have to travel

 Make any reasonable adjustments e.g. meeting room on ground floor level
if employee has reduced mobility or a sign-language interpreter if
employee has a hearing impairment

 Remind the employee they can bring someone to the hearing with them –
details about this are in their letter

 Make sure all under 18s are going to bring someone with them – a parent,
work colleague or union representative

 The employee can also have reasonable paid time off work to meet with
their representative (if they have one) before the hearing

 Check any witnesses needed can attend

 Book rooms and make sure they’re away from the employee’s workplace –
and remember the employee will also need a private area to talk to their
representative (if they have one)

 If the hearing is in a different building, let the reception/security staff

know who’s coming and the times

 Tell the employee who to ask for when they arrive

 The employee must take all reasonable steps to attend a hearing but they
can ask for it to be rearranged to another date, provided it’s within the
next 5 working days

 At stages 1 and 2 you’ll do all the paperwork – use the standard letter
asking the employee to come to the disciplinary hearing and send it to
them with the “hints and tips” guidelines for employees and witnesses

 Send a copy of the letter to [INSERT APPLICABLE PERSONNEL

ADMINISTRATION]

 At stage 3 of the disciplinary procedure, HR administrators will do the

paperwork for you, including asking the employee to the disciplinary
hearing – get in touch with them on [INSERT APPLICABLE CONTACT
DETAILS]

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2/ Prepare yourself

 Read the Disciplinary Procedure

 Read all the paperwork e.g. reports, plans, statements, so you’re familiar
with the key issues that will be talked about at the hearing

 Plan how you’re going to run things – what questions you want to ask, any
extra information you need, etc

 Get in touch with [INSERT APPLICABLE MANAGERIAL RESOURCE] if you

want to talk through any issues or understand what action has been taken
in the past for similar cases – but remember each case is unique

3/ What happens if the employee doesn’t turn up?

 Try and get in touch with the employee on the phone and ask why they’ve
not turned up

 If the person’s got a good reason for not turning up and it’s at stage 1 or
stage 2, agree a new time and date and confirm this in writing – see letter
templates

 If the person’s got a good reason for not turning up and it’s at stage 3, get
in touch with [INSERT APPLICABLE RESOURCE] and they’ll sort out the
admin and paperwork for you

 If you can’t get hold of the individual, check you’ve got their correct
address and write to them telling them to get in touch straightaway – see
letter templates

 If you need help at any time get in touch with [INSERT APPLICABLE
MANAGERIAL RESOURCE]

 Depending on what’s happened, there may be some rare occasions when

it’s ok to make a decision in the employee’s absence but before doing this
you must talk about things with [INSERT APPLICABLE MANAGERIAL
RESOURCE]

 Remember to send a copy of any paperwork to [INSERT APPLICABLE

PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATON]

4/ At the disciplinary hearing

Depending on the stage of the disciplinary hearing and the circumstances, a

mixture of the following people may be at the hearing – chair, investigator,
employee, manager, trade union or work colleague representative, witnesses,
compliance officer, etc.

At the disciplinary hearing, all parties have to behave in a reasonable way, at all
times. Anyone can ask for a short break – but the chair decides if it’s ok.
Witnesses may only attend for part of the hearing.

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How things are done:

The chair:

 Starts the hearing by introducing everyone, explaining why a hearing’s

been called and how things will run – if it’s a hearing at stage 3, read the
script – what to say at stage 3

 If the employee doesn’t bring a representative with them, refer to this fact
and write it in your notes of the hearing

 Ask whoever’s presenting the management case, to do this – this could be

the employee’s manager or the investigator

 Looks at any paperwork that’s been provided

 Listens to any evidence from witnesses

 Asks questions and let employee/their representative ask questions also –

but through you

 Ask the employee to present their case

 Looks at any paperwork that the employee’s provided

 Asks questions and lets the management team ask questions also – but
again through you

 Asks both sides – management and employee or their representative – to

sum up their cases

 Takes a break of around 25 minutes to consider everything and makes a

decision

 Starts the meeting again and tells everyone what they’re decided and
why, explains the appeal process and confirms they’ll put things in writing

5/ Deciding what to do

 You’ll need to show that your decision was reasonable based on the
information you had. Was the evidence clear? Did you fully look into any
underlying issues? Did the employee have a chance to give their views?
Did the employee understand the process and have their rights explained
to them? Was the process hurried in any way? Did you act reasonably and
fairly to both parties?

 We’ve got a form for analysing information that may be useful – see the
form templates

 Fairness and consistency are really important when deciding what to do –

but you need to also think about any mitigating or special circumstances

 Your decision doesn’t have to be the same as ones made for similar
offences – but if it’s different, you must be able to explain why

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  You must be able to show you acted reasonably, looked at any mitigating
issues and gave “natural justice”. Acting reasonably means not rushing
things and making reasonable decisions. Mitigating issues are things like
seriousness of the problem, the employee’s job and previous work record,
their length of service, if they were provoked, any special circumstances
etc. Natural Justice is used to summarise the principles of reasonableness
and fairness that should be the heart of any decision

6/ Telling people your decision

It’s normal to give your decision face-to-face when you start the hearing again,
after the adjournment. If you can’t make a final decision e.g. you need to get
more information, tell the employee and let them know when they’ll hear from
you. Make sure you tell the employee your decision first, closely followed by their
representative, if they have one. This decision must then be confirmed in writing
within the following 5 working days.

When telling people what you’ve decided, you should:

 Summarise the main issues and evidence you’ve heard

 Explain why you’ve made that decision

 Use the script

Confirm what happens next – this will depend on what you’ve decided:

i. No further action – make arrangements for the employee to go back to

work – this is really important if the employee’s been suspended/
transferred to another job (see the guidelines on how best to do this)

ii. Formal action – confirm the stage of warning, what having a warning
means, how they need to improve, by when and any support that’ll be
given

iii. Dismissal
 Gross Misconduct – dismissal is straightaway. The employee
doesn’t get any notice or pay instead of it. They get paid up to
today and you’ll need to sort out any outstanding holiday pay they
are owed/ owe [INSERT COMPANY]. You should ask the employee
to leave the premises straightway and make sure they return any
property – or make arrangements to return these things.
 Other dismissals – the employee could work their notice, go on
garden leave (if their contract allows this) or be paid instead of
working their notice. You’ll need to sort out their final pay along
with any outstanding holiday pay they are owed/ owe [INSERT
COMPANY]

 Tell the employee about their right of appeal if they don’t agree with your
decision

 Apart from when the employee’s dismissed without notice, you should
remind them about support [INSERT APPLICABLE CONTACT DETAILS]

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 Send the relevant letter – but remember, if it’s at stage 3, HR
administration do this for you but you’ll need to complete the gaps in the
letter – get in touch with them on [INSERT APPLICABLE CONTACT
DETAILS]

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