HR Business Consultants

Disciplinary

How to close an investigation properly

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If find following the investigation that there is no need to go to a disciplinary hearing you need to ensure that the following actions are taken.

The employee that has been investigated

A meeting should be arranged for anyone who has been investigated to discuss the outcome and answer any questions or concerns they may have.  The will want to know the impact this investigation has had on their career or how they face their colleagues when they return to work.  Who knows why it happened and who can they discuss it with.  You must be prepared for all these answers.

A letter should be sent to them with the outcome to ensure they know that it has not damaged their career.

The person that raised the concern

Again a meeting should be held to explain to them your feedback.  Remember you cannot disclose anything confidential about the other employee, but again you need to be prepared to answer any questions.

What can the company learn from this?

Recommendations can be made by you to ensure this does not happen again.  You could recommend training, mentoring or introducing a process.

 

If you need help with an investigation please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

Dealing with alcohol related problems

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At some point, an employee may arrive at work feeling jaded after a night of excess but what should SMEs do if they suspect that an employee has a problem with alcohol?
If it’s affecting an employee’s performance at work or causing absenteeism, then address it soon as possible. There is now a distinct shift away from dealing with alcohol related work problems immediately as a disciplinary issue, and towards a more supportive one where the problem is treated as an illness.
This approach, strongly advocated by ACAS, involves interviewing the employee in private and pointing out areas of concern, be it poor performance, absenteeism or otherwise and sharing with the employee any evidence available. For example, this might be sickness absence records. The employee should be given an opportunity to explain and encouraged to be frank and open about any personal problems that may be the cause of poor work performance. If the employee does not raise the issue of alcohol and you still suspect that this might be the problem, they should be asked tactfully about this, and if the company has a policy on alcohol this should be pointed out.
If the employee accepts that there is an alcohol problem, support should be offered in the first instance. This could take the form of a referral to Occupational Health, counselling services or guidance on support groups, such as Alcohol Concern. But a clear timeline should be set within which the employee would be expected to take steps to address the issue and for a change in his performance or absence record. Make it clear to the employee that if they do not co-operate and if there is no change then disciplinary action is likely which could ultimately lead to dismissal.
Preventing alcohol issues in the workplace.

Bottle picture
Most SMEs without HR support will not relish the prospect of having these sensitive conversations with employees and so the best way to avoid having to do so is prevention. A clear policy on alcohol is a good starting point and this can also help on cases where performance isn’t being affected but you suspect someone is drinking on the job.
Any such policy should identify what is or is not acceptable – are employees allowed to drink alcohol during lunch breaks, when entertaining clients, or on special occasions? Also, providing information to staff about alcohol and health may promote sensible drinking, or encourage any staff with a drink problem to approach the employer first, making the employer’s job that bit easier.
No employer wants to be a spoil sport but alcohol related absenteeism and the effects of drinking on productivity and safety can have a significant impact on a business, not forgetting the potential disciplinary headaches it could cause. The key is to maintain a balance between having motivated and happy employees and an efficient business so if you think a staff member may have a problem, don’t leave it. Confront it with care.
If you need assistance please do not hesitate to contact us through www.HRBusCons.co.uk

Must an employer disclose notes and witness statements produced during a grievance or disciplinary procedure if an employee requests them?

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Picture with people with speach bubbles above their headsEmployees have the right under the Data Protection Act 1998 to request access to information about them that is held on file, whether manually or on computer. For example, an employee who has raised a grievance and is not satisfied with the outcome may request copies of the written evidence on which the decision was made, including statements obtained from witnesses, or an employee about whom a grievance has been made may request evidence relating to the complaint. The employer can refuse to disclose the document in question if its disclosure would also reveal information about a third party who can be identified from the information, unless the third party has consented to the disclosure or it is reasonable in all the circumstances to comply with the request without his or her consent.

The employer should not automatically refuse to disclose a document if a third party, for example a colleague who has given a witness statement, does not consent to it being released. The employer should consider taking steps to anonymise the document before disclosing it. This might involve:

  • blanking out the witness’s name and any other information from which he or she could be identified;
  • editing the statement to conceal the identity of the witness; or
  • where there are several witness statements from different employees, preparing a summary of the information contained in the statements.

Ultimately, the employer should take a reasoned decision about whether or not it would be reasonable in the circumstances to disclose a witness statement or other document. This will involve balancing the witness’s right to privacy against the employee’s right to know what information is held about him or her, and its source.

Where a disciplinary investigation results in the decision to proceed to a disciplinary hearing, the employer should provide the employee with copies of any witness statements and other written evidence that will be referred to in the hearing. The employee has the right to know the case against him or her and to be able to challenge it, so evidence should be anonymised or withheld only where there is a strong reason for doing so.

The Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures, which is taken into account in relevant tribunal proceedings, states that it would normally be appropriate to provide the employee with copies of any written evidence with the notification of the disciplinary hearing. The non-statutory guide that accompanies the code states that the employer should give copies of any meeting records to the employee, but states that protecting a witness is an example of a circumstance in which withholding information may be appropriate.

 


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