Disciplinary and Grievance Training for Managers
Run fair, ACAS-compliant disciplinary and grievance procedures with confidence.
Good training exercises, the case studies were really helpful to walk through the process.
Have you watched a straightforward conduct issue turn into a grievance or even a tribunal claim because the process was rushed or a step was missed? It happens more often than most managers would admit. This disciplinary and grievance training gives your managers a clear, lawful way to handle conduct and complaints from first concern to final decision.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 has changed what employers need to get right when handling conduct, capability and complaints. The margin for a flawed process has narrowed and the reasons to train your managers properly have never been clearer. Our training is built around the ACAS Code of Practice, so your managers know what a fair process looks like and where the risk really sits.
It also covers the part most disciplinary training ignores. Around 15 to 20% of your workforce is neurodivergent and a fair process has to work for them too. That does not mean lowering the bar. It means running processes that are accessible by design, so a flawed format never undermines a sound decision, while still holding everyone to the same standards of conduct.
Every session is delivered personally by Jenefer, our founder. You get a Chartered HR practitioner and neurodiversity specialist, leading the room. On-site dates are limited and tend to book up ahead, so get in touch early to secure the one you want.
Why our disciplinary and grievance training works
Most disciplinary training stops at process. Ours gives your managers the full ACAS-compliant method plus the neurodiversity knowledge that standard courses leave out, taught through real cases rather than theory:
- Full ACAS compliance: everything your managers need to run lawful disciplinary and grievance procedures, start to finish
- Built for ERA 2025: framed around the tighter expectations employers now face when handling conduct, capability and complaints
- Neurodiversity-informed: the extra skill to run a fair process for all employees, including the 15 to 20% who are neurodivergent
- Clear on boundaries: where conduct is conduct regardless of neurodivergence and where an adjustment genuinely helps
- Accessible by design: how to adjust investigations and hearings without compromising procedural fairness
- Real workplace scenarios: case studies covering the disciplinary and grievance situations your managers actually face
- Delivered personally by Jenefer: our founder, a Chartered CIPD practitioner with 20 years in HR and a PGCert in Neurodiversity. You get the specialist, never a random associate
What your managers will learn
Disciplinary and grievance procedures can feel formal and intimidating. Handled well, they are one of the most useful tools a manager has. The skill is knowing when to use them, when not to and how to run them so the outcome holds up.
This course turns that skill into something your managers can actually do. Everything is built around the ACAS Code of Practice and grounded in real cases, not theory, with the neurodiversity considerations that prevent unfair dismissals and tribunal claims woven in throughout.
By the end of the day your managers will be able to:
- Tell when a formal process is the right call: spotting the difference between a performance issue, a support need and genuine misconduct, so they act on the right thing in the right way
- Run an investigation that holds up: gathering facts, interviewing witnesses fairly and building a defensible basis for any decision, using techniques that work for every communication style
- Chair a hearing with confidence: leading a fair, structured meeting and managing the room, even when it gets difficult
- Reach a decision that survives scrutiny: weighing the evidence and reaching a balanced outcome in line with the ACAS Code of Practice
- Handle a grievance written with AI: recognising AI-written complaints and judging evidence that may have been AI-generated or AI-altered, a problem HR is seeing more and more
- Keep the process fair for neurodivergent employees: adjusting how an investigation or hearing runs for autistic, ADHD and dyslexic employees, with practical changes like processing time and information formats, without lowering the standard of conduct anyone is held to
- Deal with a harassment complaint properly: working through a harassment case study so they can investigate soundly and you can evidence your reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment
Put simply, your managers walk out able to handle a real disciplinary or grievance case from first concern to final decision, not just describe one.
If your people are regularly appointed as investigating officers, Managing Investigations is the deeper dive into that stage. Once they have the basics in place, Advanced Employee Relations is the next step up for the most complex cases.
Course Introduction
In this video Jenefer introduces the course and explains a little bit about how she approaches training delivery. Towards the end of the video we include a number of course reviews from those who have attended training sessions with Jenefer.
Why disciplinary and grievance training matters
Handled well, a disciplinary or grievance process protects your business and your people at the same time. Managers who know what they are doing deal with issues early, fairly and consistently, which stops small problems escalating and keeps the rest of the team trusting that standards apply to everyone.
