Policies

Disciplinary & Grievance Policy

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Market Deeping Town Council

 

Disciplinary & Grievance Policy

 

Statement Of Policy

 

1. The aim of the Town Council’s Disciplinary and Grievance Policy is to help and encourage employees to improve, achieve and maintain standards of conduct, attendance and job performance. It also enables management to deal effectively with those employees who do not comply with the Town Council’s standards of conduct, attendance and performance in the workplace. Equally, the policy and procedures are designed in a manner which is non-discriminatory and which is fair, consistent and effective. It must also be applied in a timely manner and without undue delay.

 

2. The Town Council has a responsibility for ensuring that employees are made aware of the Disciplinary & Grievance Policy and Procedures. All employees are to be informed of the standards of conduct and work performance expected of them and Managers should ensure that these standards are fully understood by those who work for them. Action taken under this policy must reflect fully the process detailed in the Procedures that follow in this policy.

 

3. Matters relating to or arising under the Disciplinary & Grievance Policy and Procedure must be treated as confidential at all times. Failure to do so may itself constitute grounds for initiating disciplinary action.

 

4. The Council will deal with all matters of discipline having regard to the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures in place at that time.

 

5. It is the Policy of Market Deeping Town Council that minor matters of misconduct or poor performance be dealt with informally, through advice, coaching, counselling and informal oral warnings. Notes of such actions will be taken but they will not be considered to be part of any Formal Disciplinary Procedure.

 

Should no improvement be noted or if a matter is considered to be sufficiently serious the matter will

be dealt with through the Formal Disciplinary Procedure described below.

Matters which may be considered formally through the Disciplinary Policy include: (This list is not

exhaustive)

  • Misconduct
  • Sub-standard Performance
  • misuse of company facilities including computer facilities (e.g. email and the Internet)
  • poor timekeeping
  • unauthorised absences

 

Disciplinary Procedure

  • If a disciplinary matter is reported or suspected there may be a need to hold a preliminary meeting to establish as far as possible the facts.

 

  • If the matter is considered worthy of a Formal Disciplinary Enquiry the employee will be notified in writing of the alleged conduct, characteristics or other circumstances which led to the decision to invoke disciplinary proceedings. The employee will be notified of the time, date and venue of the Formal Disciplinary Hearing. The employee will be given a minimum of 5 working days notice of the Disciplinary meeting.

 

  • The employee will be informed of his/her right to be accompanied by a work colleague or Trade Union Representative and copies of any written evidence which may include witness statements will be provided.

 

  • The hearing will be chaired by the Town Clerk or in certain circumstances an appropriate person designated by the Town Clerk and will set out the basis of the allegations.

 

  • No Disciplinary Action should be taken (other than where appropriate suspension on full pay) until the hearing has been held and the decision fully notified.

 

  • The employee will be advised in writing of the outcome of the disciplinary meeting within 7 working days unless a longer period is specified and can be justified. If disciplinary action is taken, the employee will be informed of the required improvements which are necessary and if applicable details of timescales for achievement, the duration of the warning and the consequence of a failure to improve performance as required. The letter must include the date of the disciplinary meeting, the reason for issuing the warning as well as details of any sanctions which may be imposed. It should also be noted whether the employee invoked his/her right to be accompanied. The right of appeal will also be included.

 

Appeal

  • If an employee wishes to make an appeal he/she should do so in writing to the Chairman of the Human Resources Committee, within 14 days of the notification of the decision, who will then make arrangements to hear the appeal along with not less than 2 other members of the Committee.
  • The employee will be invited to attend the appeal hearing along with a colleague or union representative. The hearing should be held as soon as practically possible after the Appeal has been made.
  • The Appeal Committee can confirm or overturn the decision made at the Disciplinary Hearing and can confirm, reduce or increase the penalty awarded.
  • In the event of a Dismissal the employee has a further Right of Appeal to the Chairman of the Council in which case he/she must notify the Chairman of the Council in writing of the basis of the appeal within 14 days of notification of dismissal.

 

Possible outcome of Disciplinary Hearings may be as follows:

1. You may be found not guilty of any misdemeanour or charge.

2. Verbal warning

In the case of minor infringements you may be given a formal verbal warning. A note of the verbal warning will be kept on your file but will be disregarded for disciplinary purposes after a specified period (e.g. six months). You have the right to appeal against a formal verbal warning.

3. Written warning

If the infringement is more serious or there is no improvement in conduct after a formal oral warning you will be given a formal written warning giving details of the complaint, the improvement or change in behaviour required, the timescale allowed for this, the right of appeal and the fact that a final written warning may be given if there is no sustained satisfactory improvement or change. A copy of the written warning will be kept on file but will be disregarded for disciplinary purposes after a specified period (e.g. 6 months).

4. Final written warning

Where there is a failure to improve or change behaviour while a prior formal written warning is still in effect, or where the infringement is sufficiently serious, you may be given a final written warning. This will give details of the complaint, warn that failure to improve will lead to dismissal and refer to the right of appeal. The final written warning will be kept on file but will normally be disregarded for disciplinary purposes after a specified period (e.g. 12 months).

