The Employment Act 2008: Grievance and Disciplinary Policy Changes - May 2009
Changes to the grievance and disciplinary procedures come into effect on 1st April 2009.
This will have a direct impact on your current policies and employee handbook! The changes are due to the government updating The Employment Act 2008 and introducing the new ACAS code (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service).
The new regime will replace the old with a more flexible and reasonable structure. In place of the old policies, there will be less emphasis on the mechanics of how to manage disciplinary issues, grievances and dismissals and a greater emphasis on resolving problems at an early stage . The change attempts to encourage better workplace communication in order to prevent the escalation of problems and avoid tribunals.
The key changes being made to the ACAS code are:
- an employer's failure to follow the ACAS code, when dismissing an employee, will not make the dismissal automatically unfair
- an employer who unreasonably fails to comply with the new ACAS code is more likely to lose a tribunal hearing and face an increase in the compensation penalty
- similarly, an employee who unreasonably fails to comply with the new ACAS code will face a reduction in compensation
- employers and employees are encouraged to resolve disputes in-house through mediation, without resorting to legal action
- employers are required to keep records of notes from all disciplinary and grievance procedures in order to refer back to them if future cases arise
As of 1st April any current disciplinary and grievance policies will no longer comply with the new ACAS code. Failure to keep your policy up-to-date could result in an unfavourable outcome for the employer, if the matter gets taken to court.
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