Handled badly, the same process is where tribunal claims come from. Knowing how to investigate, hear and decide correctly is what protects you if a dismissal is ever challenged. It is also what your wider workforce notices: people work harder for an employer they believe is fair.
Managers leave this training able to handle a live case the following week, not just understand the theory of one. The course also works through a harassment case study, so your team can see what a sound investigation looks like and you can show the reasonable steps you are taking to prevent sexual harassment. We have delivered this training for managers at organisations from small employers to corporate clients from insurance to retail.
Many teams run this course as part of a wider management programme alongside Managing Performance and Managing Absence, building up to Advanced Employee Relations for more complex cases.
The hidden risk: getting neurodivergence wrong in a disciplinary process
Two ways organisations get this wrong that lead to tribunal claims:
Risk 1: Failing to Make Process Adjustments
An autistic employee facing disciplinary action needs information in writing 24 hours before the meeting. You present it verbally on the day. They struggle to process and respond. You dismiss them.
Outcome: Unfair dismissal claim for failure to make reasonable adjustments to the process.
Risk 2: Accepting Behaviour That Shouldn’t Be Excused
An ADHD employee is repeatedly rude to customers. They say “it’s my ADHD, I can’t control my reactions”. You don’t address it because you’re worried about discrimination. Customer complaints continue.
Outcome: Other employees feel unsupported, customer relationships are damaged and, if you eventually do dismiss, you’re vulnerable because you’ve accepted the behaviour for months.
Both of these are the kind of process failure that costs more to get wrong now than it did before Employment Rights Act 2025.
The balance: Being neurodivergent doesn’t excuse unacceptable conduct. But the process of addressing that conduct must be accessible.
This training teaches you both: where to draw the line on behaviour and how to run fair processes.
Dealing with a complex case right now?
Book a free consultation → or email us (jenefer@silkhelix.co.uk) if you would rather not get on a call.
On-site Training
£2,250
- One Day - in-house, at your workplace
- Maximum of 14 delegates
- Interactive workshop
- Comprehensive workbook for each participant
- CPD certification for all attendees
- Plenty of opportunity to discuss your real life experiences and cases with our expert trainer
All prices are exclusive of VAT.
Prices are correct for courses delivered on your site in Essex, Kent, London and Suffolk. Courses can be delivered outside these areas, please call 01245 910500 for a quote.
Who Should Attend?
This course is built for managers who are new to disciplinary and grievance procedures or who have never had formal training in them. It gives them a clear, lawful method to follow from first concern to final decision and the confidence to use it.
If you are looking for something pitched at an experienced HR team handling complex casework, this is not that session and that is deliberate. Our Advanced Employee Relations course goes deeper into the grey areas and we can build a bespoke version for a senior HR audience. Get in touch and we will point you to the right fit.
All our courses, whether live or recorded, are delivered by Jenefer Livings who has 20 years experience in HR, having designed and delivered training on the whole range of HR topics for organisations across industry sectors. As Jenefer also provides hands-on consultancy work with her clients she maintains an up to date knowledge and experience that shines through with engaging stories in her training.
With our in-person course we'll work through case studies and discuss real life examples to ensure your managers get learning relating to the types of cases they'll be dealing with.
Why Silk Helix?
Every Silk Helix session is delivered by me, Jenefer, in person. Not an associate, not a stand-in, not a recording. I keep on-site training to around 30 days a year so every group gets my full attention and the most current examples from the consultancy work I am doing that same week. Training is the one thing I will never outsource. When you book Silk Helix training, you get me.
My promise to you! There will be no role plays, no embarrassing icebreakers where you have to reveal information about yourself and no one is picked on to speak. In my experience these are the things people dread about training and I see the collective sigh of relief when I start the session with this promise.
I recognise that to get discussion going you need an inviting environment. For in-person training this means a room set up, which includes a supply of fidgets and sweets, usually this in itself creates instant discussion as people enter the room. This sets people at ease and creates an ice breaker of its own.
You get a little hint of my style on our YouTube channel. In-person training is like that just with lots of interaction interspersed.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- This course is for managers who are new to disciplinary and grievance procedures or who have never had formal training in them. It gives them a clear, lawful method to follow and the confidence to use it. If you want to train an experienced HR team, this course is likely to be pitched too low, so speak to Jenefer about a bespoke course built around the cases your team handles.
- Yes. The whole course is built around the ACAS Code of Practice, so your managers learn what a fair process looks like at every stage, from first concern through investigation and hearing to a defensible outcome. Following the Code properly is what protects you if a decision is ever challenged at tribunal.
- The Employment Rights Act 2025 has raised the stakes on getting conduct, capability and complaints right. The margin for a flawed process has narrowed, which makes well-trained managers more valuable than ever. This course is framed around the tighter expectations employers now face, so your managers handle cases in a way that holds up.
- E-learning can tell a manager what the steps are. It cannot rehearse a real grievance with them, challenge a weak decision or answer the question they are too worried to ask out loud. This is a full day of practical, case-led training with a specialist in the room, so managers leave able to handle an actual case, not just pass a quiz.
- Yes, and it is the part most disciplinary training leaves out. Around 15 to 20% of any workforce is neurodivergent and a fair process has to work for them too. You will learn how to make reasonable adjustments to investigations and hearings, such as processing time and information formats, without lowering the standard of conduct everyone is held to.
- Yes. AI-written grievances and complaints are increasingly common and they raise real questions for HR and managers. The course covers how to recognise them and how to weigh evidence that may have been AI-generated or AI-altered, so your team can handle them fairly and confidently.
- That is the point of running it as a practical, case-led day rather than a lecture. Managers work through real scenarios and leave with a method they can apply to a live case the following week. The shift you tend to see is managers acting earlier, more consistently and with far less anxiety about getting it wrong.
- The signs to look for are practical: managers raising issues earlier instead of letting them fester, more consistent handling across the team and fewer cases escalating because a step was missed. If you want to build measurement into a wider programme, that is something we can talk through when we plan the training with you.
If anyone attending our training sessions has a specific need we should be accommodating we ask that you tell us in advance so that we can plan the training accordingly. We will do our best to accommodate any need for whatever reason that need exists.
There are also some common ways we develop our training to take into account the wide variety of learning styles and needs. We know learning styles are not limited to visual, auditory, reading and writing, and kinesthetic. Learning is impacted by a whole variety of things, including underlying medical conditions (diagnosed and not), comfort/ safety in your environment and your past experiences of learning. Our training by design takes this into account, including:
- a welcoming environment for learners to enter
- stress balls or other fidget resources
- workbooks with place for personal notes if the learner wishes
- minimal need to read long pieces of text
- noone is called out or picked on (even to go first)
- no icebreakers that require you to reveal personal information (we do use activities but always related to the learning and with a specific goal)
- no role plays (we find for too many people the issues around acting get in the way of learning)
- regular breaks
- no lengthy period of lectures by the trainer - it’s about discussion of your real life cases or activities that make you think or develop skills
- Yes, we’ve worked with many clients where we’ve delivered multiple courses to allow everyone to attend. We don’t recommend more people in the session for many of the reasons listed above, our courses are designed to be interactive and a safe place to discuss real life situations. Once the groups get much bigger than 14 it starts to become difficult for everyone to participate in these discussions.
- Yes, we’re happy to adapt and design sessions to suit your needs. Book a FREE, no obligation, consultation to discuss your needs and get a quote for bespoke training.
Yes, our in-person training is provided at your venue. Some clients use meeting rooms in their buildings, others book venues. There are a couple of things to consider - we need space in the room to move around. We won’t get you running about but being able to move into smaller groups for discussion, sometimes brainstorming around a large piece of paper are examples of the activities that need space.
In addition, our trainer will need parking as training comes with a lot of kit, plus somewhere to plug a laptop in and either a screen or projector. We don’t use loads of slides (Jenefer isn’t a fan or either producing them or remembering to switch slides) but there are a few occasions where a diagramme or video for example help make the point.
- Our full day sessions are 6 hours, including 30 minutes for lunch and 2 coffee breaks. Our half day sessions are 3 hours with a coffee break. Exact times may vary slightly, training courses are interactive with plenty of opportunities for discussion built into the day, this can impact the end timing slightly.
Yes.
We are a registered provider with The CPD Certification Service- Every session is delivered in person by Jenefer Livings, our founder. Chartered CIPD, a Postgraduate Certificate in Neurodiversity, a qualified Workplace Needs Assessor, 20 years in HR and neurodivergent herself. Training is never outsourced to an associate.
- If you’re ready to go ahead then either book a consultation or email training@silkhelix.co.uk with your requirements and we’ll get dates booked in.