Disciplinary and grievance procedure template
Also searched for as disciplinary policy template UK, grievance procedure template, Acas disciplinary procedure.
Every employer must tell employees, within two months of starting, how to raise a grievance and what the disciplinary procedure is. Beyond that, a written procedure that follows the Acas Code of Practice is the difference between a dismissal that stands and one that costs a year's pay plus a 25 per cent uplift for ignoring the Code. This template is the procedure, written for a small employer without an HR department.
It covers both sides in one document because they share the same skeleton: put it in writing, meet, allow a companion, decide, explain, allow an appeal.
What is in this template
- Purpose, the Acas Code, and the 25 per cent tribunal uplift flagged up front so the reader knows why the steps matter.
- The seven Acas principles the employer commits to.
- The informal stage, which resolves most matters.
- Investigation by a manager who will not chair the hearing.
- Suspension on full pay, with the test for when it is justified.
- The formal hearing: written notice, the evidence, the hearing itself, the decision.
- The outcomes ladder: first written warning, final written warning, dismissal, with realistic live periods.
- The statutory right to be accompanied.
- Appeal, heard by someone not previously involved.
- The grievance procedure, formal and informal.
- Confidentiality and records.
- Special situations: a grievance raised during a disciplinary, long-term sickness, criminal charges.
How to use it
- Name the roles: who investigates, who chairs, who hears appeals. In a small firm that may be three named people or an external adviser for appeals.
- Set the live periods for warnings if you want to depart from the six and twelve months in the template.
- Add your own examples of gross misconduct relevant to the work: driving offences for drivers, safety breaches on site, till discrepancies in retail.
- Issue it with the handbook and reference it from the written statement, which satisfies the two-month requirement.
- Then follow it every time. The template letters on this site match each step.
Questions people ask
Is a written disciplinary procedure a legal requirement?
The written statement must tell employees where to find the disciplinary rules and the grievance procedure. A procedure that follows the Acas Code is not compulsory, but a tribunal can increase compensation by up to 25 per cent where an employer unreasonably fails to follow it. In practice that makes it compulsory for anyone who might ever dismiss someone.
Can the same person investigate and chair the hearing?
The Code asks for different people where practicable. In a very small business it may be unavoidable; the template says so and asks the chair to be scrupulous about fairness. Bringing in an external adviser for the hearing or the appeal is the common fix.
How long should a warning stay on file?
Six months for a first written warning and twelve for a final written warning are the usual periods and are what the template uses. Indefinite warnings are generally regarded as unfair.
When you outgrow Word documents
Work-Lynx holds this and 48 other UK policies, records who has acknowledged each one, tracks holiday, absence and training, and answers the questions in between with Employ AI. £2.50 a month plus £1 per employee, 14 days free, no card. The template works without it.
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