Disputes at work can be time consuming, disruptive and stressful for all concerned. In an attempt to encourage discussion of the problems and find ways of resolving them, the Government is introducing compulsory disciplinary and grievance procedures.  The new rules come into effect on 1^st October this year – and failure to comply could have a serious financial impact on both employers and employees. 

Around 800,000 businesses currently have either inadequate procedures or none at all.  Furthermore, over one third of the 94,000 claims received last year by the Employment Tribunal based on workplace disputes were submitted without the parties involved discussing the problem at all.  The new rules are designed to reduce the number of tribunal claims, and require all employers and employees to follow a minimum three-stage process to ensure that disputes are discussed internally. Businesses will be free to customise the procedures to suit their requirements, provided they meet at least the minimum standard.

The regulations are extremely complicated.  In essence, an employer who dismisses a member of staff without following the statutory procedure will face an automatic finding of unfair dismissal, and the amount of compensation payable to the employee may be increased by between 10% and 50%. Employees who fail to invoke the grievance procedure will normally be prevented from presenting a claim in the Employment Tribunal, and may also see their compensation reduced by 10% - 50%.

There will be two forms of the new procedures.  Whilst the standard procedure will apply in the vast majority of cases, it is important to understand the implications of the modified  procedures, which will apply  after the employment has ended.  As is often the case, there will also be certain situations when no procedure applies!