Policy - disciplinary

The purpose of this disciplinary policy is to help us deal fairly and consistently with disciplinary issues and to ensure that you are aware of the process for handling such matters.

General principles

At our discretion, we may choose to deal with minor instances of misconduct informally by way of counselling, guidance or instruction or informal cautioning. If a problem continues or we judge it to be sufficiently serious, the following procedure will apply.

Before making any formal disciplinary decision under this procedure, we will conduct the following steps:

·      We will conduct a prompt investigation. We will inform you whether any meeting you are asked to attend is investigatory or disciplinary. In serious cases, where practicable, different people will conduct the investigation and the disciplinary hearing.

·      We will give you or send you a letter setting out the complaint made against you and inform you of the possible outcomes of the disciplinary hearing. Also included will be relevant evidence which may, where appropriate, include witness statements. The letter will inform you that you must attend a disciplinary hearing to discuss the matter and will confirm the time, date, and location of that meeting. The letter will also tell you that you have the right to be accompanied at the disciplinary hearing. If you do not understand the letter, you should ask the Make UK representative for an explanation.

·      We will give you, together with any permitted person that you may choose as a companion, reasonable time to prepare your response.

·      At the hearing, we will explain the company’s case and give you the opportunity to put your case in respect of the allegations made against you.

You have the right to appeal against any formal action taken against you under the procedure. See *‘Appeals’ below.

Depending on the seriousness of the misconduct, or your disciplinary record taken as a whole, we may miss out stages of the procedure if we think this would be reasonable in the circumstances.

Depending on the circumstances, it may be appropriate to suspend you from work in order that an investigation can take place. Suspension does not amount to a disciplinary sanction and does not imply that any decision has already been made about the allegations.

Each stage of this procedure will be conducted without unreasonable delay.

If you have difficulty at any stage of the disciplinary procedure because of a disability, you should discuss the situation with your Employer or Make UK representative as soon as possible.

Conduct of meetings under the policy, including appeals

All disciplinary meetings, including appeals, will be held at a reasonable time and place. If you are invited to attend a disciplinary meeting, you must take all reasonable steps to attend. If, without good cause, you are persistently unable or unwilling to attend, we will hear the matter in your absence and make a decision based on the evidence available to us.

An appropriate level of management together with a representative of from your Employer will conduct the hearings. At the meeting, the Make UK Manager will explain the role of all those in attendance. The manager will then explain the case against you and go through the evidence that has been gathered. You will be given the opportunity to respond in full. This will include time to ask questions and present evidence. If you intend to call any witnesses, you must give us advance written notice that you intend to do this.

If any matters become known during a disciplinary meeting which require further investigation, we may, at our discretion, adjourn a disciplinary meeting to enable us to investigate them.

*Appeals

If you are dissatisfied with a disciplinary decision that has been taken about you, you can appeal against that decision. Appeals are reasonably required to be in writing, setting out the reasons for the appeal, and should be sent / delivered to the Director of Apprentices & Technical Training within five working days of the disciplinary decision. We will then invite you to an appeal meeting which will normally take place within five working days of receipt of your appeal or as soon as reasonably practicable thereafter. The appeal meeting may take place after the disciplinary decision has taken effect. If you are appealing against an exclusion and or and suspension and your appeal is subsequently upheld, you will normally be treated as having continued in employment pending the hearing of the appeal. However, if your appeal is not successful, the original date of your exclusion and suspension will stand.

You have the right to be accompanied to an appeal hearing by a fellow worker

The appeal hearing may be a complete re-hearing of the matter, or it may be a review of the fairness of the original decision in the light of the procedure that was followed and any new information that may have become known. This will be at our discretion depending on the circumstances of your case.

Wherever possible, your appeal will be heard by someone more senior than the person who took the decision to take disciplinary action against you. If this is not practicable, the appeal will be heard by another manager who has not previously been involved in the matter. If you have been dismissed, the appeal will be heard by a Director of Apprentices & Technical Training. We will tell you promptly of the outcome of the appeal, wherever possible within five working days of the hearing and confirm it in writing. Following the appeal hearing, we may either confirm the original decision; revoke the original decision; or substitute a different penalty. This decision will be final.


Last modified: Monday, 5 September 2022, 8:53 AM