NEW DISMISSAL RULES – REST IN PEACE DDP

If you are an employer or an employee in the UK who has had to deal with a dispute at work in the last few years, you’ll be pleased to know that the statutory disciplinary and dismissal procedure has been replaced. The DDP was introduced to standardise the way in which disputes were handled, and, laughably, to protect employee rights. What it managed to achieve was a formalisation of issues between staff and bosses that turned many conversations into an adversarial process whose only result was to lower morale and put staff in fear of their jobs.

From 6 April 2009 there is now less emphasis on the mechanics of how to manage disciplinary issues, grievances and dismissals and more flexibility to resolve problems at an early stage and in a way that suits you best.

If you’re not already up to speed on the changes, you should be. ACAS has produce a Code for dismissal and grievance procedures. The Code isn’t mandatory but will be taken into account by Tribunals when considering cases.

For the Code, visit http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2174

For the ACAS guidelines, visit http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2179