What happens to an employee’s continuity of service if he or she is dismissed but reinstated on appeal?
Where an employee is dismissed but reinstated on appeal, should he or she be paid for the time between the dismissal and the successful appeal?
What should an employer take into account in deciding if, and what, disciplinary action is merited?
Is an employer obliged to impose the same disciplinary action where two employees break the same rule?
When an employee is issued with a formal warning, should the employee be required to sign and return a copy of the warning letter?
Can the time period for which a warning is active be "paused" when a woman goes on maternity leave and then "resumed" afterwards?
If an employee is absent without authorisation can the employer make a deduction from his or her pay?
Can an employer lawfully dismiss an employee whose absence is not authorised?
Can expired warnings be taken into account when deciding an appropriate penalty during subsequent disciplinary proceedings?
Where an employee is given a warning for a particular conduct issue, but then commits a different type of misconduct, can the employer move to the next stage of the disciplinary procedure to address that issue or must it start a separate procedure?
Do employers have the right to dismiss employees without notice?
Where an employer stipulates a probationary period for new employees must it wait until the end of this period before dismissing an unsatisfactory probationer?
If an employee resigns after disciplinary proceedings have been commenced should the employer continue the disciplinary procedure?
If an employer failed to follow its procedures for employees on probation would a dismissed probationer have any redress?
What are the possible consequences of failing to follow the Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures?
Should an employer deal with an employee's poor performance through its disciplinary or capability procedure?
Whether an employer should deal with an employee's poor performance through its disciplinary or capability procedure will depend on the nature of the poor performance. The employer will need to carry out an investigation, which will include meeting with the employee concerned, to establish whether the employee's poor performance is conduct or capability related. If it is conduct related (ie the employee has some control over his or her actions), it is appropriate for the employer to follow its disciplinary procedure. However, if the employee's poor performance is capability related (ie he or she does not have control over his or her failure to meet the employer's standards of performance), it will be appropriate for the employer to follow a capability procedure for performance management.
It is not always obvious whether an employee's poor performance is due to capability or conduct. In some cases it will be a combination of the two. The employer may need to adopt the procedure that appears to it to be the most appropriate, and change course if the evidence that emerges suggests that this is necessary. Irrespective of which procedure the employer follows, it should comply with the Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures (PDF format, 1.58MB) (on the Acas website).
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Is an employee entitled to be accompanied at a meeting to discuss poor performance?
What is a reasonable review period when setting targets for an employee who is underperforming?
For how long should warnings for poor performance remain "live"?
Do employers need to consider alternative work before dismissing an employee who is underperforming?