Everything on this site about disciplinary action, in one place: what your employer has to do at each stage, what you are entitled to ask for, and where a case is actually won or lost, which is almost always before the hearing rather than in it. Start wherever your question is.
The process at a glance
How a disciplinary process works
Disciplinary process guide
What’s said in the room matters.
A plain-English guide to the workplace disciplinary process, from the first allegation to the tribunal route.
Based on the ACAS Code of Practice 2015. Position at 15 October 2026.
Your employer does not walk in alone.
The manager
Has rehearsed the allegations.
The HR adviser
Knows the process well.
The investigation file
Weeks of evidence, gathered in advance.
The note-taker
Records every word said.
Most employees face this with no preparation and no plan. What is said in that one hour goes on the record, and can follow you into references and any later claim.
Pressure changes how people decide.
Under stress, people commonly
Lose the order of events and the exact words used
Focus on the immediate threat, not the options
Send emotional emails or confront managers
Resign early, or admit what they could have challenged
What steadies the process
Structure: a clear route and a clear next step
Explanation: what happens, and why
Perspective: facts kept apart from assumptions
Evidence: documents, not memory alone
These are ordinary human responses to a threat to income, reputation and identity. They are not weaknesses, and they are the reason preparation matters.
The process, stage by stage.
Select a stage to jump to it. Structure follows the ACAS Code of Practice 2015, paras 5 to 29.
Two foundations of a fair process.
The ACAS Code of Practice 2015
Issued under section 199 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992
Not binding in itself, but tribunals take it into account
For an unreasonable failure to follow it, an award can be adjusted by up to 25 per cent, up or down
Section 10, Employment Relations Act 1999
A statutory right to be accompanied at a disciplinary hearing that could lead to a warning or other action
The same right applies at appeal hearings
Your companion may put your case, sum up and respond to views expressed
A draft replacement Code was put out for consultation in 2026. It is not in force. The 2015 Code is the Code that applies today.
ACAS Code of Practice 2015 (Foreword); s.199 and s.207A TULRCA 1992; s.10 Employment Relations Act 1999.
Stage 01 of 06
Investigation and suspension.
Establishing the facts (paras 5 to 7)
Investigate without unreasonable delay
Where practicable, a different person investigates and a different person decides
An investigatory meeting should not by itself lead to disciplinary action. There is no statutory right to be accompanied, though the employer’s own procedure may allow it
Suspension (para 8)
Where suspension with pay is considered necessary, it should be as brief as possible and kept under review
It must be made clear that suspension is not disciplinary action
Ask in writing why it is needed and when it will be reviewed
Day one: ask in writing for the allegations, the terms of reference and the evidence relied on, so the factual timeline is fixed early.
ACAS Code 2015, paras 5 to 8.
Stage 02 of 06
Reading the invitation letter.
Para 9
The allegation
Notified in writing, with enough information about the alleged misconduct and its possible consequences to let you prepare.
Para 9
The evidence
It would normally be appropriate to send copies of any written evidence, including witness statements, with the letter.
Paras 10 and 11
The timeline
Date, time and venue, notice of your right to be accompanied, and reasonable time to prepare your case.
Missing detail or withheld evidence is a point of procedure. Raise it early, in writing, so it is on the record.
ACAS Code 2015, paras 9 to 11.
Stage 03 of 06
The hearing.
Employer side
YouYour companion
Employee side
What the Code says you can do (para 12)
Hear the complaint explained and the evidence gone through
Set out your case and answer the allegations
Ask questions, present evidence and call relevant witnesses
Raise points about information provided by witnesses
Where you intend to call witnesses, give advance notice.
What is said, and challenged, here shapes everything after.
ACAS Code 2015, para 12.
Your companion: the Section 10 right.
Your companion may
Put your case and sum it up
Respond on your behalf to views expressed at the meeting
Confer with you during the hearing
Your companion may not
Answer questions on your behalf
Address the hearing if you do not wish it
Prevent the employer explaining its case
Who: a fellow worker, a trade union representative, or an official employed by a trade union (para 14).
Postponement: if your companion cannot attend, the employer must offer a reasonable alternative within five working days (para 16).
When: hearings that could lead to a warning or other action, and appeal hearings (paras 13 and 28).
s.10 Employment Relations Act 1999; ACAS Code 2015, paras 13 to 17 and 28.
The Code as a checklist.
