Employment Practice

Background Most will agree that those found guilty of an offence should have a right of appeal and this principle applies within the employment relationship. Every employer must have DISCIPLINE and GRIEVANCE procedures incorporating the right of appeal. Ideally, appeals should be heard by someone other than those involved in its determination reviewing the case and reconsidering the decision (and/or the sanction) made. Commentary The DTI report ('Industrial Tribunals, Workplace Disciplinary Procedures and Employment Practice') indicated that employers who do not have and use effective disciplinary and grievance procedures, are more likely to lose tribunal cases. The most common failings were management not giving employees a chance to state their case or to appeal to someone not involved in the case. The Appeal process under the disciplinary procedure could use the Grievance procedure as the appeal clause. This has the advantage that since it is a procedure used for non-discipl...