If an employee has failed to attend a disciplinary hearing, can we proceed in their absence?
Published on: 04/08/2020
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Article Authors The main content of this article was provided by the following authors.
Johanna Cunningham Senior Associate, Lewis Silkin (NI) LLP
Johanna Cunningham Senior Associate, Lewis Silkin (NI) LLP
Johanna cunningham

Since qualifying in 2018, Johanna has supported clients with disciplinary and grievance issues, defending employment tribunal claims, senior exits, redundancies, TUPE, and day-to-day HR queries. She also has a strong interest in the overlap between employment law and data protection, regularly advising on subject access requests, data breaches, employee monitoring, and matters involving cross-border workers.

If an employee has failed to attend a disciplinary hearing, can we proceed in their absence?

When dealing with misconduct by a member of staff, it is important that a fair procedure is followed, otherwise any resulting dismissal may be considered unfair (providing the individual satisfies the eligibility criteria for bringing an unfair dismissal claim). In accordance with the LRA Code of Practice, a disciplinary hearing to discuss any potential issues with an employee is necessary before any disciplinary action is taken. Both the employee and employer should make every effort to attend this meeting.

As per the Labour Relations Agency (LRA) Code of Practice, if an employee cannot attend a disciplinary meeting through reasons which are outside his/her control

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Disclaimer The information in this article is provided as part of Legal Island's Employment Law Hub. We regret we are not able to respond to requests for specific legal or HR queries and recommend that professional advice is obtained before relying on information supplied anywhere within this article. This article is correct at 04/08/2020