The legal obligation to have a disciplinary procedure

Every employer must have a written disciplinary procedure (section 3 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 96)). Details of the procedure must be given to any new starter as part of the Written Statement of Employment Particulars (ERA 96 section 1) within two months of the start of new employment. Disciplinary rules can be written in a separate document, as long as it is “reasonably accessible” to the employee. As well as containing the disciplinary rules, the document must identify (by name or role) a person the employee can apply to if dissatisfied with a disciplinary decision.

Reps should ensure the organisation’s rules of conduct are readily available to all workers, for instance on a notice board, in a staff handbook or on the organisation’s intranet.