Disciplinary & Grievance Procedure

Grievance

Introduction

It is Tempo's policy to ensure that employees or contractors with a grievance relating to their employment or service can use a procedure which can help to resolve grievances as quickly and as fairly as possible.

Apart from informal discussions, you will have the opportunity to have a companion attend any meeting with you.  This may be a fellow employee or a trade union official should you be a member of a recognised trade union.

1. Informal Discussions

If you have a grievance about your employment you should discuss it informally with your immediate manager. We hope that the majority of concerns will be resolved at this stage.

2. Stage 1

If you feel that the matter has not been resolved through informal discussions, you should put your grievance in writing to the CEO. If the grievance relates to the CEO then you can proceed directly to Stage 2 below.

A meeting will be arranged to discuss the matter formally and a written response will be provided within a reasonable period thereafter. ****

3. Stage 2 - Appeal

If the matter is not resolved, you may raise the matter, in writing, with full grounds of the situation to the Chair of the Impartiality Committee.

An appeal meeting will be arranged in good time without unreasonable delay and a review of the original investigation/meeting will be carried out. A written reply will be sent to you within a reasonable period.

You may be represented or accompanied at this meeting by a fellow worker of your choice or by a trade union official.

Disciplinary

Purpose

Our aim is to encourage improvement in individual conduct or performance. This procedure sets out the actions we take when someone breaches disciplinary rules. Employees can discuss any part of this policy with their manager. They can help clarify your rights as well as give guidance and support where you may need it.

Principles

  1. Establish the facts. The procedure is designed to establish the facts quickly and to deal consistently with disciplinary issues. We will take no disciplinary action until we have fully investigated the matter. If this is performance related, we will investigate the reasons behind poor performance.

  2. Keep you informed. At every stage, we will inform employees in writing of what is alleged. Employees or Contractors have the opportunity to state their case at a disciplinary meeting and be represented or accompanied, if they wish, by a work colleague or a trade union representative.

  3. Give you a voice. An employee or contractor has the right to appeal against any disciplinary penalty.

Stages

🧙‍♂️ Note: Every employee or contractor has the right to representation by a work colleague or trade union representative at any point during the disciplinary process. If you are being accompanied during the meeting, please let us know the name of the person within reasonable time before the meeting.

The basic stages of our disciplinary process are set out below:

  1. Verbal warning

In the event of poor performance or poor conduct, your manager will have a meeting with you to discuss the issues and will normally issue you with a verbal warning.

In the case of performance related issues, your regular 1-1s will prove as documentation for this and will be used for reference in this meeting.

The meeting will be followed up with a written confirmation setting out the reason for the decision and outline the issues and expectations for improvement. We set a reasonable timescale for expectations depending on each case.

2. Second warning

In the event of sustained poor performance or repeated poor conduct, your manager will have a further meeting with you to discuss the lack of improvement.

If the concern relates to performance

You will likely be put on a performance improvement plan.

If the concern relates to conduct

You will be issued with a first written warning. This written warning will remain on your employee record for a period of six months. If the situation has been improved, we will remove the warning.

3. Final written warning

If the situation has not improved, we will issue a final written warning.

4. Decision step

If no improvement has been made, even after final written warning then we may proceed with demotion, disciplinary transfer, loss of seniority (as allowed in the contract) or immediate dismissal.

⚠️ Note: Depending on the seriousness of the case, we may enter into the disciplinary procedure at any of the stages outlined above. In certain circumstances, we reserve the right to not follow the disciplinary procedure. Except in cases of gross misconduct, dismissal is unlikely to be the first step.

What classifies as gross misconduct?

If, after investigation, we confirm that you have committed an offence of the following nature (the list is not exhaustive), the normal consequence will be dismissal without notice or payment in lieu of notice:

  • theft

  • damage to property

  • fraud

  • incapacity for work due to being under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs

  • physical violence

  • bullying and gross insubordination

While the alleged gross misconduct is being investigated, the employee may be suspended, during which time they will be paid their normal pay rate. We will take any decision to dismiss only after full investigation.

Appeals

You have the right to appeal against any disciplinary decision and you must do so to hello@tempoaudits.com within five working days. We will hear the appeal and decide the case impartially.

Management System Document Reference: HR2
Version: 1
Issue Date: 25/8/2024