Your procedure could follow four steps: verbal warning; written warning; final written warning; and dismissal. Each step will involve a disciplinary hearing.
It is important that you have the flexibility to give a penalty which is appropriate in the circumstances. Within the minimum requirements (see question one), reserve the right to enter the procedure at any stage depending on the severity of the offence. For example, in the case of gross misconduct you would want to move straight to dismissal (after having followed the required procedures).
Warnings are usually given for a finite time, and a recent case has emphasized the importance of observing the end of the warning period. The Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) found that a company had unfairly sacked one of its workers, for repeating an offence for which he had previously received a final warning, just three weeks after the expiry of that warning. Although acknowledging the employee's fault, the EAT said that the Employment Tribunal was obliged to ignore previous warnings, once they had expired.
