Civil Service Appeal Board

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Dismissals in the Civil Service - Good practice principles applied by the Civil Service Appeal Board

Procedures

The Board has to be satisfied that relevant procedures, laid down in Departmental and Agency Codes and Guidance, have been followed satisfactorily.

The Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004 brought into effect, from 1 October 2004, the provisions in the Employment Act 2002 which sets out minimum statutory dismissal and disciplinary procedures. These apply where the employer first contemplates dismissing or taking such action against an employee on or after that date. Failure to follow the statutory procedures, which apply to all dismissals, will mean that under these Regulations the Board or an Employment Tribunal must find the decision automatically unfair. The procedure involves three stages:

Stage 1

The employer must set out in writing the employee’s alleged conduct or characteristics or other circumstances which led them to contemplate dismissing or taking action against the employee.

The employer must send a copy of the above statement to the employee and invite him or her to attend a meeting to discuss the matter.

Stage 2

The meeting must take place before the action is taken and must not take place unless:

On his/her part, the employee must take all reasonable steps to attend the meeting at which he/she may be accompanied.

After the meeting, the employer must inform the employee of his decision and notify him or her of the right to appeal against the decision if he or she is not satisfied with it.

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Stage 3

If the employee wishes to appeal, he/she must inform the employer.

The appeal meeting need not take place before the dismissal takes effect.

If the employee informs the employer of his/her wish to appeal, the employer must extend an invitation to attend a further meeting at which the employee may be accompanied.

The employee must take all reasonable steps to attend the meeting.

When reasonably practicable, the appeal should be dealt with by a more senior official than the one who dealt with the disciplinary hearing.

After the appeal meeting, the employer must inform the employee of the final decision.

There is a modified two stage procedure for use in special circumstances involving gross misconduct, when summary dismissal has taken place. The Board recommends that reference is made to the ACAS Code of Practice for further details with regard to the new dismissal and disciplinary procedures.

It is possible that, even if the new statutory dismissal and disciplinary procedures have been followed, other procedural shortcomings could justify the dismissal being found procedurally unfair, in accordance with the principles established in the case of Polkey vs A E Dayton Services Ltd.

In cases of discipline/ misconduct:

Serious procedural shortcomings can arise when Departments and Agencies deal with inefficiency cases and the following points should be noted.

In cases of dismissals for inefficiency on the grounds of unsatisfactory performance:

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In cases of dismissal for inefficiency on the grounds of unsatisfactory attendance:

In cases of dismissals for failure of probation: