Disciplinary and grievance procedures - a guide for union reps (June 2018)

Chapter 7

General arguments to make in disciplinaries

[ch 7: pages 52-53]

The choice of argument obviously depends on the allegations faced. It is important to concentrate on the strongest arguments — the ones that could make a real difference to the outcome. Possible general arguments include:

• rule (or changes to the rule) not clear or not drawn to member’s attention;

• rule (or any posters/signs publicising the rule) not in place when misconduct happened;

• inadequate training;

• rule not applied consistently, giving false sense of security;

• member treated differently for no good reason, suggesting ulterior motives or discrimination;

• (if it is the case) that the misconduct had no negative consequences;

• the incident was not serious enough to justify sanction;

• prompt apology; or

• rule should not be rigidly applied because of member’s individual circumstances.


This information is copyright to the Labour Research Department (LRD) and may not be reproduced without the permission of the LRD.