Discipline - Suspension

Suspension with pay is not a disciplinary action and should only be considered in cases of potential gross misconduct. Suspension on contractual pay can be considered where either there are no alternatives to suspension whilst an unhindered investigation is carried out or it is not in the Council’s interest for the employee to continue working.  
 
Suspension will only be carried out by an appropriate manager (MG3 and above) who can also delegate authority, to do so.
 
The manager carrying out the suspension should call the employee to attend a meeting to discuss the allegation/incident.
 
As suspension with pay is not disciplinary action, employees do not have the statutory right to be accompanied at the suspension meeting.  However, Harrow Council encourages trade unions and work colleagues to support its employees affected by employment procedures.
 
Managers should advise employees, when calling them to attend the meeting that it may be in their best interests to have a trade union or work colleague accompany them. Every effort should be made to enable the representative to attend however the suspension meeting should not be delayed beyond the same day, as far as possible. 
 
The employee should be informed at the suspension meeting of all the allegations against them, that it is potentially gross misconduct which could lead to dismissal and about how the investigation will be conducted, including timescales, etc. It should be made clear to the employee that suspension is not a disciplinary action and does not involve any prejudgment of the case. 
 
At the meeting, the employee should be informed that during the period of suspension, they must attend interviews/meetings as requested, they must not contact staff or clients other than through the Investigating Officer, they should not enter council premises without prior consent from the Investigating Officer and they should be informed if the matter has been referred to the police (as appropriate).  At the meeting, the employees should be given one named contact number and one alternative that they can contact should they need to raise concerns or queries, including for example requests for annual leave unless annual leave is pre-booked during their suspension. All these conditions must be confirmed in writing.  The employee should be notified that if they fail to follow this they will be considered as failing to follow a reasonable management instruction and failing to follow the Council’s Disciplinary Procedure.
 
If employees fall sick during their suspension they must follow the Council’s absence reporting procedures as if in the workplace.  Employees must notify their manager on the first day of absence and this should be done within the first hour of their normal start time or shift start time.  Also they should notify their manager daily of their continued sickness until there is clear indication of the duration of sickness e.g. receipt of medical certificate or extenuating circumstances. 
 
Suspension should be reviewed by the Commissioning Manager regularly (every 15 days) to ensure that it is not unnecessarily protracted and discussed with the employee and their trade union representative. 
 
The manager should check whether the employee has another role in the Council either directly or through an agency to work on an assignment for Harrow Council.  It may not be appropriate for the individual to continue in another role until the outcome of the investigation.

As an alternative to suspension, consideration should be given to moving the employee to an alternative workplace pending the outcome of the investigation.

Suspension with pay includes all contractual elements of pay and managers should ensure that all non basic salary payments are paid where these are contractual. The suspended employee should not lose pay as a consequence.