Is your Disciplinary & Grievance Policy fit for purpose?
As part of my HR consultancy work, I regularly get asked to come in and help with grievances and disciplinaries. When I get a phone call or email from a new client that needs help with one of these matters, as well as taking the details and background to the issue I always ask for a copy of their Disciplinary & Grievance policy. Often, the answer to that question is that they do have a policy but it’ s tucked away somewhere in a folder on someone’ s laptop and hasn’ t seen the light of day for a long time. Nonetheless, I always read through the policy carefully because as every good HR consultant will tell you, when dealing with employee relations issues, there are two important factors you want to get right.
1. Are you taking decisions that are fair and reasonable in all the circumstances 2. Have you followed your own policy and procedure
Sadly, some of the policies I see make running a simple disciplinary process feel like wrestling a 20-page procedure written for a civil service tribunal! I’ ve recently worked with several SME clients who found themselves mid-grievance or facing a tricky conduct issue only to discover their policies were completely unworkable. As an example, one client had an ex-employee who had left the business during their probationary period and who wrote to them raising a grievance six weeks after they’ d left. When we looked at the Disciplinary & Grievance policy it had a paragraph saying that former employees could still raise a grievance and that the normal internal grievance procedure would be followed( with the right to be accompanied, bring witnesses, etc.). I won’ t go into the details here but that paragraph specifically relating to former employees caused us a lot of hassle!
Usually, I find SMEs have“ inherited” their policies from a larger business or used something they’ ve found online which can often be from a public sector or unionised environment. And that’ s the problem with repurposing and relabelling something – you’ re often putting in place a weighty, bureaucratic and complex process that won’ t work for your small business.
In small organisations, there often isn’ t a spare manager for every stage of a 3-step process. You can’ t always switch investigators mid-stream or produce an“ appeal panel” from thin air. And yet, once an employee has been given that policy, you’ re bound to follow it.
So my message this month is to take a look at your Disciplinary & Grievance policy and check it’ s fit for purpose. In particular, look out for:
• unrealistic timeframes you can’ t meet
• multiple layers of management that don’ t exist
• wording that reads like it was written for a courtroom
If that’ s the case, it probably needs a review. When I write or review policies for SMEs, I make sure:
• they follow the ACAS Code of Practice( nonnegotiable)
• the tone is human and clear
• the structure is pragmatic – designed for businesses with limited resource, not layers of hierarchy.
Don’ t wait for an issue to uncover the cracks. Do a proactive review, ideally before things escalate. Because when things go wrong, your policy shouldn’ t be part of the problem. It should be the safety net.
Ruth George- HR Consultant- ruth @ ruthgeorge. com | 07899 920075
© Ruth George HR Consulting. This is not legal advice and is provided for general information only.
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