EMPLOYMENT

In determining whether the requirements of step one of the statutory dismissal and disciplinary procedure are met, it is necessary to look beneath the parties’ own labels and focus on whether the substantive requirements of the statute were met.

Tribunals must not be distracted by the fact that the parties may have been following an internal procedure with more elaborate requirements, and different terminology, from those required by the statute. It does not matter that the requirements of both step one and step two are addressed in the same letter. The statutory procedure permits the employer to present its case in two stages—stating the grounds first and supplying the basis for them later—but it does not oblige the employer to do so.

Employers may state both the grounds for the contemplated action and the basis of those grounds at the same time. It is inherent in the requirements of step two that the employer should not announce any decision until the employee has had the opportunity to put their case at