Governors need to be sure that their institution is complying with the regulatory framework for these areas, and in some pre 1992 universities, council members may be directly involved in handling individual cases.
With the abolition of the statutory minimum disciplinary, dismissal and grievance procedures in April 2008, employers will no longer be automatically liable in a claim for unfair dismissal because they have failed to follow minimum procedures. However, unreasonable failure by the employer to follow the ACAS Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance may result in an employment tribunal adjusting any award of compensation by up to 25%.
The main piece of legislation in this area is the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. Under this, it is automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for making a disclosure in good faith, and there is no limit on the compensation that a tribunal may award. Further information.
In the majority of the pre-1992 universities, the dismissal of academic staff and disciplinary and grievance matters affecting these staff, are governed by the Model Statute. This complex internal legislation was imposed by the Education Reform Act 1988, and was designed to ensure that all universities were in a position to dismiss academic staff by reason of redundancy as well as for misconduct or incapacity. The Model Statute provisions are cumbersome and ambiguous and are not fully consistent with employment law. Interest is growing in simplifying statutes.
Under the Model Statute for the pre-1992 universities, independent governors are called upon to be members of redundancy committees, grievance committees, tribunals to consider dismissals on the grounds of medical incapacity, and appeals committees, whereas in post-1992 institutions, the involvement of independent governors is usually at the appeals stage.
More information [PDF, 50Kb]. See also further material on discipline, dismissal and grievances [Word, 40Kb].