What to do if…
your employer gives you a formal complaint or allegation of misconduct

What to do now

1. Save the complaint, allegation letter, meeting invitation, and related messages. Record when you received them, any response deadline, the meeting date, and who is handling the matter.

2. Ask your employer in writing whether this is an investigation meeting, a disciplinary hearing, a grievance investigation, or another process. Ask whether any formal disciplinary action could result.

3. Ask for the allegations in clear terms, including the conduct being questioned, relevant dates or incidents, and the workplace rule or policy said to be involved.

4. Ask for the documents, statements, or other evidence that will be considered and for reasonable time to review them before any disciplinary hearing.

5. Read the disciplinary procedure, staff handbook, employment contract, and meeting invitation. Note the rules about responses, confidentiality, companions, witnesses, evidence, postponements, and appeals.

6. Preserve relevant material that you can lawfully access, such as your own emails, messages, rotas, instructions, or work records. Keep original versions and do not take material you are not authorised to retain.

7. Write a private, dated chronology while events are fresh. Separate what you directly saw, heard, did, or wrote from assumptions, second-hand information, and details you cannot remember.

8. List documents and people who may support or clarify your account. Provide their details through the formal process rather than approaching them to agree what should be said.

9. If the meeting is a disciplinary hearing that could lead to formal action, promptly request an eligible companion, such as a work colleague or trade union representative or official. For an investigation meeting, ask whether your employer’s procedure allows a companion, as the automatic legal right that applies to some disciplinary hearings may not apply.

10. Ask promptly for practical arrangements you need to participate, such as an accessible format, an interpreter, disability-related adjustments, a different location, or remote attendance.

11. Attend the meeting or contact your employer immediately if you genuinely cannot. Listen to each allegation, ask for unclear points to be explained, answer honestly, and say when you need to check a fact rather than speculate.

12. Take notes or ask your companion to do so. Ask for a short break if you become overwhelmed and ask whether you may provide a written follow-up for facts you need to verify.

13. After the meeting, make a dated note of who attended, what was discussed, what information you supplied, and what happens next. Check any meeting notes or outcome letter promptly for significant factual errors and current deadlines.