An employment lawyer friend sent me this recent judgement on an interesting case.
Basically it was an appeal at the Employment Appeal Tribunal for an unfair dismissal case. In summary the judge found that HR had overstepped their remit in terms of the outcome of the discilinary with reference to changes within an investigation and disciplinary report. Initial drafts of the report showed it was the line manager's intention to give a final written warning to the employee but that after HR's involvement it became a Gross Misconduct issue and a summary dismissal.
This is a really interesting case for HR and the judgement provides a cuationary tale that HR should stick to providing advice on legal and procedural issues that we do not overstep our remit. What do you think?
I do however feel that line managers should consult HR in terms of consistency of warnings for the purposes of similar misconduct issues and the penalties awarded though and it is not clear how this fits with that?
What does everyone else think?
Replies
Where I currently work HR are seen as facilitators not decision makers and would have in the first instance assisted in the investigatory process. HR only evidence any issues raised in a employees work history and offer the guidance and support to Managers but ultimately they will state why they are making the decisions as they are the ones judged.
Hi Andrea
Yes I agree it is always sensible to remind line managers of their role and that they are the ones who will be required to justify how they arrived at the decision they have if a case did go to ET. I have met numerous managers who sometimes hide behind the HR told me to do it line......
Regards
Sarah