Can an employee refuse to turn up for a disciplinary?

Q: Can an employee refuse to turn up for a disciplinary and what do you do if they don’t show up?

A: If you have a disciplinary meeting in the diary and an employee refuses to turn up, we’d recommend you offer the employee another opportunity to attend a meeting.

If they still fail to attend, arrange a final meeting and inform the employee that if they don’t attend a decision will be made in their absence.

Here at Citation, we advise pragmatically, so we’d advise on any request you’re faced with on a case by case basis.

We’d consider the reason for the refusal. So, for example, if the employee doesn’t feel comfortable attending the office, you could offer to meet them in a neutral location. Or if they have health issues that prevent them from attending, we’d look at adjustments that could be made. Alternatively, as a last resort,  giving the employee the opportunity to provide  written representations could be an option.

Furthermore, if an employee’s absent without leave, this could also be grounds for separate disciplinary action against them.

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