The “Course Topics” series from Manage Train Learn and Slide Topics is a collection of over 4000 slides that will help you master a wide range of management and personal development skills. The 202 PowerPoints in this series offer you a complete and in-depth study of each topic. This presentation is on "Disciplinary Policy and Procedure ".

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Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
EFFECTIVE DISCIPLINE

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Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
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COURSE TOPICS FROM MTL
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Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
ARE YOU READY?
OK, LET’S START!

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Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
INTRODUCTION
It makes good sense to write, maintain and update an
organisational disciplinary policy and procedure. Not only is
information about your policy required to be given to new
employees within their first weeks of employment, but a
written policy helps to demonstrate your commitment to
being fair and consistent to all your employees. It then
becomes the basis of joint approaches to solving people
problems and a step towards the ideal of self-discipline.

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Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
DISCIPLINARY POLICY
If you are devising from scratch or revising from old, a good
place to base your written disciplinary policy is a national or
trade or professional code of practice on "Disciplinary
practice and procedures". This will indicate the legal
guidelines and best practice in the following areas which fall
under Policy...
1. principles and aims of using discipline
2. how discipline is used in other policies (eg policies on
alcohol misuse; absence; time off; health and safety;
hygiene; confidentiality)
3. the responsibilities of management
4. the rights of employees
5. sanctions and penalties
6. decisions, appeals and dismissals
7. who is covered
8. special cases.

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Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURE
It is important to outline your normal procedure in conducting
disciplinary cases. No matter how justified a decision may be,
say, in a dismissal case, an unfairly conducted and sloppy
procedure can result in a decision of unfairness at a tribunal.
It makes good sense to write, maintain and update an
organisational disciplinary policy and procedure. Not only is
information about your policy required to be given to new
employees, but it demonstrates your commitment to being
fair and consistent. It then becomes the basis of joint
approaches to solving people problems and a step towards
the ideal of self-discipline.
The following areas may be covered by Procedure:
• aims of the disciplinary procedure
• role of the disciplining officer, investigating officer, union
reps, and HR
• rules on panels
• rules on witnesses
• conduct of hearings
• records and timescales.

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Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
PRINCIPLES
A statement of the principles on which a disciplinary policy
is based should reflect what actually happens in practice.
These principles should say something on the following
areas...
1. the importance of discipline in ensuring the order,
safety and well-being of employees
2. the responsibility of management to apply the policy
fairly and equitably
3. the aims of the policy to sanction, to promote
improvement and to deter
4. the structure of who has the right to run hearings and
make decisions
5. the need to develop the policy in the light of
developments in good management practice and the
pursuit of harmonious employer-employee relations.

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Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
NEEDS OF THE BUSINESS
A disciplinary policy should never be a standard document
copied from a textbook and used merely to satisfy
regulations. It is an opportunity to target some of the things
that really matter in the organisation and to indicate their
importance.
1. a small growing business might take very seriously a
breach of confidentiality about its business plans to a
rival
2. a local authority taking a lead in equal opportunities
might take very seriously sexual harassment of female
staff, racial discrimination against job candidates and
unfairness towards the disabled
3. an organisation in the public leisure industry might take
very seriously any neglect of customer safety measures.

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Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
CODES OF PRACTICE
Various industry bodies around the world have their own
codes of practice on disciplinary practice and procedures.
Check out which apply where you are.
Some of the themes of such codes of practice might include
that the policy should…
1. be in writing
2. specify who is covered
3. be speedy
4. indicate who can take action
5. not dismiss for a first offence, except in cases of gross
misconduct
6. ensure an investigation is carried out before a hearing is
decided
7. apply to everyone regardless
8. give employees the right to be informed of complaints
against them; to have time to respond; be
accompanied; be told the reasons for a penalty; appeal.

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Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
NATURAL JUSTICE
Various government bodies have their own codes of practice
on disciplinary practice and procedures which can be used
in employment tribunal cases to indicate good practice in
how an organisation applies its discipline. The rights they
give employees usually reflect the concept of fairness and
natural justice.
The natural rights of employees include the right...
• to be told the case against you
• to know the purpose of any hearing
• to know the evidence against you
• to be given time to prepare a self-defence
• to be allowed to present your case
• to be represented or accompanied
• to be able to question witnesses and call your own
witnesses.

