Employment Act 2008: Changes To Current Statutory And Grievance Procedures

A new Acas Code of Conduct (the

"Code") came into force on 6 April 2009

and replaced the statutory disciplinary and grievance procedures

("the Statutory Procedures"). The Code

seeks to encourage parties to resolve workplace issues informally,

providing a framework for dealing with issues at work where

informal measures fail.

When will the Code apply?

Unlike the Statutory Procedures, the Code will apply to

dismissals and minor disciplinary proceedings

including oral and written warnings. The Code does not apply to

redundancy dismissals or non-renewal of fixed term contracts.

The Code lays down requirements for dealing with employees'

grievances, or "concerns, problems or complaints".

However, employers are no longer obliged to hear grievances from

former employees.

Obligations under the Code

Employers must:

investigate disciplinary and grievance matters promptly;

where practicable, to appoint separate individuals to conduct

investigations and subsequent disciplinary or grievance

procedures;

confirm the outcome to employees without unreasonable

delay;

hold appeal meetings without unreasonable delay; and

inform employees of their appeal outcome as soon as

practicable.

Employees must raise a grievance or appeal against dismissal

without unreasonable delay; attend disciplinary and grievance

hearings where possible; and not unreasonably delay the conduct of

grievance and disciplinary meetings.

Breach of the Code

A dismissal will not be automatically unfair if an employer does

not comply with the Code. However, a failure to follow the Code

will be a factor for Employment Tribunals to consider in

determining whether a dismissal was unfair.

If an employer or employee unreasonably fails to abide by the

principles of the Code, Employment Tribunals may increase or

decrease an employee's compensation by up to 25%. However,

"unreasonable failure" is not defined so we expect to see

litigation over this issue.

Time Limits

Employees must present claims within three months of the date of

the alleged act or of the date of dismissal.

Transitional Arrangements

The Statutory Disciplinary and Dismissal Procedures continue to

apply where the first step of a disciplinary or dismissal procedure

was taken, or dismissal occurred, before 6 April 2009.

The Statutory Grievance Procedures will generally continue to

apply where the action about which the employee complains took

place before 6 April 2009, or started before 6 April 2009 and

continued after that date. Claims...

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