5. Demotion

There may be circumstances in which it is appropriate to contemplate demotion as an alternative to a more serious outcome. This would be where the conduct or performance presents an unacceptable risk.

6. Dismissal

If your conduct or performance still fails to improve the final step will be to contemplate dismissal.

 

Gross Misconduct

If, after investigation, it is confirmed that an offence that is considered Gross Misconduct has been

committed the employee can normally expect to be dismissed. Offences which would normally be

considered as Gross Misconduct are listed below (the list is not exhaustive)

  • theft
  • fraud and deliberate falsification of records
  • physical violence
  • harassment
  • serious bullying
  • deliberate damage to property
  • serious insubordination
  • misuse of an organisation's property or name
  • bringing the employer into serious disrepute
  • serious incapability whilst on duty brought on by alcohol or illegal drugs
  • serious negligence which causes or might cause unacceptable loss, damage or injury
  • serious infringement of health and safety rules
  • serious breach of confidence (subject to the Public Interest (Disclosure) Act 1998)

While the alleged gross misconduct is being investigated, the employee may be suspended on full pay

 

General principles applicable to the procedures

  1. The Council has authority to discipline the employee in accordance with this procedure and a disciplinary panel made up of Councillors will conduct hearings.
  2. The employee has the right to be accompanied to any meeting by a trade union representative or co- worker.
  3. Each step in the procedure will be taken without unreasonable delay and hearings will be held at reasonable times and locations.
  4. Meetings will be conducted in a manner that enables both the employer and employee to explain their cases.
  5. The Council will keep records detailing the nature of any breach of disciplinary rules or unsatisfactory performance, the employee’s defence or mitigation, the action taken and the reasons for it, whether an appeal was lodged, its outcome and any subsequent developments. These records will be kept confidential. The notes of the meeting will be typed and issued to all parties, and will be held on file in the Council’s offices. All of the documentation in relation to a Disciplinary meeting is subject to the principles of Data Protection

 

Grievance Procedure

The Council will deal with Grievance issues having regard to the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures in place at that time (see also the Staff Handbook).

It is Council policy to ensure that any employee with a grievance has access to a procedure, which can lead to a speedy resolution of the grievance in a fair manner.

Most routine complaints and grievances are best resolved informally in discussion with your immediate line manager.

Where the grievance cannot be resolved informally it will be dealt with under the following procedure.

 

The Standard Grievance Procedure

Step 1: You give us a written statement of your grievance

You must put your grievance in a written statement and send a copy to the Town Clerk. Where the

grievance is against this individual, the matter should be raised with the Chairman of the Human

Resources Committee (HR) who will present it to the HR Committee.

Step 2: Meeting is held and we inform you of the outcome

We will then invite you to attend a meeting to discuss the grievance within seven days of the Clerk receiving the statement.

The meeting will only take place once you have informed us of the basis for the grievance you have set out in your written statement,

and we have had a reasonable opportunity to consider what response to make. You must take all

reasonable steps to attend the meeting.

As soon as possible after the meeting we will inform you of the decision taken in response to the

grievance and notify you of your right to appeal if you are not satisfied with it.

Step 3: Appeal if necessary

If you then wish to appeal, you must inform the Chairman of the Council (who will not have been

involved in any procedures about the grievance) and we will invite you to an appeal hearing. You must

take all reasonable steps to attend.

As soon as possible after the hearing, we will inform you of our decision, which will be final.

 

Raising grievances after you have left the company

If you wish to raise a grievance after you have left the company's employment, you must follow a two-

step procedure.

Step 1: You give us a written statement of your grievance

You must put your grievance in a written statement and send a copy to the Town Clerk.

Step 2: We give you a written response

We will write back to you giving our response to the points you have raised.

 

General principles applicable to the procedures

  1. We will take each step in the procedure without unreasonable delay and arrange meetings at reasonable times and locations.
  2. Meetings will be conducted in a way that allows both parties to explain their case.
  3. Records should be kept detailing the nature of the grievance raised, our response, any action taken and the reasons for it. These records will be kept confidential.
  4. You have the right to be accompanied to the hearing by a trade union representative or a co-worker.

 

Formal Grievance Procedure -

In the case of Grievances not being fully resolved at the informal stage, a formal written approach is required to the Council. As a consequence, a formal Grievance Hearing will be held to address the matter, within twenty-eight days of receipt of the Employee’s letter.

The Hearing will be conducted by a Panel of between two and three Elected Members who will be appointed by the Council or an appropriate subcommittee.

At this meeting Employees are entitled – and encouraged – to be accompanied by a work colleague from the Council or Trade Union Representative. Employees will be informed in writing of the outcome of the meeting within seven days.

If the Employee making the grievance is unhappy with the response to the meeting, they can issue an appeal, in writing. This Appeal must be submitted within seven days of receiving the response to the original grievance meeting.

 

Please Note

  1. Any Formal Grievance complaint which concerns the conduct of a Councillor will be addressed as a Code of Conduct complaint by the Council and will be referred to the District Council’s Monitoring Officer. This Council will not address the Employee’s Formal Grievance against an Elected Member. It will be addressed by the Monitoring Officer.