The need for consistency

It is a fundamental principle of fairness that rules must be applied consistently. This does not, however, mean that the outcome will always be the same, because each employee’s circumstances are different. Even so, evidence of inconsistency is important, especially where:

• the employer’s past behaviour, for example, ignoring breaches of a rule or handing out lenient punishments, has lulled employees into a false sense of security;

• more lenient behaviour towards colleagues, or towards the claimant in the past, suggests a concealed motive, such as discrimination or trade union victimisation; or

• there truly is no difference between employees’ circumstances, meaning that different treatment cannot be justified.