Take them into account in deciding what penalties to apply. Keep good records of the extent to which you are doing so. It is not necessarily reasonable to apply the same penalty to the same offence in different circumstances (see question 15), but if you are going to treat employees differently you need to be able to explain why.
Do not ignore extenuating circumstances. In one case in which an employee was sacked for writing insulting e-mails about her boss, the Employment Tribunal to which she appealed found her 75% responsible for the outcome, but also attributed some blame to the company, because her offer to apologise before the instigation of disciplinary procedures was not taken up.
