Staff Disciplinary Policy

This policy is designed to help and encourage all employees to achieve and maintain standards of conduct, attendance and job performance. The company rules this
procedure apply to all employees / workers. The aim is to ensure consistent and fair treatment for all in the organisation.

Informal action will be considered, where appropriate, to resolve problems.

No disciplinary action will be taken against an employee until a reasonable investigation of the allegations has been undertaken.

The employee will be advised of the nature of the complaint against them and will be given the opportunity to state their case before any decision is made at a
disciplinary meeting.

Employees will be provided, where appropriate, with written copies of evidence and relevant witness statements in advance of a disciplinary meeting. Witness statements
may be, in appropriate circumstances, anonymised.

At all meetings that may result in a disciplinary sanction being imposed, you will have the right to be accompanied by a trade union representative, or work colleague.

An employee will have the right to appeal against any disciplinary action.

The procedure may be implemented at any stage if the employee’s alleged misconduct warrants this.

This will normally be a first warning for misconduct if conduct does not meet acceptable standards. This will be in writing and set out the nature of the misconduct and the change in behaviour required and the right of appeal. The warning will also inform the employee that a final written warning may be considered if there is no sustained satisfactory improvement or change.

A record of the written warning will be kept for 12 months, but will then be considered spent – subject to achieving and sustaining satisfactory conduct.

If the offence is sufficiently serious, or if there is further misconduct during the currency of a prior warning, a final written warning may be given to the employee. This will give details of the complaint, the improvement required and the timescale. It will also warn that failure to improve may lead to dismissal (or some other action short of dismissal) and will refer to the right of appeal.

A copy of this written warning will be kept on your personnel record but will be disregarded for disciplinary purposes after 12 months’ subject to achieving and sustaining satisfactory conduct.

If there is still further misconduct the final step in the procedure may be dismissal or in appropriate cases, some other action short of dismissal such as demotion, disciplinary suspension with no pay or transfer. Dismissal decisions can only be taken by the appropriate manager, and the employee will be provided in writing an outline of the reasons for dismissal, the date on which the employment will terminate, and the right of appeal.

If some sanction short of dismissal is imposed, the employee will receive details of the complaint, will be warned that dismissal could result if there is no satisfactory improvement in the future, and will be advised of the right of appeal.

The following list provides some examples of offences which are normally regarded as gross misconduct:

If you are accused of an act of gross misconduct, you may be suspended from work on full pay, whilst the alleged offence is investigated. If, on completion of the investigation and the full disciplinary procedure, the organisation is reasonably satisfied that gross misconduct has occurred, the result will normally be summary dismissal without notice or payment in lieu of notice.

An employee who wishes to appeal against a disciplinary decision must do so in writing within five working days. The Principal (or a member of the board of trustees) will hear the appeal and their decision is final.

Please note the recording of any meeting is not prohibited unless all parties have agreed.

The organisation reserves the right to review this policy and procedure at any time if deemed necessary and to amend it accordingly. Any changes will be notified to all staff and updates uploaded to SharePoint and the College’s website.

Date: September 2020
Person Responsible: Head of Human Resources