ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the aspects of employment practice and discusses the meaning and implications of these for staff, managers, and the overall atmosphere of the organisation. Employment issues fall into two main categories: disciplinary and grievance issues. The aim of disciplinary action should be to improve future conduct. All organisations have a disciplinary procedure based on a three-stage model of dealing with issues of misconduct. These are a thorough investigation, an interview or hearing, giving the employee a chance to hear the complaint and put forward his or her side of the matter and making a fair and reasonable decision. A grievance procedure should provide an open and fair way for employees to make known their complaints, to have those complaints considered by the company to decide whether to accept or reject the complaint. If a grievance is upheld, disciplinary action may follow if the accused is potentially guilty of misconduct, for example, harassment.
