DISCIPLINARY & GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES

October 2004 saw a fundamental change in employment law placing greater emphasis on the procedures employed to deal with disciplinary and grievance issues. Whilst previously the application of such procedures was fairly haphazard without any real statutory guidance, the new regime now necessitates that certain minimum statutory disciplinary and grievance procedures must be followed. These prescribed procedures must now be followed by both employers and employees alike as failure to do so can result not only in findings of automatic unfair dismissal but also percentage increases/reductions in the levels of compensation awarded of as much as 50%.  Employees may even be prevented from lodging a tribunal claim where they have failed to allow the internal dispute resolution afforded by an employer’s grievance procedure.