The Government, concerned that litigation should not be seen as the first resort for resolving workplace problems, decided to introduce statutory dismissal and disciplinary procedures (DDPs) and grievance procedures (GPs) with which employers and employees alike would be obliged to comply. The procedures - contained in the Employment Act 2002 (the 2002 Act)- came into force on 1 October 2004.

Below is a guide to compliance with the statutory DDPs.

Outline of consequences of failure to comply
First, where an employee with at least one year's service has been dismissed, and where the non-completion of an applicable DDP is attributable to a failure by the employer to comply with the DDP's requirements, the employer will be liable for automatically unfair dismissal under the newly inserted S.98A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA)

Secondly, where an applicable DDP has not been followed, the compensation awarded to the employee in the event of a successful tribunal claim will usually be adjusted dependent upon who is to blame for non-compliance.

It is important to note that the new statutory DDPs are intended to provide a minimum legal standard for all employers. While a failure to follow an applicable statutory DDP will give rise to the sanctions mentioned above, it does not follow that adherence to the statutory procedure will render an employer untouchable by a tribunal in the "normal" unfair dismissal sense.

In an unfair dismissal case, a tribunal will consider whether there were any procedural steps in addition to those set out in the DDPs that the employer should reasonably have taken before carrying out the dismissal.

So, even where an employer complies with an applicable statutory DDP, he might fail to act fairly and thus open himself up to findings of procedurally unfair dismissal under the normal provisions of the ERA.

The key for employers will be to ensure that their procedures fulfil the statutory DDPs, and are otherwise fair.

The three-stage standard DDP found in Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the 2002 Act is set out below, together with a brief commentary on the requirements imposed at each stage.

Employers should be aware that these procedures apply to all dismissals INCLUDING Redundancies.

Step1
Statement of grounds for action and invitation to meeting

• The employer must set out in writing the employee's alleged conduct or characteristics, or other circumstances, which led him to contemplate dismissing or taking disciplinary action against the employee.
• The employer must send the statement or a copy of it to the employee and invite the employee to attend a meeting to discuss the matter.

Step 2
Meeting

• The meeting must take place before action is taken, except in the case where the disciplinary action consists of suspension
• The meeting must not take place unless -
• the employer has informed the employee what the basis was for including in the statement under Step 1 the ground or grounds given in it, and (b) the employee has had a reasonable opportunity to consider his or her response to that information.
• The employee must take all reasonable steps to attend the meeting.
• After the meeting, the employer must inform the employee of his decision and notify the employee of the right to appeal against the decision if he or she is not satisfied with it.

Step 3
Appeal

• If the employee wishes to appeal, he must inform the employer.
• If the employee registers his appeal, the employer must invite the employee to attend an appeal hearing.
• The employee must take all reasonable steps to attend the meeting.
• The appeal hearing need not take place before the dismissal or disciplinary action takes effect.
• After the appeal meeting, the employer must inform the employee of his final decision.