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ACAS have tons of help advice and support, a telephone helpline and example letters/contracts documentation available for free. Alternatively you can call the Acas Helpline on 0300 123 1100 or visit them online http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1461
For example;
Disciplining staff
The following documents are free and are here to help with disciplining staff. Others are available to help with Hiring staff and Managing staff.
Letters for all the stages of a formal disciplinary procedure under the Acas Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance
Keeping a record
Note: The samples for letters, forms and checklists are here to help you, but users must take full responsibility for the content they send out.
Further guidance
If, after looking at these templates, you feel you need additional help on handling discipline, Acas has other free guidance you can download.
Topics include:
Alternatively you can call the Acas Helpline on 0300 123 1100.
Be aware of Acas imitators
For example;
Disciplining staff
The following documents are free and are here to help with disciplining staff. Others are available to help with Hiring staff and Managing staff.
Letters for all the stages of a formal disciplinary procedure under the Acas Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance
Letter giving an employee notice of a disciplinary meeting [30kb] - from a manager giving the reason they must attend, and the place, date and time.- Letter giving an employee the decision of the disciplinary meeting [33kb] - from a manager, giving the verdict - in this case a first written warning or a final written warning - and explaining what it means for the employee.
- Letter acknowledging the employee has appealed against the disciplinary meeting verdict of a warning [30kb] - from a manager to the employee, saying who will hear the appeal, where and when.
- Letter giving the result of the appeal against the meeting’s verdict [29kb] - from a manager, giving the employee the decision of the appeal hearing.
- Letter arranging the meeting where disciplinary action will be considered [29kb] - from a manager, informing the employee their employer is proposing to dismiss them, or take other disciplinary action short of dismissal, and giving the date, time and place for the meeting.
- Letter informing the employee what disciplinary action will be taken against them [35kb] - from a manager, giving the employee the decision and reasons, but informing the employee they have the right to appeal.
- Letter acknowledging the employee has appealed against the disciplinary meeting verdict of dismissal [30kb] - from a manager to the employee, saying who will hear the appeal against the disciplinary action, where and when.
- Letter giving the result of the appeal against the disciplinary action [30kb] - from a manager, giving the employee the final decision in the disciplinary process.
Keeping a record
- Employee's disciplinary record [46kb] - listing the type of disciplinary action taken, the reasons why, details of any appeal and key dates.
Note: The samples for letters, forms and checklists are here to help you, but users must take full responsibility for the content they send out.
Further guidance
If, after looking at these templates, you feel you need additional help on handling discipline, Acas has other free guidance you can download.
Topics include:
- Code of Practice 1 - Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures
- Discipline and grievances at work: The Acas guide
- Advisory handbook - Discipline and grievances at work
Alternatively you can call the Acas Helpline on 0300 123 1100.
Be aware of Acas imitators
Have you been approached by anyone claiming to be working in association with Acas?
We sometimes receive complaints, mainly from employers, about companies contacting them who say they are part of and/or acting on behalf of Acas. They typically offer free initial advice but then ask you to sign up to a long-term, often expensive contract for employment and/or health and safety advice. Here are some points to help you avoid Acas Imitators:
If you receive a call from a company claiming to be associated with us or if you are simply looking for us on the internet, please check the contact details carefully to ensure they are ours:
How do Acas's services differ from those of other providers?
Are you concerned about an experience with a possible Acas Imitator?
Tell us and we'll do our best to put a stop to it now. Write to us using our Comments, Complaints and Compliments facility or call our helpline. If possible, please provide the following information:
Do you believe you may have been misled by an Acas Imitator? All may not be lost - Consider seeking legal advice as you may have a claim against the Acas Imitator.
We sometimes receive complaints, mainly from employers, about companies contacting them who say they are part of and/or acting on behalf of Acas. They typically offer free initial advice but then ask you to sign up to a long-term, often expensive contract for employment and/or health and safety advice. Here are some points to help you avoid Acas Imitators:
- Ask directly if the person you are speaking with works for Acas - we don't use agents or outsource our advice to other companies,
- If the advice isn't from www.acas.org.uk or you didn't call the Acas Helpline on 0300 123 1100 - it's very unlikely to be from us.
If you receive a call from a company claiming to be associated with us or if you are simply looking for us on the internet, please check the contact details carefully to ensure they are ours:
- Any member of Acas staff will be able to tell you which Acas office they work from, you can check this detail against the list of Acas offices,
- Acas uses an email address format that ends with @acas.org.uk - if you are asked to contact an organisation using a different format, it isn't us,
- Our Helpline is completely confidential so we will never share your details with any 3rd party for a follow-up call about further services. If this is implied then the contact is not from us,
- If someone offers you advice which is geared only to you as an employer or an employee, or they offer to make a claim on your behalf or represent you in an employment tribunal - it's not us,
- If someone offers you free initial advice and then asks you sign up to a contract for ongoing advice and assistance - it's not us. We don't charge for ongoing advice from our Helpline or access to our website.
How do Acas's services differ from those of other providers?
- The only services we generally charge for are in relation to mediation, specific training or one off projects tailored to employers' needs,
- Acas writes guidance and maintains statutory Codes of practice on behalf of Government. If someone offers you advice which they claim is based on our Codes of Practice or best practices guides, please note that the advice will be based on their interpretation of the guidance which may be different from our own.
Are you concerned about an experience with a possible Acas Imitator?
Tell us and we'll do our best to put a stop to it now. Write to us using our Comments, Complaints and Compliments facility or call our helpline. If possible, please provide the following information:
- Name of the Organisation and representative(s) that contacted you,
- Date(s) and method(s) of contact,
- And most importantly, what they actually said to you (specific words, phrases etc) about Acas and their connection with Acas? - Please keep any documentary evidence you may have.
Do you believe you may have been misled by an Acas Imitator? All may not be lost - Consider seeking legal advice as you may have a claim against the Acas Imitator.
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