You can continue with the disciplinary process after an employee has left the business. However it is worth considering whether this would have any benefit given that employment relationship has ended and the employee is under no obligation to cooperate with the process.

Furthermore, even if the disciplinary process concluded that the employee would have been dismissed, this would have little practical effect as it would not alter the original reason for the employee's employment ending.

However, you may wish to disclose the fact that a disciplinary process was ongoing in a reference if you believe that the recipient of the reference would consider this information relevant. In Bartholomew v London Borough of Hackney [1999] IRLR 246, the Court of Appeal held that if the employer had not included details of the disciplinary proceedings in its reference, it would have failed in its duty to provide a prospective employer with information that was not unfair or misleading.

It would be prudent to retain records of the process in order to help defend any future claims that may be brought by the employee.

Specific legal advice should be obtained if you are facing this scenario as the particular circumstances could alter the approach taken.