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Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
TIMESCALES
Specifying timescales in disciplinary procedures is a way to
show that a policy stating, for example, "speedy"
procedures means what it says. Timescales can be placed on
a number of policy decisions.
For example...
1. Notification of a disciplinary hearing. Notice of, say, a
week allows people time to prepare their case.
2. Request for an appeal hearing. A response within five
days indicates that an appeal is being taken seriously.
3. Announcement of decisions. A delayed decision of a
disciplinary hearing or an appeal is made within three days
of the hearing.
4. The lifespan of warnings. Fixed time periods can be
placed on the length of warnings - for example, a year or 18
months - after which time they are "dead" if there has been
no repetition.

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Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
SANCTIONS AND PENALTIES
Case law - which confirms what is thought to be reasonable
sanctions for different kinds of indiscipline - would support
the view that the punishment should fit the crime. It should
also be progressively more severe if employees fail to heed
warnings.
The following are the seven levels of penalty most
frequently used:
1. informal counselling for first or minor breaches
2. formal counselling for first or relatively minor breaches
3. warnings to improve, for first or relatively serious
breaches
4. warnings two and three, for repeated breaches
5. final warning for serious repetitions of breaches or as
action short of dismissal
6. other action short of dismissal, such as suspension
7. dismissal, for gross misconduct and refusal to conform to
final warnings.

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Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
SUSPENSION
Suspension from duty should be one of the options your
disciplinary policy allows for.
There are two kinds of suspension...
A. Suspension to allow an investigation to be carried out.
This should be kept to a minimum and justified in the
circumstances. It may be needed to avoid a further
personality clash or tension or interference in the
investigative process. It should not imply guilt in any way.
B. Suspension as a punitive measure. Punitive suspensions
are quite different from suspensions pending investigation.
If you use them, possibly as a final warning, it is best to get
the agreement of employees, since preventing people from
working their contract is tantamount to a technical
dismissal.

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Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
DECISIONS
Your policy should tell employees very clearly how
disciplinary decisions are reached and what rights they have
to appeal against any action, particularly dismissal.
1. Decisions: it is rare to find people who are happy at
decisions taken against them in disciplinary cases. For
them, most punishment is harsh and unfair. The
opposite view is often taken by those looking on: most
decisions seem too lenient.
2. Appeals: appeals at each stage of discipline are
essential to protect employees from unfair and biased
decisions. There should be clear guidelines on how
appeals are made.
3. Dismissal: clear guidelines should also exist for
dismissal. The reasons for dismissal should usually be
restricted to gross misconduct or failure to comply with
previous warnings.

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Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
SPECIAL CASES
When writing a disciplinary policy, it is worth thinking about
the less usual but potentially more problematical special
cases that may arise in your particular business.
Some of these special cases include...
1. the disciplining of employee representatives and Union
officials. It is sensible to inform union officials of your
intentions but not to be seen to treat them differently.
2. the disciplining of employees who work at a distance,
for example, those geographically distant or on shift
3. cases which involve the boss personally
4. cases which arise because of out-of-work behaviour
5. cases which may lead to police prosecution
6. the calling of witnesses, especially if they are members
of the public
7. cases in which employees request legal or outside
representation.

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Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
RECORDS
It is vital to keep full and detailed records on every
disciplinary case. This is because you may need to refer to
these in the following circumstances...
1. future cases of similar alleged indiscipline by the same
employees
2. the expunging (wiping out) of penalties after fixed
timescales
3. the reporting of circumstances to government bodies,
such as health and safety inspectorates and benefits
agencies
4. cases of unfair dismissal at employment tribunal.
Because of the importance of recalling information at later
stages, it is worth considering the tape-recording of
sensitive interviews or employing legal representation. All
records should, of course, be kept secure and strictly
confidential.

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Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
THAT’S
IT!
WELL DONE!

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Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
THANK YOU
This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn