'Procedure over people' | Poor disciplinary processes harming staff wellbeing, public health experts warn

Poorly managed disciplinary investigations are damaging employee wellbeing, weakening workforce resilience and contributing to a £28.5 billion annual cost of workplace conflict, public health experts have warned.

The Faculty of Public Health (FPH) has called for disciplinary practice to be treated as a public health issue, arguing that preventable harm is being caused by procedures that are disproportionate, poorly designed or administered without sufficient consideration for those involved.

Its new discussion paper, Reducing harm from the poor application of disciplinary processes: a public health issue, urges employers, HR teams, regulators and policymakers to rethink how workplace investigations are conducted.

According to figures cited by the Faculty, UK organisations initiate an estimated 1.7 million formal disciplinary cases each year. Acas has separately calculated that workplace conflict costs employers £28.5 billion annually, with almost 80% of that sum associated with dismissals and resignations following formal procedures.