Civil Service Appeal Board

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Guidance notes for officers appealing

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Once the decision has been made

Within 48 hours of the hearing a letter will be sent to you, your representative and to the department/agency giving the Board’s decision. This will be followed within a period of 20 working days by the detailed reasons for the Board’s conclusions (the Hearing Report).

If the dismiss is found to be fair, no further action can be taken by the Board once the Report has been issued.

If the Board decides that the Department’s/Agency’s decision was unfair:

The Head of your department/agency takes the final decision on whether to accept a recommendation to reinstate. If your appeal is upheld and a recommendation to reinstate is made, the department/agency are expected to notify the CSAB of its decision within 28 days of the hearing report being issued. If the decision is not to reinstate then an award of compensation will be made.

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 you were in some way responsible for the circumstances which led to your dismissal (the contributory fault factor). Representations will be sought from both you and your 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:

When the award has been calculated you will be sent details of the award and you will also be sent a copy of the representations made by the department/agency and they will be sent yours. 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.