Disciplinary Procedure

1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE

a) Many day to day performance issues can, and should be dealt with as part of ongoing supervision and development. Such matters are not regarded as a part of the formal disciplinary process although issues identified and/or discussed during supervision meetings may give rise to disciplinary proceedings. There are occasions when more serious matters arise or performance issues are not resolved through routine supervision sessions and this procedure describes how these will be dealt with.

b) This procedure is designed to help and encourage all employees to achieve and maintain standards of conduct, attendance and job performance. The aim is to ensure consistent and fair treatment for all. Every effort will be made to deal with matters as quickly as possible. This procedure should be read in conjunction with the ACAS Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance.

c) The full procedure set out in section 3 will not apply during an employee’s probationary period. During that time informal efforts will be made to resolve disciplinary and/or performance issues. Where this does not result in the required level of improvement in performance a formal disciplinary meeting will be arranged at which the employee can be accompanied as per paragraph 2c. This meeting may result in: no further action being taken, a note of the improvement required with or without an extension of the probationary period, dismissal with one weeks written notice. The employee will have the right to appeal against a decision to dismiss as per paragraph 6 but the dismissal will be effective pending the appeal hearing and subsequent decision.

2 PRINCIPLES

a) No disciplinary action will be taken against an employee until the case has been fully investigated. In exceptional cases the employee may be suspended on full pay pending the investigation however this suspension will not be regarded as ‘disciplinary action’.

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

c) At all formal disciplinary meetings the employee will have the right to be accompanied by prior arrangement, by a Trade Union representative, a fellow employee or an official employed by a trade union. Neither side will be represented by a legal firm or individual until the procedures have been exhausted and legal proceedings have begun.

d) No employee will be dismissed for a first breach of discipline except in the case of gross misconduct, when the penalty may be dismissal without notice or payment in lieu of notice.

e) An employee will have the right to appeal against any disciplinary penalty imposed.

f) The procedure may be implemented at any stage if the employee’s alleged misconduct warrants such action.

g) An employee will be made fully aware at the outset of any disciplinary case that the formal procedure is being used rather than the situation being an informal one.

h) All records relating to the proceedings will be kept confidential.

3 PROCEDURE

A Panel will be established to review the case and to conduct investigations when necessary. Minor faults will be dealt with informally, but where the matter is more serious the following procedure will be used.

STAGE 1 – WRITTEN WARNING
If conduct or performance does not meet acceptable standards, the employee will normally be given a written warning. This will give details of the complaint, the improvement required and the timescale. It will warn that action under Stage 2 will be considered if there is no satisfactory improvement and will advise of the right of appeal. A copy of this written warning will be kept on the personnel files but it will not usually*(see ‘time limits’) be taken into account in future disciplinary proceedings after a period of six months, subject to satisfactory conduct and performance.

STAGE 2 – FINAL WRITTEN WARNING
If the Panel considers that there is still a failure to improve, or conduct or performance is still unsatisfactory, or if the misconduct is sufficiently serious to warrant only one written warning but insufficiently serious to justify dismissal, a final written warning will be given by the Chair of the Panel. This will give details of the complaint, will warn that dismissal will result if there is no satisfactory improvement and will advise of the right of appeal. A copy of this final written warning will be kept on the personnel files but it will not usually*(see ‘time limits’) be taken into account in future disciplinary proceedings after a period of one year, subject to satisfactory conduct and performance.

STAGE 3 – DISMISSAL
If conduct or performance is still unsatisfactory and the employee still fails to reach the prescribed standards, or if gross misconduct occurs, dismissal will normally result. The employee will be provided, as soon as reasonably practicable, with written reasons for dismissal, the date on which employment will terminate and will be advised of the right of appeal.
*Time limits for warnings
There may be occasions where an employee’s conduct is satisfactory throughout the period that the warning is in force, only to lapse very soon thereafter. Where a pattern emerges and there is evidence of abuse, the employee’s disciplinary record should be borne in mind in deciding how long any warning should last.
Exceptionally there may be circumstances where misconduct is so serious – verging on gross misconduct – that it cannot realistically be ignored for future disciplinary purposes. In such circumstances, it should be made very clear that the final written warning can never be removed and that any recurrence of serious misconduct will lead to dismissal.

4 GROSS MISCONDUCT

Gross misconduct includes any action which threatens the organisation, its work or reputation, people connected with the organisation or members of the public, or which destroys the employer’s necessary relationship of trust with the employee.
The following list, while not exhaustive, provides examples of offences which are normally regarded as gross misconduct:
• Theft, fraud, deliberate falsification of records.
• Physical violence
• Serious bullying or harassment
• Discriminatory behaviour
• Abuse of position of authority
• Failure to comply with organisational policies and procedures
• Deliberate damage to property
• Serious act of insubordination
• Misuse of the organisation’s property or name
• Bringing the employer into serious disrepute
• Incapacity through alcohol or misuse of illegal drugs
• Serious negligence which causes unacceptable loss, damage or injury
• Serious infringement of health and safety rules
• Serious breach of confidence
• Unauthorised entry to computer records
• Action likely to endanger others
If you are accused of an act of gross misconduct, you may be suspended from work on full pay while the organisation investigates the alleged offence. If, on completion of the investigation and the full disciplinary procedure, the organisation is satisfied that gross misconduct has occurred, the result will normally be summary dismissal without notice or payment in lieu of notice.

5 SUSPENSION

While any alleged misconduct is being investigated, the employee may be suspended and will be paid their usual salary.
Suspension will not imply that any view has been reached by the organisation about the allegations made. It may assist the employee involved for a suspension to be made and it should not be seen as an indication of guilt. Once an investigation has been carried out, it may be decided that the Disciplinary interview is not necessary, or is not required.

6 APPEALS

An employee is entitled to appeal against any Disciplinary Warning or other Disciplinary Action. To do so an employee must notify the Chair of the Board of Trustees or his/her authorised deputy in writing within seven working days of receiving the written warning or other written notification of the penalty. The Chair or his/her deputy may, at his/her discretion, extend this period. The employee notice must specify the issues the employee wishes to appeal or contest.
The Chair or his/her deputy will appoint an Appeal Panel made up of three Trustees. If possible, in the interest of fairness, these will be people who have not been directly involved in the disciplinary procedure at any previous stage. If necessary, the Chair may replace a Trustee with an independent external person. The Appeal Panel will meet prior to the appeal meeting to review evidence and agree who should attend the appeal meeting to give evidence.
A meeting of the panel will be convened as quickly as is reasonably practicable. The employee will be given at least two working days notice of the meeting. The employee is entitled at the appeal meeting to be accompanied by a trade union representative or official employed by a trade union or fellow employee or non-lawyer friend. At the appeal any disciplinary penalty imposed will be reviewed but cannot be increased. Confirmation of the decision of the meeting will be given in writing within five working days. The decision of the Appeal Panel is final.

Date:
Signed:

Chair of BCVS Board Chief Executive BCVS