DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURE

The primary object of this procedure is to establish disciplinary practices that are fair and reasonable, which will be understood and respected, and which contribute to a sound relationship between management and staff.

For the purpose of disciplinary action the Chair of the Board will be responsible for implementing procedures. However, the Chair may delegate responsibility to, or discuss the matter with, another member of the Board (ie the Vice Chair, Treasurer or Secretary).

  1. Gross Misconduct
    1. Where an allegation of misconduct is made against an employee, which is of a serious nature an employee may face termination of employment. The procedure laid out in 1.3 will apply to any employee against whom the allegation of gross misconduct has been made.
  1. Examples of gross misconduct include the following and relate to all employees.
  • Theft from the organisation, staff, management and users (both individuals and organisations).
  • Fraud perpetrated against the organisation – such as falsification of subsistence and expenses claims
  • Assault or other criminal activity on the premises or on those of a user organisation.
  • Sexual or racial harassment.
  • Gross disregard for the health and/or safety of any person.
  • Being under the influence of drugs/alcohol at work
  • Gross insubordination or wilful disobedience.
  • False information on application of employment form.

This is not an exhaustive list.

  1. Gross Misconduct Procedure
  1. Any allegation of gross misconduct must be made in writing to the Chair of the Board who will convene a meeting of a Disciplinary Panel. The Disciplinary Panel will consist of a minimum of 3 members of the Board.
  1. The Chair, with the approval of at least two members of the Board may suspend with pay the employee concerned pending a full investigation by the Disciplinary Panel. Suspension should not be seen as a punishment or disciplinary action. It will be carried out immediately and seen as a stage in the procedure. It will be carried out to protect all concerned to allow investigations to take place.
  1. Full details of the allegation shall be given, in writing, to the employee by the Chair of the Board.
  1. Within the agreed time of no more than 10 days, the organisation’s disciplinary Panel will have an initial meeting to decide whether or not there is a case. The employee against whom the allegation is made is invited to be present and has the right to be accompanied by a representative (trade union or otherwise). After the meeting the Disciplinary Panel may decide to further suspend the employee concerned on full pay, pending a further investigation.
  2. If after objective investigation there is clear and tangible evidence which substantiates the allegations and there are no mitigating circumstances the Disciplinary Panel wish to take into account, the employee will be dismissed. The notice of dismissal will be in writing and will include the reasons for dismissal.
  3. The employee concerned shall have the right, within 14 days of receiving the notice of dismissal, to appeal against this decision. Any such appeal must be put in writing to the Chair who must set up an Appeal Panel consisting of people who have not previously been involved in the disciplinary hearings. The Appeal Panel must meet within 14 days of the appeal being lodged. The employee has the right to be present at this meeting and to be accompanied by a representative (trade union or otherwise). The findings of this Appeal Panel will be binding.
    1. General Misconduct
  • Informal Procedure

Minor faults will usually be dealt with informally by discussion between the Manager or Chair of Trustees and the employee concerned. The employee has a right to request an informal meeting with a member/s of the Board. In cases where such informal discussion does not lead to improvement, or where the matter is more serious, the following procedures should be used.

  1. Disciplinary interviews

Before any warning is issued or dismissal decided upon, the employee will be interviewed in private by the Manager or Chair of Trustees. Five working days notice of such an interview shall be given to the employee together with a written statement of the area of concern to be discussed. The employee will be entitled to be accompanied by a representative of his/her choice. The representative will inform the Manager or Chair of their intention to attend, prior to the interview. The reason for the interview will be fully explained and the employee and/or his/her representative shall have proper opportunity to state his/her case. A record of the interview shall be prepared and shall be agreed by the parties. If it is decided to issue a warning the employee shall be left in no doubt as to the standard that is expected or the consequence of a repetition of the original area of concern. A warning will include both a specified period in which improvement is expected and a clear statement of the training and/or other support programme Shirehampton Public Hall Community Association will implement to aid the employee to improve performance.

  1. Stage 1 – Verbal Warning

In cases of less serious misconduct or where work performance is unsatisfactory a formal verbal warning, may be given to the employee by the Manager or the Chair of Trustees.

  1. Stage 2 – Written Warning

If conduct or work performance does not improve, or if the case is more serious, a formal written warning, may be given by the Manager or the Chair of Trustees.

  1. Stage 3 – Dismissal
  1. In cases where, despite verbal and/or written warning, there is still no improvement in conduct or work performance, the Management may recommend dismissal. In such cases the Chair shall inform the rest of the Board of this recommendation. Only the Chair of the Board can authorise dismissal.
  2. Where the Chair of the Board is also the line manager of the employee concerned the Chair’s recommendation for dismissal shall be referred to a Disciplinary Panel composed of 3 members of the Board. In these circumstances dismissal can only be authorised by a majority of the Disciplinary Panel.
  1. Warnings and Personnel Records

When any informal verbal or written warning is given the employee will be told that such warning is part of the disciplinary procedure and the consequences if improvement does not take place will be explained. All formal warnings will be recorded, and will remain on file for one year and then be discarded.

An employee shall have the right to inspect his/her personal file at any time without notice.

  1. Appeals

An employee may appeal against any decision made in the course of operation of this procedure. Appeals should be in writing and addressed to the Chair of the Board and should be made within 3 working days of the warning or dismissal in question. At an appeal the employee will again be given an opportunity to state his/her case and will have the right to be accompanied by a representative of their choice. All appeals will be heard as quickly as possible, normally within 10 working days.

All appeals will be to an Appeal Panel of the Board who were not involved in the original investigation. The decision of this Appeal Panel shall be final.

Approval

This document was approved by the Board in February 2023