Employers, beware letting disciplinary investigations go beyond their initial scope
Employers should ensure that the scope of any disciplinary investigation they carry out is carefully defined before it starts, that they make the scope of the investigation clear to their employee, and that the investigation doesn’t stray outside that scope, or a subsequent dismissal based on its findings may be ruled unfair.
An employee was put through a disciplinary investigation for ‘failure to process correct payment of team members’. The charge was one of incompetence but, during the investigation, evidence was uncovered that showed there may also have been misconduct – that she may have incorrectly processed the payments deliberately, or for other unlawful reasons.
In the consequent legal action, the ruling was that the employee should have had notice of not only the allegations as to her competence, but also the serious allegations about her conduct before she could be dismissed for the latter.
Employers should ensure that the scope of each disciplinary investigation it carries out is carefully defined before it begins, that their employee is told what that scope is, and that the investigation does not go beyond that scope, or they risk subsequent dismissals being ruled unfair.
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