Disciplinaries can be tough. But sometimes, you’ve simply got to do what you’ve got to do.
Disciplinaries are a formal process. They can be stressful, cause conflict, and can be difficult for the team member to navigate. But, just because they’re difficult doesn’t mean they can’t be supportive and constructive.
Find out more about the steps you can take to ensure fairness, how to support the team member, and how to find a productive outcome for everyone during your disciplinary.
A disciplinary is a way for employers to deal with misconduct or workplace misbehaviour in a formal way. A disciplinary will usually come after trying to deal with a matter informally. However, it may be used in the first instances for more serious cases of misconduct (gross misconduct).
What constitutes misconduct and gross misconduct is usually set out in a company’s Disciplinary Policy. Examples of misconduct might include:
This will vary depending on the company’s Disciplinary Policy.
Gross misconduct is more serious, and may include:
Minor misconduct may be dealt with under an informal process. However, gross misconduct will almost always be dealt with by a formal disciplinary.
A supportive disciplinary policy acknowledges that employees may face challenges that impact their behaviour or performance at work, and aims to address these issues constructively rather than solely focusing on punishment.
It should offer support at each stage of the disciplinary process, ensuring an individual gets through this time with minimal impact on their mental health.
Conducting a disciplinary process involves carrying out an investigation, holding the disciplinary, and supporting your employee afterwards.
Learn how you can infuse support at each stage of this difficult process.
How you treat a team member before the disciplinary is just as important as how you treat them during and after.
First things first— you need to appoint an investigation manager.
They’ll look into the alleged misconduct to determine whether there is a case to answer. Their job is to interview witnesses, review potential evidence, and gather relevant information to determine whether there is a case to answer.
More serious cases of gross misconduct will require experienced managers. You need an investigation manager who can deal with serious, sensitive, and potentially illegal matters with professionalism and discretion. New or less experienced managers can practise their investigation skills on less serious cases. However, all managers, regardless of experience, should be trained in the importance of confidentiality, how to handle difficult conversations, and how to conduct a fair and thorough investigation process.
During the investigation, it's important to keep communication lines open with the team member under investigation. For example, letting them know they are under investigation, how long you expect the process to take, and exactly what you are investigating. You should also check in on their mental health and wellbeing during this time.
This transparency helps to keep the investigation as fair as possible. Team members need to understand that managers are simply doing their job and protecting the interests of the business.
Once the disciplinary has concluded, the investigation manager should work on pulling together the investigation pack. This includes a summary of all evidence collected and the investigation manager’s recommendations. Recommendations include a summary of findings, what the investigation manager believes happened, and whether they believe the matter should proceed to disciplinary.
The disciplinary pack will be reviewed by relevant stakeholders, including HR and senior management. As a result, it should be worded as objectively as possible while still giving an opinion. Avoid using words like ‘obviously’ or any other inflammatory words.
This investigation pack should then be shared with the disciplinary hearing manager. This will be the basis on which they conduct their disciplinary, so it’s important that the investigation is as thorough and unbiased as possible.
Once you’re certain the investigation is proceeding to disciplinary, you should inform the employee in question. Let them know you’ve concluded the investigation, that you believe there are grounds to move to disciplinary, and that the disciplinary manager will be in touch in due course.
This is understandably going to be a difficult time for them, so it’s good practice to include information about support networks they can contact. These can be internal support or external resources like MIND, Anxiety UK, or counselling services or legal assistance if needed. Providing access to support networks demonstrates empathy and reinforces the company's commitment to employee well-being during challenging situations.
Communicate this next step with professionalism and compassion. Where possible, explain this decision to the employee in person before following up with a letter or email. It’s always easier to hear this difficult news in person than via email.
Supporting your employees during the disciplinary processes is a combination of the language you choose, the way you treat them, and the resources you provide to assist them through the process.
The first step for the disciplinary manager is to determine what level of misconduct they believe the employee has engaged in. This involves carefully assessing the evidence gathered during the investigation and comparing it against company policies and standards of behaviour.
Once determined, this should be communicated supportively and professionally to the employee. Invite them to a meeting, outlining the grounds for disciplinary action.
