An employee has the legal right to appeal against the decision made at a disciplinary hearing or a grievance meeting. An appeal is the opportunity for the person to ask for a review of the decision based on the reasons that they will have laid out in their Appeal letter. FieldHR will provide the letter confirming the invite to the hearing for the employee. Read your policy carefully and ensure that you are following the timelines laid out in it.
Before you start:
- Ensure that you have had no prior involvement with the case
- Noone who has been involved in the original investigation, disciplinary or grievance meeting should be involved in the Appeal. The person hearing the Appeal should be more senior than the one who who heard the original meeting.
- Ask FieldHR to invite the employee to a meeting where they can go through the reasons for their appeal
- Prepare before the meeting by reading the appeal letter and carefully considering the points that have been raised. Think about any questions you may need to ask to obtain clarity.
Your essential checklist
- Explain the purpose of the meeting for the employee – it is their opportunity to put their case across, and to explain why they believe the original decision was unfair or unjust
- Allow the employee to state their case and ask any questions.
- Decide if you have enough information to reach your decision – unless it is a very simple matter, it is unlikely that you would have sufficient information at this stage to make a decision.
- If not, adjourn the meeting and advise the employee that you will conduct a further investigation into the matters raised. Advise the employee on your likely timescales.
Investigation:
- Conduct an investigation to obtain all necessary information
- Consider : is there any credence to the points in the Appeal letter and raised in the Appeal hearing? Was the decision fair at the time? Has subsequent information or evidence come to light? Was the process followed correctly? Was the decision consistent with other cases?
Outcome
- Decide if you are going to uphold the sanction, lessen the sanction or withdraw the sanction.
- Ensure that you respond to the employee in writing with the outcome of the Appeal.
- Involve FieldHR throughout the process
Top tips:
- Don’t pre-judge before all evidence has been reviewed