Disciplinary Meeting

The purpose of a disciplinary meeting is ordinarily to give an employee a genuine opportunity to answer or mitigate allegations before the employer decides what to do next — for example, take no action, issue a warning, issue a final warning, or dismiss. Taking an employment advocate to a disciplinary meeting can materially improve the quality of the process and your response.

It is important that your rights are protected and that you are treated fairly during the process. If you have been called to a disciplinary or investigation meeting at work, contact us early. The best time to correct a bad process is usually before the decision has been made.

What you should expect

In an ordinary disciplinary process you should expect, at minimum:

1. Reasonable notice of the disciplinary meeting.
2. Clear particulars of the allegations and relevant information or evidence in advance.
3. The possible outcomes to be identified. If dismissal is genuinely being considered, that should be made clear.
4. A reasonable opportunity to respond after you have had the chance to understand the material relied upon.
5. Representation or support where the process is formal and adverse action may result.
6. Genuine consideration of your explanation before the decision is made.

Allegations need evidence

Often we find that issues raised for a disciplinary meeting are based on incomplete allegations, assumptions, unsupported facts or statements that have not been tested. Sometimes an employer has made a legal or factual error by describing conduct as serious misconduct when the circumstances do not justify summary dismissal.

The employer should investigate sufficiently in the circumstances and put the substance of the case to you. That does not mean every investigation must look the same, but you need enough information to understand the concern and answer it meaningfully.

Performance is not automatically misconduct

Employers sometimes try to address performance problems through a disciplinary process. Poor performance and misconduct are different concepts. Where the real concern is capability or performance, the appropriate process will ordinarily involve clear standards, support, warning and a genuine opportunity to improve rather than treating every shortfall as deliberate wrongdoing.

Read about Performance Meetings

Common disciplinary-process problems

• The allegations are vague or keep changing.
• Important documents, CCTV, messages or statements are not disclosed.
• The employee is given an unrealistic deadline to respond.
• The investigator or decision-maker appears to have already reached a conclusion.
• Exculpatory information is ignored.
• The employer jumps from an allegation straight to dismissal without considering proportionality or alternatives.
• The employer labels ordinary performance concerns as serious misconduct.

What we do

• Review the allegations and the evidence before you respond.
• Request missing information and reasonable preparation time.
• Identify legal, factual and process weaknesses.
• Prepare or refine a written response.
• Attend meetings where appropriate and keep the discussion focused.
• Push for alternatives to dismissal where the evidence and circumstances support that outcome.
• Negotiate an exit where the relationship has irretrievably broken down and that is what you want.

If you want to stay employed

Tell us. Where you are motivated to stay employed, our objective is to reduce damage, correct inaccurate allegations, ensure your explanation is properly put, and make sure alternatives to dismissal are considered. Meeting representation is generally undertaken on an agreed fee basis; if the process later results in dismissal, we can separately assess whether the resulting grievance is suitable for No Win No Fee representation.

If dismissal happens

A dismissal does not automatically mean the employer was right, and it does not automatically mean the employee has a winning PG. We assess the reason, evidence, process and the 2026 dismissal-law regime that applies to you. Suitable matters can then move through negotiation, mediation and, if required, the Employment Relations Authority.

Read about Unfair Dismissal