LEGAL
Avoiding a Paterson-style car crash in the workplace Rebecca Thornley-Gibson, Employment Partner at DMH Stallard, explores the lessons to be learned for employers in the wake of the Owen Paterson controversy Recent controversy over the government’s plans to review MPs’ conduct highlights the importance of a fair and independent system and the dangers of changing process before individual cases are concluded. MPs are not employees and do not have the same employment protections requiring concerns about their conduct to be dealt with fairly. Instead, MPs have substantial investigative safeguards in respect of allegations in the form of independent conduct review by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and the Commons Standards Committee. Together these watchdogs undertake investigations and recommend what, if any, action should be taken when MPs breach their Code of Conduct. The Owen Paterson conduct report follows a detailed inquiry by the Parliamentary Commission alleging Mr Paterson had lobbied for two companies for which he was a paid consultant and had breached lobbying rules set out in the MPs’ Code of Conduct.
All seems relatively straightforward in respect of an independent and thorough investigation being conducted. What happened next has been well publicised, and the way in which the government were seen to move the proverbial goal posts in how Mr Paterson should be dealt with creates an interesting parallel with lessons that can be learned by employers in dealing with fair investigations. If an employer decided midway through a misconduct investigation to carry out a wholesale review of its disciplinary policy with the consequence of halting the progress of the case for an indeterminate period, many would question the fairness and rationale of the timing. Yet this is what the government’s intended action would have created where the Commons Standards Committee had already determined there had been multiple breaches of lobbying rules.
If an employer has concerns about their disciplinary system it is right to carry out a review and make relevant changes❜❜
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