Frequently Asked Questions

There should be no premeditated decision from the chairperson of the disciplinary hearing. However if you have been informed, normally in your invitation letter, that one of the outcomes from the hearing could be dismissal then you must consider this as a possibility. Check out our free guide which will help you prepare for a disciplinary meeting. Get the Disciplinary Meeting Checklist here.

Breach of contract is where you or your employer fail to follow the terms outlined in your contract and effectively the breach is so serious the contract between the parties can be said to be broken. A simple example may be where you are not paid your salary on the specified date each month or you fail to work your specified hours and do 5 hours less each week. Breach of contract can apply even if there are no written terms between the parties. Normally this is where there are some natural expectations by both parties (employer and employee) that are not written but just assumed because of the nature of employment. For instance, mutual trust and confidence is a fundamental requirement in any employee- employer relationship. If this is breached for any reason it is called a breach to ‘implied terms and conditions’ and either party could claim this happened because of the conduct of the other party.

A zero hour contract is a contract where no working hours are specified or guaranteed. Normally the terminology states that work will be required to meet the needs of the employer, however there is no guarantee to a minimum hours of work or pattern of work, instead a ‘rota’ might specify hours and these might be infrequent and sporadic.

You are legally entitled to a Contract of Employment or ‘Written Statement of Particulars’, from your first day of employment.

The law states that your contract of employment or sometimes referred to as a ‘Statement of Main terms or particulars’ or even ‘Letter of Engagement’ should include;

• the name(s) of your employer and your name

• the date when your employment began, and if relevant, the date on which your period of continuous employment began (taking into account any employment with a previous employer which counts towards that period). This point will be relevant if you transfer from another employer.

• the scale or rate of your pay or the method of calculating pay

• the intervals at which it will be paid (that is, weekly, monthly or other specified intervals)

• any terms and conditions relating to hours of work (including any terms and conditions relating to normal working hours)

• your entitlement to holidays, including public holidays, and holiday pay (specifying how holiday pay is calculated)

• any provision for sick pay

• pensions and pension schemes

• the length of notice which you are obliged to give and the notice you will be entitled to receive if your employer elects to terminate your contract of employment

• Your job title or a brief description of the work you will be/are employed to do

• where your employment is not intended to be permanent, the period for which it is expected to continue or, if it is for a fixed term, the date when it is due to end

• either your workplace or where you are required or permitted to work if at various places and an indication of that and of the address of your employer

• Any disciplinary rules and procedure applicable to your employment or a reference to a document (that should be accessible to you) if the full rules and procedures are not contained in your contract of employment. This should specify who you can appeal to in the event you are unhappy with any disciplinary decision including a dismissal decision

• Your contract should also specify a person who you can apply to if you have a grievance and how that should be done or if this is not explicit a reference of where you can access a policy on how to make a grievance and the employer procedure on this

• If you are required to work outside the UK for a period of more than one month or not, if you are, it should state; the period for which you will work outside the UK and the currency you will be paid in whilst working outside the UK and any additional remuneration payable and any benefits to be provided in respect to being required to work outside the UK, and any terms and conditions relating to your return home

• any collective agreements which directly affect the terms and conditions of your employment including, where the employer is not a party, the persons by whom they were made. Collective agreements refer to any recognised union in the work place

You can be sacked or dismissed at any point in your employment, however, it is more common during probationary periods. Normally, employers will write provisions in contracts of employment to make it clear that if you don’t deliver to their required standards or performance levels in your probationary period you may face dismissal. To avoid this, seek to ensure you are clear on your role requirements and any standards the organisation has and clarify with your manager their expectations of you. You should not be sacked if the reason for your dismissal is related to discrimination, assertation of statutory rights or whistleblowing.

It is possible for you to be disciplined for sickness depending on how your employer deals with absence. It may be that you receive a warning for persistent absence or for failing to follow the notification procedure. If you do not believe that the warning is fair you should be able to challenge the disciplinary warning by raising an appeal.

A case recently decided in the European courts suggested that employees should be paid where they have no fixed office specified in their contract of employment. We recommend you check your employment contract/letter of offer to see what is written around travelling times and payment. If it is silent on this point, it is worth asking your employer in the first instance.

A formal warning is where you have been;

1. Informed in writing of a hearing with at least 48 hours notice.

2. Had the right to be accompanied at the hearing.

3. Attended a hearing and notes of the meeting were taken.

4. Received notice of the warning in writing.