10. Appeals

All disciplinary procedures must provide a right to appeal. Failure to allow an appeal is a breach of the Acas Code (see Chapter 1) and any compensation awarded by a tribunal can be increased by up to 25%. Any resulting dismissal is also likely to be unfair (West Midlands Cooperative Society v Tipton [1986] ICR 192) because the employee has been denied the chance to challenge the decision (London Central Bus Company Limited v Manning [2013] UKEAT/0103/13).

As always, it is important to control members’ expectations. Sometimes a dismissal may be procedurally unfair (for example, because no appeal was offered) but the misconduct is so obvious that the dismissal would have happened anyway. Tribunals are likely to reduce compensation in these circumstances, and can even do so to as much as zero.

The Acas Code says appeals must be heard without unreasonable delay and at an agreed time and place (see Chapter 1).