My HR Knowledge Bank
Welcome to My HR Knowledge Bank. You will find frequently asked questions on all current HR Policies and procedures, links to all policies, useful forms, guidelines and toolkits.
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Can an employee add more information that they may have remembered or hadn't thought of in the investigatory meeting to the statement of that meeting?
No. The statement should remain as a true reflection of the discussion that took place at the meeting.
Whilst minor changes/additions can be made to the statement, any significant further information will need to be submitted as a separate document and dated accordingly.
Does a manager carry out investigatory interviews with employees?
Under the Disciplinary Rules Policy and Disciplinary Procedure a nominated Human Resources Officer should conduct the interviews but the manager may be expected to attend in a professional capacity.
Depending on the allegations however, the manager may not be involved in the interview stage as he/she may be required to provide a statement as part of the investigation.
Both of the Council's Disciplinary Rules Policy and Disciplinary Procedures can be accessed here.
Does an employee have to attend a meeting to give a statement about a colleague?
All Council employees are expected to co-operate in any disciplinary case/investigation. However, if there is a genuine fear of reprisal then the Whistleblowing Policy may be utilised. This will protect identities on the statements. There is still an expectation to co-operate with any investigation.
The Council's Whisteblowing Policy can be accessed here.
If an employee breaches the Disciplinary Rules Policy, what should be done?
If the matter is not of a serious nature and has not been addressed with the employee previously to indicate how they should improve, or to provide the necessary support, etc, this process should be carried out and documented for future reference.
If this has already been done or if the matter is more serious, then the manager should discuss it with the relevant Human Resources Officer and compile a brief summary to the Head of Service / Service Director requesting authorisation for Human Resources to investigate the matter under the Disciplinary Rules Policy and Disciplinary Procedure.
The response should be sent to Human Resources who will contact the manager to commence the investigation if agreed.
Both of the Council's Disciplinary Rules Policy and Disciplinary Procedures can be accessed here.
If an employee has been convicted of benefit fraud against the Council, what action should their manager take?
The investigation would already have been carried out by the Council's Benefit Fraud Section. Fraud is potentially gross misconduct but any further action to be taken will be a matter for the relevant Chief Officer to determine.
If an employee has been suspended from work what information can be given to other team members?
In most cases colleagues should be informed and advised not to contact the employee during the investigatory period.
If an employee has two jobs with the Council and has been suspended from one of them, can they continue to work in the other?
Consideration would be made as to the allegation and the type of work in the other role. Depending on the nature of the allegation and how serious the alleged offence is, the employee could be suspended from all posts held at the Council.
In some cases the Service Director for the second job may exercise his/her discretion in allowing the employee to remain in work.
An example of how this may work can be accessed here
If an employee's behaviour is unacceptable and affects team relationships making it difficult for them to work with the team, will they be dismissed?
Under the Disciplinary Rules Policy and Disciplinary Procedure the matter will be investigated thoroughly by Human Resources and a decision made by the relevant Chief Officer as to how the case should proceed and whether disciplinary action is appropriate.
If a disciplinary hearing is held and the allegations amount to gross misconduct there is a possibility that the employee may be dismissed but this decision is not taken lightly and all information will be considered.
However, the outcome of the disciplinary hearing may be a written warning of some kind and the employee would therefore be required to return to their team (unless it was a stipulation of the Chief Officer that they should be redeployed elsewhere).
If they return it is important that they are fully supported to re-integrate into the team.
Both of the Council's Disciplinary Rules Policy and Disciplinary Procedures can be accessed here.
If colleagues are close friends, can they be contacted by an employee who is under investigation?
If an employee has colleagues who are close friends outside of work, the Council would not expect contact to be severed during the investigation. However, the content, or any aspect, of the investigation must not be discussed with them.
Is a suspension recorded on an employee's personal record?
It will be recorded on Vision but will not be recorded on an employee's personal file.