Be sure to acknowledge that this is a difficult time for this person, and reiterate where they can go to find support if needed.
Invite the employee to the hearing. Make them aware of their right to be accompanied, the nature of the allegations, and the time, date, and location of the disciplinary.
Don’t mention that a potential outcome could be a dismissal if it’s the first instance of misconduct. This would warrant a verbal warning at most, so there’s no point in causing undue stress to the colleague.
Ask the team member if they need any accommodations or reasonable adjustments to attend the disciplinary.
Whatever they need, changes to the process should be reasonably accommodated. This will help the team member feel more relaxed, supported, and ensure you meet your duty of care as an employer.
Offer regular breaks to every team member. Team members may need time to calm down, decompress, or to consider their response to questions before answering. Emotions can run high during a disciplinary, and individuals may need moments to gather themselves or reflect on the discussion.
A simple, “Let me know if you need 5 minutes or want a glass of water” at the beginning of the disciplinary process can go a long way in making them feel supported and respected. Don’t be afraid to take a break for yourself too, if you need one. You can adjourn the meeting for up to 15 minutes at a time to take a breath, take an inventory of what was discussed, and to confer with your HR support, if you have any.
It’s also a good idea to find an impartial notetaker or HR representative to accompany you at the meeting. Having an impartial representative and notetaker there protects everyone’s best interests, and can help the employee feel more supported.
Any notes taken during the meeting need to be agreed by both the team member and the manager before they can be used in the disciplinary process. Allow team members to make minor adjustments, ask questions, and ensure that their perspective is accurately captured in the notes.
If the team member completely re-writes the notes to a version of events you don’t recall, it’s fine to have two versions of notes and use both alongside one another.
However, it's crucial to ensure that both versions are clearly labelled as such and that any discrepancies are acknowledged. In cases of major changes, you may need to meet again to discuss how the employee remembers the meeting, and whether the notes are clarification of topics or something else.
No one wants to hear they’ve been issued a sanction via email. Take the time to deliver the news sympathetically and in person if possible. Worst case scenario, make sure you jump on a phone call or video call. Break the news in the way you would want to be told, explain the reasoning, and then give the team member a minute to process the news.
You should then explain what this means and how it will impact them. For example, how long this sanction will stay on their file, and whether this has any impact on their future with you. Transparency is key in ensuring the team members understand the consequences of the disciplinary action.
Be sure to deliver the news as soon as reasonably possible. Leaving your team member in limbo while they wait for the outcome is unfair and can add to their stress and anxiety. Once the disciplinary process has concluded, provide clarity and closure by promptly informing the team member of the outcome.
The team member should always have the right to appeal against the decision. An appeal means they have the opportunity to present new evidence, make additional representations, or have the case reviewed by another, impartial person if they believe the outcome to be unfair. The appeal manager should be completely impartial to the case and should be more senior than the person who made the original decision.
A team member has the right to appeal against the decision within 14 days of the sanction being issued. They must do this in writing to the disciplinary manager who will then find a suitable appeal manager. Let your employee know about their right to appeal during the disciplinary outcome meeting, and then follow up in writing at the bottom of the outcome letter.
It can also help if you give them a steer of the kind of things they can raise in their appeal. For example, fundamentally disagreeing with the outcome is not grounds for appeal. However, if they feel the process was not followed or if there’s any evidence they forgot to raise at the investigation or disciplinary meeting which, if considered, may have changed the outcome, they can appeal on these grounds.
Continue to offer support to the employee after the process has concluded. This could involve a monthly check in as part of a regular 1:1, an email a week or so after to see how they’re getting on, or organising additional resources.
It’s not nice being the subject of disciplinary action, regardless of the circumstances. Treat team members fairly and with compassion. Conduct a thorough investigation, keep team members in the loop at all times, and respect the confidentiality of those involved. Remember, the goal of a supportive disciplinary process is not just to address the immediate issue, but to help the employee learn and grow from the experience.
So, treat team members the way you’d want to be treated, share difficult news in person, and always follow up with written outcomes. These actions may seem small, but they go a long way in making everyone feel supported.
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