Disciplinary and grievance procedures: Why employers should be paying attention to the recent ACAS consultation

ACAS recently consulted on proposed changes to its statutory Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures.

The consultation opened on 30 July 2026 and ran until 23 September 2026.

While this may sound like another piece of employment law housekeeping, it is worth paying attention to. The ACAS Code plays an important role in how employers are expected to approach disciplinary and grievance situations, and getting the process wrong can become costly very quickly.

Why are ACAS reviewing the Code?

The current Code was last fully revised in 2009, with further amendments in 2015 relating specifically to the statutory right to be accompanied.

ACAS says the proposed update is intended to promote better early resolution of concerns in the workplace.

That is significant.

Disciplinary and grievance procedures can very quickly become formal, adversarial and time-consuming. By the time an employer is sitting in a formal disciplinary hearing or dealing with a grievance appeal, the underlying workplace issue may already have escalated considerably.

The consultation provides an opportunity to consider whether the existing approach still reflects the realities of today’s workplace.

What does this mean for employers?

For employers, the important point isn’t simply whether the wording of the Code changes.

It is whether your current approach to managing employee concerns is robust enough to cope with them in the first place.

A well-managed disciplinary or grievance process isn’t just about having a policy sitting in an employee handbook.

Managers need to understand:

When an issue should be dealt with informally and when formal action may be appropriate
How concerns should be investigated
How to maintain fairness and consistency
What employees are entitled to during the process
How to conduct effective disciplinary and grievance meetings
When an employee has the right to be accompanied
How to deal with appeals
How to keep appropriate records throughout

These are areas where seemingly small mistakes can have much bigger consequences later.

Early resolution matters

One of the key themes behind the ACAS consultation was early resolution.

That is something employers should be thinking about regardless of whether the proposed changes ultimately come into force.

Not every workplace disagreement needs to become a formal grievance.

Not every performance or conduct issue needs to immediately become a disciplinary.

Sometimes an early conversation, clear management intervention or properly handled informal process can resolve an issue before relationships deteriorate and positions become entrenched.

That doesn’t mean avoiding formal procedures where they are necessary. It means making sure employers are using the right approach for the circumstances.

Don’t wait for a problem before reviewing your processes

Employment law continues to evolve, and employers are facing increasingly complex workplace issues.

If your disciplinary and grievance procedures haven’t been reviewed for some time, this consultation is a useful prompt to look at them again.

Ask yourself:

Would our managers know what to do if an employee raised a grievance tomorrow?
Would they recognise when an issue should be investigated before action is taken?
Are our procedures actually being followed consistently?
Do managers understand the difference between an informal conversation and a formal process?

And perhaps most importantly:

Would we be confident that our process would stand up to scrutiny if the matter ultimately ended up at an employment tribunal?

Having a policy is one thing. Having managers who understand how to apply it properly is another.

What should employers do now?

The ACAS consultation gave employers and other interested parties can submit their views directly to ACAS.

Even if you didn’t respond to the consultation, it is a good opportunity to review your own procedures.

At Elcons Employment law, we work with employers to help them navigate the practical reality of HR and employment law, from managing difficult employee situations through to reviewing policies, procedures and documentation.

If you haven’t reviewed your disciplinary and grievance processes recently, now is a good time to ask whether they are still doing the job you need them to do.

📞 For further guidance, contact Elcons today: 0800 014 9595