Employer action
ACAS Code
What it asks for
Notice
Para 9
Enough written detail for you to prepare
Investigation
Para 6
Different people investigate and decide, where practicable
Disclosure
Para 9
Written evidence and witness statements normally sent in advance
Hearing
Para 12
You can state your case, ask questions and call witnesses
Decision
Paras 18 and 22
Written outcome with reasons, end date, notice and right of appeal
Procedural points are not technicalities. A tribunal can adjust an award by up to 25 per cent for an unreasonable failure to follow the Code.
ACAS Code 2015, paras 6, 9, 12, 18 and 22; s.207A TULRCA 1992.
Stage 04 of 06
The decision.
Outcome letter
In writing (para 18)
No action
If action is not justified, none follows.
A warning
Written warning where misconduct is confirmed, final written warning where it is serious or repeated. The letter sets out the change required and how long the warning lasts (paras 19 to 21).
Dismissal, including for gross misconduct
Taken by a manager with authority, with reasons, end date, notice and right of appeal stated (para 22). Gross misconduct can justify dismissal without notice, but a fair process must still be followed first (para 23).
ACAS Code 2015, paras 18 to 25.
Stage 05 of 06
The appeal.
An appeal is your internal right to challenge the decision. Set out your grounds in writing, and make them specific (paras 26 to 29).
1
Procedural failures
Steps in the Code or the employer’s own procedure that were missed or misapplied.
2
Evidential gaps
Evidence that does not support the finding, or that was never properly tested.
3
Inconsistent sanctions
Treatment that differs from similar cases, without a good reason.
The Code asks for an appeal heard without unreasonable delay, impartially and, wherever possible, by a manager not previously involved. You have a right to be accompanied, and the result should come to you in writing.
ACAS Code 2015, paras 26 to 29.
After dismissal, two clocks run at once.
Internal appeal: runs on the employer’s timetable
Tribunal time limit: runs from the date employment ended
Dismissal dateTime limit expires
Six months where the dismissal falls on or after 1 October 2026.
Appealing internally does not change the tribunal time limits. Missing them can end a claim, however strong the case.
s.111 Employment Rights Act 1996; GOV.UK, Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act: timeline update; ACAS, Employment Rights Act 2025.
Stage 06 of 06
ACAS Early Conciliation.
Internal process
Investigation, hearing, decision and appeal.
ACAS Early Conciliation
In most cases the step before a claim. Notifying ACAS within the time limit protects your position. Conciliation can last up to 12 weeks.
The ET1 claim
The claim form frames what the tribunal reads, so precise facts and framing matter.
Notifying ACAS is required before most tribunal claims, though taking part in conciliation is voluntary and some claims are exempt. If you notify ACAS within the time limit, you have at least one month from receiving the certificate to make your claim.
s.18A Employment Tribunals Act 1996; ACAS, How early conciliation works.
The rules are moving.
1 October 2026
In force
The time limit for most tribunal claims rises from three months to six, where the act or dismissal falls on or after that date.
1 January 2027
Confirmed
For dismissals on or after that date, unfair dismissal needs six months’ service rather than two years, and the cap on the compensatory award is removed.
2026 draft Code
Not in force
ACAS consulted on a replacement disciplinary and grievance Code. Until it is brought into effect, the 2015 Code applies.
GOV.UK, Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act: timeline update; ACAS, Employment Rights Act 2025; ACAS draft Code consultation closed 23 September 2026.
General information only, based on the ACAS Code of Practice 2015 and the law as at 15 October 2026.
Start here
Where are you now?
Choose the option closest to where you are. Nothing here is a substitute for advice on your own case, which is what the free consultation is for.
An investigation gathers evidence, sometimes before you know a case exists. Suspension is a neutral step to allow that to happen, not a disciplinary sanction, and it should be kept as brief as possible and under review.
The disciplinary hearing is the decisive stage. The employer has to set out the allegations in writing in enough detail to answer, and there is a statutory right to be accompanied. What is prepared and challenged here shapes everything that comes after it.
Gross misconduct is conduct serious enough to justify dismissal without notice for a first offence. A fair process is still required before any such dismissal, and these cases most often turn on the strength of the evidence and the fairness of the procedure.
Where a sanction has been imposed, the appeal is the route to challenge it internally. Grounds that target procedural failure, evidential gaps and inconsistent treatment carry further than a restatement of the defence, and the outcome letter sets the deadline to lodge them.
Do I have to go into a disciplinary hearing on my own?
Short answer No, and you do not need to be in a union to bring someone.
Where the hearing could result in a formal warning or other disciplinary action, you have a statutory right to be accompanied by a fellow worker, a trade union representative, or a trade union official. That right does not depend on union membership. Before the hearing you should also be given enough detail of the allegation to answer it, and normally the written evidence, including any witness statements. The right person beside you and the case set out in advance are what let you answer the allegation rather than react to it.
