Grievance & Disciplinary Checklist

In your role as a Union Rep you may well encounter a situation where you are called upon to represent a member in a grievance or disciplinary case. When you sit down with a member to hear their story it can be very easy to forget to ask a particular question, the answer to which may prove useful later on. With this in mind here are two checklists of suggested questions to ask. Some of these questions may not be relevant in your situation, but others could prove to be most important.

Grievance checklist

What company do you work for?
What is your job title?
What work do you do?
How long have you worked for the company?
Do you have a copy of your contract?
Do you have a copy of your company’s Grievance & Disciplinary/ Dignity at Work/ Email Security policy?
What is the issue?
Have you raised this issue informally? If yes, what was the outcome?
Have you previously used the grievance procedure in your company?
What outcome would you like to see come out of this process?

Disciplinary checklist

What company do you work for?
What is your job title?
What work do you do?
How long have you worked for the company?
Do you have a copy of your contract?
Do you have a copy of your company’s Grievance & Disciplinary/ Dignity at Work/ Email Security policy?
Do you have a copy of any notice you received from the company raising the disciplinary matter?
What is the issue?
Have you faced disciplinary action before? If yes:

(a) What was the outcome – warning/ final written warning etc?
(b) When does the warning expire?
(c) Has the issue been resolved since the warning was issued?

Has the company given details of the allegation against you?
Has your line manager ever approached you informally to address this issue before bringing disciplinary action?
Are you experiencing anything at work that may account for any of your actions, i.e. stress, lack of training etc?
What training have you received at work?
Are there any other issues likely to come up during the disciplinary meeting?