Advice on Handling Discipline and Grievances at Work

This guide is purely advisory. It complements the Agency’s Code by giving more practical advice and guidance that employers and employees and their representatives will often find helpful both in general terms and in respect of individual cases.

Industrial tribunals are not required to have regard to the guidance in this booklet that does not form part of the Code.

The guide contains examples of dismissal, disciplinary and grievance procedures to help employers in all types and size of organisation. Although organisations can be flexible about how formal or extensive their dismissal and disciplinary procedures need to be, there are procedures they must follow by law. These are known as statutory procedures. Unless employers follow these procedures, industrial tribunals will find dismissals automatically unfair and adjust awards accordingly.  

In those grievance cases, for which an industrial tribunal has jurisdiction to determine, a failure to follow the grievance procedure set out in the Code (e.g. – where the employer does not offer a meeting to discuss the grievance matter or the employee does not invoke an appeal) may mean that the Industrial Tribunal adjusts any award.

This guide also gives information on the right to be accompanied at disciplinary and grievance hearings

Further information and help

If you require further information or help with this publication please contact us

Last updated: 14 September 2019