Do formal disciplinary procedures have to go through a 3-step approach from a good practice or legal perspective?

While employers can be flexible about how formal or extensive their disciplinary procedures need to be, there is a legal requirement to follow the “statutory dismissal and disciplinary procedure”, which in summary, involves the following three steps:

* A statement in writing of what the employee is meant to have done wrong (the allegation) and what the employer is contemplating;

* A meeting with the employee to discuss the situation and a decision; and

* Offering the right of appeal.

This procedure applies when the employer is contemplating dismissing or taking “relevant disciplinary action” against an employee. Relevant disciplinary action means action, short of dismissal, which the