Question:

If an employee raises a grievance during a disciplinary process, do we automatically have to stop the process

Answer:

No you do not have to automatically stop the process. It is a common tactic for an employee facing a disciplinary or performance process to try and stall it by raising a grievance. So what should you do?

1. If the employee’s complaint is no more than a complaint that “Management is wrong” or “They have got it in for me”, then there is no need to hold a grievance hearing at all. The employee’s comments should then form part of their defence to the charges against them.
2. If the employee states that the allegations are being made due to discrimination of age, race, disability, sex, etc. then you need to assess whether there appears to be any grounds to the complaint by considering the following

a) If there does not appear to be any grounds then, prior to the disciplinary hearing taking place, state that you will hear the grievance regarding the discrimination and assess then whether there are any grounds or not and hence, whether the grievance meeting should continue into the scheduled disciplinary.

b) If there is substance and evidence of discrimination, then you should adjourn the disciplinary process and carry out a full grievance investigation in line with your procedure.

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