Key rule
The notification of a disciplinary hearing must contain enough information about the alleged misconduct and its possible consequences for the employee to prepare, and would normally include copies of the written evidence and any witness statements. Where the hearing could result in a formal warning or other disciplinary action, the worker has the right to be accompanied by a companion within the permitted categories.
Source: ACAS Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures (2015), paragraphs 9, 10 and 13 to 14, and Employment Relations Act 1999, section 10
Practical guidance: The right does not depend on union membership, and a request to be accompanied does not have to be in writing. Where your chosen companion is unavailable, you can propose a reasonable alternative time within five working days of the date originally proposed.
If you want to see where your employer’s process has already departed from the Code before you do anything else, the free Position Review walks through it stage by stage, and the answer turns on what the Code requires rather than on the strength of the allegation. The Written Requests Builder puts the evidence request, your companion and any postponement into one dated email, and works out the latest alternative date your employer has to accept.
Three steps, in order
Learn, test, act
Most people arrive at a disciplinary knowing they disagree with the allegation and not knowing what their employer is actually required to do. These three take you from one to the other, and the first two are free and require nothing from you.
01LearnThe disciplinary hearings guide sets out what has to happen at each stage: what the notification must contain, what you are entitled to ask for, what happens in the room, and what a lawful outcome looks like. The investigation and gross misconduct guides go deeper where your case needs it. Read the guide
02TestPosition Review works through the process your employer has actually followed and measures it against the ACAS Code, stage by stage, so you can see where the procedure has departed from what the Code requires. It runs in your browser and asks for no email address. Open the review. Then the Allegation Response Builder prepares your answer to each allegation, including whether it belongs in the category it has been given. Prepare your response
03ActWhere you want someone in the room, we prepare the case and represent you at the hearing on the basis of your Section 10 right to be accompanied. The fee is fixed and agreed before any work begins. In-person attendance covers Birmingham and the West Midlands; elsewhere in England and Wales we represent remotely. See how representation works
The questions people actually ask
Disciplinary questions, answered
Each of these links to the answer on the guide that covers it. Nothing is duplicated here, because two pages answering the same question is two places for the answer to drift.
What commonly goes wrong
Drawn from the disciplinary hearings guide, because these are the points that decide most disciplinary outcomes, and they are worth meeting before the hearing rather than after it.
An allegation raised for the first time in the hearing. The case is confined to what the notification letter set out, and anything new requires fresh notification and time to answer it.
A decision that reads as though it was written before the meeting, which is the practical failure paragraph 4 is aimed at.
Anonymised witness evidence provided with so little substance that you cannot meaningfully raise points about it.
No opportunity to call a relevant witness, or a request to do so refused without a reason.
An outcome given verbally and never confirmed in writing, so the reasoning, the duration of any warning and the right of appeal are never recorded.
A written warning that does not set out the improvement required, the timescale, how long it remains current, or the consequences of further misconduct, all of which paragraph 21 requires.
Your next step
If you have already had the outcome
If a warning, a sanction or a dismissal has already been decided, the next step is usually an internal appeal. Appeal windows are often short and are set by your employer’s own procedure, so it is worth checking the deadline before you decide whether you have grounds. The Appeal Hub covers what counts as a ground, how to test yours, and the tribunal deadline that an internal appeal does not pause.
Seen in practice
Anonymised accounts of real matters
Written around the method rather than the result: what was alleged, what the evidence actually showed, where the employer’s own procedure was departed from, and what was put on the record.
ACAS Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures, in force 11 March 2015, paragraphs 4, 9 to 14 and 18 to 27, via acas.org.uk. The draft revised Code published 30 July 2026 is not in force.
Employment Relations Act 1999, section 10, on the right to be accompanied, via legislation.gov.uk
Employment Rights Act 1996, sections 94 and 98, via legislation.gov.uk
Written by Shakil Dixon, Founder and Principal Representative, Zhan Associates, Trade Union Representative accredited by Unite the Union.
Reviewed: 23 September 2026. This page states the law in force on that date. Next review: March 2027.
This page concerns England and Wales and is general information, not advice on your own case. Zhan Associates attends hearings in person across Birmingham and the wider West Midlands. Representation elsewhere in England and Wales is delivered virtually, by Microsoft Teams or Zoom, as part of the same service and at the same fixed fee. Check the limitation period that applies to your own claim before relying on any date given here.
Confidential · Free 15-minute consultation
Don’t face your employer alone.
What’s said in the room matters. Tell us what has happened, and within one free call you will know where you stand, what it costs, and what happens next.
