If you are an employer it is important to understand the law relating to disciplining and dismissing staff. Good employment relations are vital for business success and for these relationships to be effective employers need to understand what they can do and how they should do it. To help get it right the Department of Labour has launched a Disciplinary Action Guide for Employers. This guide aims to help employers, particularly small business owners, to understand the law relating to disciplinary action (including dismissals), redundancy and inability to work because of illness. Separate guidelines are available for employees.

The first part of the guide explains the key principles that apply to all employment relationships. If you understand these principles and act in line with them , this will take you a long way towards ‘getting it right’ in practice – not just in relation to disciplinary action and dismissals, but in all aspects of your employment relationships.

The second part of the guide describes the key requirements of having a ‘good reason’ and following a ‘fair process’ before taking disciplinary action, or making a decision to dismiss an employee.

Lastly, the guide explains the key steps involved in the various types of disciplinary and termination processes that may arise.

For more information visit www.ers.dol.govt.nz