I thought instant dismissal meant sacking someone on the spot, and that was that?
No. If you sack someone without undertaking a proper investigation, holding a disciplinary hearing, giving the employee (accompanied by a companion) the opportunity to put his (or her) case, considering the circumstances, and if the decision is to dismiss, giving the employee an opportunity to appeal, you will lay yourself wide open to being sued. From October 2004 the minimum that has been required of you in most dismissal cases is adherence to the ‘standard’ (3-stage) procedure (see question 4), or possibly the ‘modified’ (2-stage) procedure (see question 4). But this is only a minimum, and even if you stick to it you can not assume you will be free from criticism by an Employment Tribunal. The Employment Tribunal may consider whether there were any other procedural steps, in addition to those set out in the statutory dismissal and disciplinary procedures, that you should have followed before dismissing your employee. This is particularly the case if the employee’s contract of employ
