We have caught two employees slacking at work. Can we run the disciplinary hearings together as one and must we give them the same penalties, assuming both are found guilty?

If an employer wants to carry out a joint disciplinary hearing, certain safeguards would need to be met to ensure neither employee is prejudiced by this. For example, there could be a risk of acting unfairly if the employer hears and decides employee A’s case before hearing all the evidence in employee B’s case, because the findings for employee A could lead the employer to pre-judge the outcome of employee B’s case. It may therefore be more conducive to fairness for the panel to hear both cases before making a decision on either of them. Whether it does this at one combined hearing or two separate hearings is another matter.

In addition, a joint hearing could result in unfairness