Is it important to distinguish misconduct from capability.
If, however, an employee fails to come up to the required standard as a result of their own carelessness, negligence or lack of effort, this could be regarded as misconduct because such behaviour is within the employee’s control.
Capability issues should be dealt with under HR03 – Performance Management Policy.
As a first step in tackling unsatisfactory behaviour or in the event minor misconduct you should hold an informal meeting with the employee to make them aware of how and why the behaviour in question is causing a problem.
During the meeting you should:
Despite the fact that the discussion is informal, you should take record of the meeting and send a copy of the Human Resources department to be kept on the employee’s file.
Gross misconduct is misconduct which is serious enough it could lead to summary dismissal (dismissal without notice).
If you suspect an employee’s actions amount to gross misconduct, you should contact Human Resources as soon as possible.
Even in cases of gross misconduct, the usual disciplinary process and policy must be followed.
Suspending an employee while an investigation takes place may be necessary in certain circumstances. Examples where you might need to suspend an employee could be:
Suspension should always be a last resort and should not be an automatic reaction to a situation. Other options should be considered before suspension, for example:
As a line manager, you should always act promptly to deal with any misconduct on the part of your employees. A failure to communicate to an employee that something that they have done is unacceptable may lead the employee to assume that their conduct is satisfactory. This will make it much more difficult for you to deal effectively with the problem behaviour, which may get worse at a later time.
An investigation should always take place prior to any disciplinary action. Human Resources will work with you to create an investigation plan to ensure an adequate investigation has taken place.
When completing an investigation, statements should be recorded on the investigation statement form.
On completion of the investigation an investigation report should be completed.
Templates for the report and statements can be found here: S:\Grace Eyre Shared Folder\FORMS – ONE FRONT DOOR\STAFF FORMS\Investigations
It is important that when meeting with the employee suspected of misconduct the investigation does not turn into a disciplinary. The aim of the investigation is to find out the facts of what happened. The disciplinary hearing is to decide what to do about it.
Your role as investigator is to advise – based on the facts established during the investigation – what you believe a reasonable course of action would be. Your recommendations will then be sent to a deciding manager who will consider your recommendations and ultimately decide on the appropriate action to take.
Examples of what you may recommend:
Before chairing a hearing, you will have been given copies of all relevant documentation.
Human Resources will supply you with a template for the hearing to ensure all points are covered and to structure the hearing. You will need to add additional questions to the template before the hearing.
You will not usually be able to offer an outcome at the disciplinary hearing as you will need time to carefully and thoroughly consider a reasonable outcome and the employee’s representations heard during the hearing.
Following a disciplinary hearing it may be necessary to issue a warning to the employee. You can skip stages depending on the seriousness of the misconduct. To determine the warning you should consider:
