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Revised Acas Code of Practice on Discipline & Grievance
9th March 2009
The current Statutory Dispute Resolution Procedures are set to be abolished when the Employment Act becomes law from April 2009...
The Statutory Dispute Resolution Procedures currently in place are set to be abolished when the Employment Act becomes law from 6 April 2009. The Act introduces a new Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance from Acas (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service). The Code will be accompanied by fuller, freestanding, non-statutory guidance which will provide additional advice.
Current Position
Currently, the Statutory Dismissal and Disciplinary Procedures, introduced in October 2004, apply in most situations where an employer is contemplating dismissing an employee or imposing a disciplinary penalty (other than suspension on full pay or a warning). In most cases, employers are required to follow a three-step standard procedure. Similarly the Statutory Grievance Procedure involves a three-step process which allows employees an opportunity to raise complaints and concerns with their employer. There are currently significant penalties that can be imposed by a tribunal for non-compliance of these statutory procedures.
Having originally been introduced with the intention of encouraging the early resolution of disputes within the workplace and to avoid the need for costly and time-consuming tribunal claims, the procedures have been widely criticised for burdening both employers and employees with excessive bureaucracy and complexity, and for encouraging process over fair outcomes.
Repeal of the Statutory Procedures
Once the Employment Act becomes law, the Statutory Dispute Resolution Procedures will be abolished. Instead of being required by law to follow set procedures, employers will be encouraged to follow principles set out in the revised Acas Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance.
Failure to follow the Code will not, in itself, render an employer liable to legal proceedings, and employers will no longer face claims for automatic unfair dismissal arising from having failed to complete statutory procedures. However, to avoid claims of unfair dismissal, it will be essential for employers to show that dismissals are for a fair reason and procedurally fair in the particular circumstances.
An unreasonable failure by either an employer or employee to follow the Code of Practice will result in a tribunal being able to increase any award by up to 25%. However this is less than the current amount that can be awarded by a tribunal of up to 50%.
Another point to note is that, unlike the current statutory dismissal procedures, the revised Code specifically states that it does NOT apply to redundancies or to the termination of fixed-term contracts.
In Summary
Overall, the revised Code of Practice and accompanying guidance will not significantly alter the position of employers that already have sound procedures and policies in place. However, the repeal of the statutory procedures should be viewed by employers as an opportunity to review existing procedures and to undertake training with managers to ensure that everyone understands how the procedures should be applied, and what is expected of both the employer and employees.
Further Information
Further information can be obtained from your HR Department in respect of these forthcoming changes. For NorthgateArinso clients, our NorthgateArinso HR Outsourcing team are able to provide specific support in providing policies and procedures, and customised training packages, to manage disciplinary and grievance issues within your business. If you would like to discuss this matter further, or wish to discuss an existing issue around this subject, please call the NorthgateArinso Advice Line on 0845 299 0243 who will be happy to help.
Further information relating to the new Employment Act will be provided in subsequent issues of this newsletter. In addition, the latest version of the revised Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance can be downloaded from the Acas website: www.acas.gov.uk
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