A one-day practical, participative workshop designed to give managers knowledge, confidence and techniques to manage disciplinary hearings effectively and within the legal framework.
Learning Objectives
By attending this workshop, delegates will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which our disciplinary process delivers ‘fairness’ according to the legal framework
- Identify the respective roles in the hearing, and show how to define the role of a representative to keep a hearing constructive
- Describe when and how to suspend an employee – and how to follow up on that suspension
- Plan a disciplinary hearing and identify the factors of a case to take into account to make a fair decision about outcome and relevant sanction.
- Identify steps to take to manage their team after a team member has faced disciplinary action.
Course Overview
We build all our training programmes bespoke, so it’s down to where you want the emphasis of your workshop to be. Here is an example of what a typical course could look like, but please get in touch to tailor this for your business.
| Topic | Content |
|---|---|
| Introductions and welcome | The objectives for the session Introduction to the approach to the programme and case study How key investigations techniques are relevant here too |
| The legal framework for a fair, effective disciplinary hearing | The fair dismissal ‘formula’ The ACAS Code ‘whats’ and ‘Hows’ The standard of proof: what exactly is a ‘reasonable decision’? A step by step guide to the disciplinary procedure |
| Suspending an employee | When and how to suspend an employee Keeping in touch with a suspended team member |
| The importance of the invitation to a hearing | Case study-based critique of an invitation letter |
| Managing the participants at a hearing | The employee’s right to be accompanied Who can be a companion and what is their role? |
| Planning the hearing | The role of the chairperson to explore the issues. When do you ask (question), tell and review? |
| A ‘reasonable’ decision: Did the employee commit the alleged misconduct? | Making a ‘reasonable’ decision How do you achieve a ‘genuine belief based on reasonable grounds’ |
| The appropriate sanction | What’s the role of a warning? When can you dismiss? The role of mitigating and aggravating factors The role of consistency |
| Completing the outcome letter | How to 'show your workings' |
| Appeals | What happens if...? |
| Close | Key learnings and action planning |