Civil Service Appeal Board
Last updated: 27 November 2008
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The Board’s decision will be notified to both parties in writing within 24 hours of the hearing and will be sent to the individual who has been the Secretariat’s contact throughout the appeal process. The result will not be given over the telephone in any circumstances. Detailed reasons for the Board’s decision will be circulated to all concerned within 20 working days after the date of the hearing (the Hearing Report).
If the decision is found to be fair then no further action can be taken by the Board once the Hearing Report has been issued.
If the Board decides that the Department’s/Agency’s decision was unfair:
The Head of the Department or Chief Executive of the Agency should take the final decision on whether to accept a recommendation to reinstate or re-engage. If the appellant’s appeal is upheld and a recommendation to reinstate or re-engage is made, the Department/Agency should inform the CSAB of its decision who will in turn relay this to the appellant and advise further action. If the decision is not to reinstate then an award of compensation will be made. The Secretariat will ask, and expect, that your decision is made and returned within 28 days of the hearing report being issued.
The compensation awarded by the Board may be increased or reduced from 100% for one of three reasons. Failure by a Department or Agency to follow the statutory dismissal and disciplinary procedures, which were brought into effect by the Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004, will result in an adjustment to the level of compensation awarded. Equally, if the Board finds that an employee has been dismissed unfairly but has failed to follow the statutory procedure (for instance they did not attend the disciplinary hearing without good cause), compensation will be reduced. Reductions can also be made if the case was found procedurally unfair (the “Polkey” factor), but, apart from that, the dismissal was justifiable and also if it is felt that the appellant was in some way responsible for the circumstances which led to their dismissal (the contributory fault factor). Representations will be sought from the appellant, their representative and the Department/Agency before the Board take a decision on any reduction to be made. When compiling your representations you will need to bear in mind the following questions:
In the representations it should be noted down the reasons why the Department/Agency believe that the appellant is either wholly or partly responsible and how much the Department/Agency believe the impact of the appellant’s actions affected the decision to dismiss.
When the award has been calculated all parties will be sent details of the award and a copy of the representations made by the other parties. The CSAB follow the guidelines set out by the Employment Tribunal Service. It is expected that the award should be made within 42 days of the compensation award details being issued.