One of our employees was dismissed for a recurrence of misconduct and he appealed the decision. I have decided to uphold the employee’s appeal against the decision to dismiss him, and want to demote the employee instead. How do I handle it?

Lindsay Gibson writes:


(A) Is there a Contractual Right to Demote?

Generally speaking, when a decision is made to uphold an employee’s appeal and reinstate the employee, the employee’s dismissal will “vanish”. The employee will be treated as having been suspended for the period between their dismissal taking effect and the decision to reinstate them. The employee’s continuity of employment will not have been broken and will continue.

In respect of the decision to demote the employee, you