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Need to take disciplinary action? Find out what to do

Need to put a stop to that behaviour? You might need to take disciplinary action

If you employ people, chances are there have been occasions where they’ve behaved in a way that you find unacceptable.

It might be a rare occasion, or it may be more frequent than you’d like.

At some point it’s likely you’ll need to follow a disciplinary procedure if an informal chat about the behaviour doesn’t work.

It may sound dramatic but certain behaviours in the workplace have the potential to have a big impact on how your business runs. Whether it’s someone not pulling their weight, which can lead to an unmotivated, disengaged team; bullying or harassment, which can cause stress, anxiety, depression in your people; or even something like theft or fraud, which can cost your business dearly.

These behaviours need to be knocked on the head immediately before they create a company-wide issue. And when you get to the point of disciplinaries, it’s really important that you do things the right way.

Failing to follow both your own policy, as well as Acas guidance and employment law could land you in hot water. That’s because if you don’t act fairly and take the relevant steps, your employee could take you to an employment tribunal.

And you don’t need us to remind you just how much time and money, not to mention stress, that could involve!

So before you start a disciplinary procedure you should really take the time to understand exactly how things need to work. Make sure you have planned your course of action, looked back to find out if you’ve dealt with similar issues before, and ideally, consulted an HR expert to help guide you through or handle the process for you.

To help you understand how things should work, we’ve created a new guide. It details every step of a disciplinary procedure, and the considerations you as the employer must make.

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