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Can an employer give you disaplinary procedures dated 1992
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It seems to demonstrate a rather ineffective organisation.
It isn't a legal requirement for an employer to have a disciplinary procedure though if it does have one, it is likely to run into problems if it does not operate to those procedures. If it is just the names that are out of date that probably wouldn't cause a problem at an Employment Tribunal in the event of a dispute involving dismissal or some other aspect of employment law, provided the employer had operated the sequence of activities described in the procedure..
It isn't a legal requirement for an employer to have a disciplinary procedure though if it does have one, it is likely to run into problems if it does not operate to those procedures. If it is just the names that are out of date that probably wouldn't cause a problem at an Employment Tribunal in the event of a dispute involving dismissal or some other aspect of employment law, provided the employer had operated the sequence of activities described in the procedure..
I think I shall fill you in.
I have a relative who has worked for the same company for 10 years as an engineer, he has an impeccable work record with no absences, in fact whenever he is on holiday he is phoned up to come in whenever there is a breakdown because he is the only engineer employed.
During the severe weather he couldnt make it into work, due to a mechanical fault on his car. There was no way of getting to work he works 17miles away and there are no bus services at 4 am.
That was 22nd and 23rd of dec then on the 6,7,8th of jan when the weather got even worse on every occasion he notified the relevent person as soon as it was possible.
When he went into work on the monday he was handed a letter asking him to an investigatory meeting at 10am that day. He went in and was asked to explain his absences after he had explained the MD said That he wasnt happy with his attitude either, He got another letter saying that he was to have a disaplinary on friday of that week as the MD wasnt happy with his reasons for being absent as the MD himself drove to his house on the 9th of jan without any difficulties. The letter then went on to say that one of the machines had broken down and with him being the only engineer, and his knowledge of the companys financial problems, he could have lost the company money. There was another machine available to do the job of the broken one.
He has now had his meeting in which there were 3 different issues raised and has now receieved a letter stating that it was a warning to be held on file for 12 months The letter stated that he wasnt happy about 2 days absence on which he phoned in both times. Where does he stand and should he appeal against the decision?
I have a relative who has worked for the same company for 10 years as an engineer, he has an impeccable work record with no absences, in fact whenever he is on holiday he is phoned up to come in whenever there is a breakdown because he is the only engineer employed.
During the severe weather he couldnt make it into work, due to a mechanical fault on his car. There was no way of getting to work he works 17miles away and there are no bus services at 4 am.
That was 22nd and 23rd of dec then on the 6,7,8th of jan when the weather got even worse on every occasion he notified the relevent person as soon as it was possible.
When he went into work on the monday he was handed a letter asking him to an investigatory meeting at 10am that day. He went in and was asked to explain his absences after he had explained the MD said That he wasnt happy with his attitude either, He got another letter saying that he was to have a disaplinary on friday of that week as the MD wasnt happy with his reasons for being absent as the MD himself drove to his house on the 9th of jan without any difficulties. The letter then went on to say that one of the machines had broken down and with him being the only engineer, and his knowledge of the companys financial problems, he could have lost the company money. There was another machine available to do the job of the broken one.
He has now had his meeting in which there were 3 different issues raised and has now receieved a letter stating that it was a warning to be held on file for 12 months The letter stated that he wasnt happy about 2 days absence on which he phoned in both times. Where does he stand and should he appeal against the decision?
OK, so I think that your starting point was 'if an employer uses an obsolete Disciplinary Procedure, does that nul the process'. To which I replied 'probably not.
You've now given a lot more about the case - your relative has been given a 1st Written Warning over an incident involving alleged misconduct for authorised absence. He thinks it is unfair.
On the face of what you reported I have to agree (yes, I've been involved in lots of these). However there are 2 sides to every story and I don't know what the other side had to say about it.
Rather than debate the pros and cons of the case, I'm going to point you to the ACAS Code of Conduct on discipline and grievance. It is here and you can download it:
http://www.acas.org.u...ia/pdf/l/p/CP01_1.pdf
It is not law that employers have to work exactly to it - but most employers who choose to write their own base theirs on the Code. It is also regarded as good employment practice in the (unlikely event in this case) of an case going to Employment Tribunal.
What you will in the Code are two things - how to run a decent disclinary interview and how to run the grievance procedure.
Your relative may elect to invoke the grievance procedure. Perhaps compare what it says in the old 1992 document about grievance - even 20-odd years ago this was good practice so it should be in there. If he does, take someone with him (was he told he could be accompanied at the DI? - he should have been - it is in the Code). Perhaps prepare a written notes beforehand on the main points to bring out at the meeting. The objective would be to get the Written Warning cancelled.
You've now given a lot more about the case - your relative has been given a 1st Written Warning over an incident involving alleged misconduct for authorised absence. He thinks it is unfair.
On the face of what you reported I have to agree (yes, I've been involved in lots of these). However there are 2 sides to every story and I don't know what the other side had to say about it.
Rather than debate the pros and cons of the case, I'm going to point you to the ACAS Code of Conduct on discipline and grievance. It is here and you can download it:
http://www.acas.org.u...ia/pdf/l/p/CP01_1.pdf
It is not law that employers have to work exactly to it - but most employers who choose to write their own base theirs on the Code. It is also regarded as good employment practice in the (unlikely event in this case) of an case going to Employment Tribunal.
What you will in the Code are two things - how to run a decent disclinary interview and how to run the grievance procedure.
Your relative may elect to invoke the grievance procedure. Perhaps compare what it says in the old 1992 document about grievance - even 20-odd years ago this was good practice so it should be in there. If he does, take someone with him (was he told he could be accompanied at the DI? - he should have been - it is in the Code). Perhaps prepare a written notes beforehand on the main points to bring out at the meeting. The objective would be to get the Written Warning cancelled.
Lastly a Written Warning is not the end of the world. It is basically saying keep your nose clean or further steps may be taken. I do understand how your relative must feel - a loyal and (he-thought) valued employee who has been peed upon at a great height. It inevitably takes time for trust between employee and employer to build up and I don't doubt that he doesn't feel much valued at this time. There is an opportunity through the grievance process to try to put right what appears to be a mis-carriage of justice - though his/her trust won't come bring any time soon.
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