40/ Disciplinary Procedure

The disciplinary procedure does not form part of your contract of employment.

We retain discretion in respect of the disciplinary procedures to take account of your length of service and to vary the procedures accordingly. If you have a short amount of service, you may not be in receipt of any warnings before dismissal.

The purpose of the disciplinary procedure is to outline a recognised and consistent system to deal with any issues of conduct, capability, or other circumstances which may result in a disciplinary warning or dismissal.

Before considering a warning or dismissal, steps will be taken by Reprotec UK to establish the facts.

At any stage of the disciplinary procedure you may be suspended, on full pay, whilst investigations are carried out.  This does not mean that you have been or will be found guilty of any particular offence or act of misconduct.

In the event that you become unfit for work or unable to attend any necessary meetings due to sickness, Reprotec UK will review the decision to keep you on suspension and, following this review, your suspension may be lifted. If your suspension is lifted, you may no longer be entitled to full pay but will be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay in accordance with Reprotec UK’s rules and procedures.

You will only be disciplined after careful investigation of the facts and the opportunity to present your side of the case. On some occasions we may implement temporary measures in order that an uninterrupted investigation can take place. These measures may include, for example:

•  working in a different department, or from a different office or site

• a change to your usual duties

• working with different customers/clients, or away from customers/clients

• working from home

• suspension on contractual pay.

This list is not exhaustive, and we may implement other measures which are appropriate to the circumstances. None of these measures are to be regarded as disciplinary action or a penalty of any kind.

Where an employee on temporary suspension tells us that they are sick, the employee will be considered to be on sickness absence, rather than suspension, until the employee notifies us that they are no longer sick, at which point suspension will resume where appropriate;

If you are prevented from attending your place of work and/or performing your job duties as a result of Police bail conditions, or because of an order or direction given by a court or relevant regulatory body, then the duration of any such period will be without pay. 

If it is necessary for Reprotec UK to take action under the disciplinary procedure you will be issued with a written statement setting out the nature of the conduct, capability or other circumstances that may result in a disciplinary warning or dismissal. 

You will only be issued with a disciplinary warning or dismissed following a formal disciplinary meeting, at which you will have been given the right to be accompanied by a fellow employee or an accredited trade union official. 

You should make every effort to attend the disciplinary meeting.  

Throughout the disciplinary procedure, you will be given the opportunity to respond to any complaint before any decision on a disciplinary warning or dismissal is taken.

It is not permissible to record, whether audio and/or visual, any meetings which take place as part of this procedure, without the express written authorisation of Reprotec UK.

SERIOUS MISCONDUCT

Where one of the unsatisfactory conduct or misconduct rules has been broken and if, upon investigation, it is shown to be due to your extreme carelessness or has a serious or substantial effect upon our operation or reputation, you may be issued with a final written warning in the first instance.

You may receive a final written warning as the first course of action, if, in an alleged gross misconduct disciplinary matter, upon investigation, there is shown to be some level of mitigation resulting in it being treated as an offence just short of dismissal.

Reprotec UK may commence the disciplinary procedure, depending on the circumstances, at any of the following levels:

1.     Verbal Warning

A record of the verbal warning will be placed in your personnel file and will remain mobileon file for 3 months.

2.     Written Warning

A written warning will be issued and a copy placed in your personnel file and will remain on file for 6 months.

3.     Final Written Warning

A final written warning will be issued and a copy placed in your personnel file and will remain on file for 12 months.

4.     Dismissal

Dismissal may be with or without notice, depending on the circumstances, and may occur whether or not warnings have been issued.

Each warning will be recorded in the employee’s file by the Company Administrator, which will detail the following:

●       Date of entry

●       Date of offence

●       Nature of the offence

●       Type of action (e.g. level of warning)

●       Date of expiration of warning

●       Signature of person making the entry.

You will be entitled to appeal against any disciplinary or dismissal decision taken, such appeal being held in accordance with the appeal procedure, which is outlined below.

5.     Short service staff

We retain discretion in respect of the disciplinary procedures to take account of your length of service and to vary the procedures accordingly. If you have a short amount of service, you may not be in receipt of any warnings before dismissal.