Acas Code of Practice

Overview

Course duration: 0.5 days.

Get an understanding of the Acas Code of Practice and how the new regime will impact your organisation and HR.

Few in HR will mourn the passing of the statutory procedures for handling discipline and grievance issues in the workplace only five years after its introduction. The new Acas Code of Practice came into force on 6th April 2009 and aims to simplify the law relating to discipline, grievances and dismissals, with a focus on early intervention and mediation. Employers and employees will benefit from greater flexibility to deal with workplace discipline and grievance issues in a way which suits them best. But what they don’t know is that the new Code of Practice comes with its own set of challenges.

In light of the abolition of the highly criticised statutory procedures, JSB’s Acas Code of Practice workshop will consider the key elements of the revised Code on discipline and grievance procedures, assess the impact on HR, provide practical guidance for changing policies and procedures to ensure compliance and avoid uplifts of award by 25%.

This course is run in partnership with JSB.

Is it right for me?

Designed for Directors, Partners, Senior Executives, Employment Lawyers, In-House Legal Advisors, HR Professionals,andEmployee Relations Advisors.

What will I learn?

By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:

• Use the new disciplinary and grievance procedures under the new rules
• Understandhow the new regime will impact on your organisation and HR – changing policies and procedures to ensure compliance
• Carry out effective disciplinary and grievance investigations and hearings
• Use mediation to solve workplace disputes
• Grasp how will the Courts interpret the new Code and how will the uplift rules be applied in practice

What will it cover?

Interpreting the new Acas Code of Practice

• The new law – abolition of the new statutory dismissal and grievance procedures
• What replaces the statutory procedures?
• Disciplinary and dismissal procedures under the new rules
• Grievance procedures under the new rules
• The transitional period
• New Acas Code and guidance
• The importance of investigation and mediation

Assessing how the new regime will impact on HR

• Putting the new regime into practice – changing policies and procedures to ensure compliance
• Handing cases – suspension, investigation, the hearing, the decision and appeals

The employment tribunals approach

• Old versus new – what’s changed?
• Applying the uplift rules