Once a disciplinary hearing has been conducted, the decision should be confirmed to the employee in writing as soon as reasonably possible. This should be done in the form of a misconduct warning letter.
In many cases, the decision will be communicated verbally to the individual, however, this should always be followed up in writing with the employee. Even when only issuing a verbal warning, this should still be followed up in writing.
Tribunals take the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance into account and can adjust awards made by up to 25% for an unreasonable failure to comply with the code. The code states that the employee should be informed of the action being taken in writing and therefore a failure to do this could result in an increase of the award.
When writing to an employee to confirm the outcome of a disciplinary hearing you should always be sure to include the reason for disciplinary action, the nature of the warning, the consequences of further misconduct and the right to appeal against the decision taken.
Below is a summary of what should be included in the misconduct warning letter:
- The nature of the misconduct – you should include a summary setting out the employee’s misconduct, including when the offence occurred. For example, a warning for unauthorised absence could set out the dates of the unauthorised absence, the employee’s failure to provide an explanation and the effect this had on other employees.
- The improvement required – the misconduct letter should explain what the employee should do in the future in order to meet the expected standards of conduct. For instance, if an employee has been issued with a warning for using their mobile phone, the letter should explain the expected standards of behaviour and the company policy on mobile phone use should be re-iterated.
- Possible consequences – it is important to set out the possible consequences of a failure to improve. It would be best practice to include a statement along the lines of “a failure to improve or a repeat of similar behaviour could lead to the next stage of the disciplinary procedure being invoked.” If an employee is later dismissed, this may be seen as unfair if previous warnings do not make clear that similar behaviour may result in dismissal.
- Length of warning – the length of time that the warning will remain ‘live’ or on the employee’s file should be stated within the letter. After this period of time, the warning should be ignored for the purposes of a disciplinary process.
- Right of appeal – the misconduct letter should confirm that the employee has the right to appeal against the decision and it should also include the steps that the employee should take if he or she decides to appeal. For example, the appeal should be set out in writing stating the grounds for the appeal. The letter should also detail who the appeal can be addressed to within the organisation.
- Keeping a record – the letter should be kept on the employee’s file whilst the warning is still ‘live’. If any further misconduct occurs during the timeframe, this should be taken into account.
The letter that is sent to an employee following a disciplinary hearing is likely to be one of the most important documents that you will rely upon if you are required to defend any potential employment tribunal claim so it’s essential not to omit any of the above key points.
By following the above, it will be easier to progress to the next stage of the disciplinary process in the future. If you do reach the point where you need to dismiss, and this leads to you needing to defend any tribunal claims, the misconduct warning letters will act as evidence that the employee was fairly warned about the consequences of their actions and given the opportunity to improve their conduct.
Other articles on handling disciplinary issues that you may find useful:
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