Would this indicate dismissal had already been decided?

[Help4SomeoneElse]

If employer writes a dismissal letter for a specific person the day before a disciplinary hearing, and dismisses the named employee on the same day as the disciplinary hearing, would that indicate the employer had already decided he was going to dismiss the employee? Or was employer just thinking ahead because you never know when you might need a dismissal letter made out to a specific person?

[paulajayne]

Re: Would this indicate dismissal had already been decided?

I would imagine that they were planning ahead.

[Help4SomeoneElse]

Re: Would this indicate dismissal had already been decided?

I thought of that one and if the employer was planning ahead then wouldn't they have written letters for each contingency like, dismissal, warning, demotion, or even no further action?

In this instance they only wrote the one letter, a dismissal letter.

[ULA]

Re: Would this indicate dismissal had already been decided?

The normal operations of an employer in regard to HR matters is that they will have a "bank" of template letters covering a range from recruitment to dismissal.

Normally if a process is being followed I.e. a disciplinary process they will tailor the template letters to the particular situation. My advice to employers is always that for any letters that detail the outcome of a meeting such as a disciplinary hearing they should be written after the event. This is because you should not pre-determine the outcome of such a meeting or be seen to do that. However I am sure that not all employers act in that way and in fact draft the letter in advance, although they then wou,d have to review it before sending if the outcome of the meeting was different.

[Help4SomeoneElse]

Re: Would this indicate dismissal had already been decided?

If, at the same time of writing the dismissal letter, the employer also seeks advice on ways he can tell the employee he's been dismissed, could that be seen as pre-determining the outcome?

For instance, the disciplinary hearing will be held at midday, employee will be back in work the same evening. A dismissal letter posted after the hearing wont reach the employee in time and he will turn up for work, so employer seeks advice on if he can phone employee to inform him of dismissal.

[ULA]

Re: Would this indicate dismissal had already been decided?

Does this relate to your other post "Is this allegation reasonable"?

An employer can seek advice at any time from a third party e.g. solicitor or HR consultant in regard to an employee related matter. It may be that they wish to find out what the range of options are to them i.e. we have a disciplinary hearing what happens if the person has a justified reason for their actions and we accept them or partially accept them what should we do or we if we do not accept their explanation what type of action can we take.

Employers are under an obligation to make sure they follow a fair process and in doing so, if they do not have the expertise, they are best advised to get some advice.