Discipline of workers

When safeguarding concerns or allegations involve a worker, whether paid or voluntary, your safeguarding procedures may overlap with other internal policies, such as disciplinary and grievance procedures.

Having the right procedures in place

Your organisation should have clear disciplinary and grievance procedures for all workers. These help ensure that concerns are handled fairly and lawfully. The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) have information about conducting disciplinary investigations at: www.acas.org.uk/helpline or phone 0300 123 1100 for free advice.

When an allegation is made, safeguarding must be the immediate priority. Your organisation should:

• report the concern
• assess the risk
• take steps to reduce the risk of further harm

This may include temporarily stepping back or suspending the worker while statutory agencies (such as the Police or Social Services) carry out their investigation.

Alongside safeguarding, your organisation may need to conduct an internal disciplinary investigation to determine whether the worker has breached your code of conduct or policies. This process is often paused while the safeguarding investigation is underway. Doing so helps:

• avoid compromising statutory investigations
• ensure findings from statutory enquiries inform your internal decisions

Although safeguarding and disciplinary investigations may run alongside each other, they serve different purposes.

Safeguarding investigations focus on protecting individuals and assessing risk. These begin immediately and typically involve your Safeguarding Lead, statutory agencies, and possibly your Lead Trustee for Safeguarding.

Disciplinary investigations focus on whether the worker can safely and appropriately continue in their role. These usually take place after the safeguarding investigation and may involve a line manager, HR team, Trustees, or representatives from your denomination or network.

Support and confidentiality

Support should be offered to everyone involved. Best practice is to assign different support people for:

• the victim-survivor
• the individual the allegation is about

Maintaining confidentiality is essential to protect all parties and to avoid compromising any investigations.