Letter lifting suspension

Where an employee has been suspended on pay in a case where you believed them to have committed an act of very serious or gross misconduct, after investigation you might find there is, in fact, no case to answer. In this case, use our letter lifting suspension and confirming no disciplinary action will be taken.

Suspension from duty

If there's an allegation of very serious or gross misconduct, you may decide to suspend the employee from duty whilst you carry out a full and fair investigation. However, always make sure you don't suspend as a knee-jerk reaction based on nothing more than hearsay and innuendo. At least be relatively sure, or as sure as you can be, of the facts as presented before you take the decision to suspend. Ideally, hold an initial interview with the accused employee to obtain their version of events and ensure you have some prima facie evidence to support the allegations. Also consider alternatives to suspension before taking the decision to suspend, such as moving the employee to another role or another location (with their agreement). If you do decide to suspend, separately document your reasons.

Charges dropped

From time to time, it may transpire as a result of your investigation that there is, in fact, no case to answer. This could be for a variety of reasons, including:

•  there is insufficient evidence to prove the allegations, for example it’s simply one person’s word against another, particularly where you think the accuser could be motivated by malice or spite

•  the employee has put forward a sensible and logical explanation for what at first appeared to be misconduct

•  you “charged” the wrong employee.

If you do decide there is no case to answer during the investigation stage, you’ll then need to lift the suspension and ask the employee to return to work. Use our Letter Lifting Suspension and confirming no disciplinary action will be taken for this purpose. It confirms that no formal disciplinary action will be taken against the employee, their suspension is lifted with immediate effect and they’re therefore expected to return to work on the date you set (normally the next working day after receipt of the letter). Don’t take cases without merit to a disciplinary hearing.