Disciplinary & Grievance

Section 3 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 sets out some of the rights that an employee has when being subjected to a disciplinary procedure, including the fact that these must have been previously set out in writing. The employment contract or accompanying handbook should therefore always describe the disciplinary procedures that the company will follow.

You should always follow best practice when dealing with a disciplinary matter, and this includes carrying out proper investigations. As a bare minimum, every case where disciplinary action and potential dismissal are being considered should include:

• An initial investigation followed by a hearing if there is a case to answer
• Written notice of this hearing should be provided in advance to the employee. Include the reasons for the hearing and their right to bring representation
• Following the hearing, the outcome should be confirmed in writing, together with the right of appeal.

A similar process should be followed for the appeal, which should ideally be carried out by a more senior manager.

Your company grievance procedure should create the opportunity for any employee to voice concerns without fear of reprisals. The grievance may be about either their employment or their working conditions.

A grievance should be considered as a useful opportunity as it allows improvements to be made for the benefit of all.

It’s essential to get both your disciplinary and grievance procedures clearly set out for employees to refer to. We can help with drafting your procedures or offering legal advice on the implementation and decision-making process.

Many ask us ‘what’s different about you?’ and we like to reply, ‘because we go the extra mile’. We see our work as building and maintaining good business relationships rather than just earning fees. How we do this is by keeping in constant contact with our clients and intermediaries. From pre to post instruction we ensure that our clients are informed of all legal issues that may impact their business and therefore lives. That is why we provide daily or weekly updates to ALL of our clients whether there is anything to tell them or not (we don’t charge for this we just see it as part of our service). We like our clients to rest peacefully knowing that when we are instructed, and we say ‘we will take it from here’ they know we mean it.

The world is changing, and many individuals are realising that lifestyle is as vital to them as is income. We are the lucky ones who can hand pick lawyers who can provide the best quality advice but at outer city costs. Our offices are in North West London which may not be the most salubrious in the market but at the same time this allows us to charge our clients for what they pay for, our advice NOT our office space.

ALL our lawyers have previously worked in large city-based law firms and continue to practise and offer  the same high level service  they provided to clients in the City but without the pressure and demands often dictated by City law firm. This allows us to be competitive on our fees without compromising our service.

All in all, our clients win, which is the way we like it.

All our clients benefit from the same high level of care and attention whether the instruction is big or small. At the outset of each matter, we discuss the entire process with our clients, including the costs, potential outcomes and issues associated. This is to ensure clients are fully aware, knowledgeable and are in control always. Supporting and ensuring we provide the highest level of services, we offer our constant contact process with the partner or barrister leading  your file, a document log in for matters which are for larger and more complicated instructions and on-going support post transaction should our clients require it. Our aim is not just to get the work done, but to make our clients’ lives easier as we do it, which is why we ensure that our clients have regular access to the resources they need from us.