ACAS code of practice

Case 2: The facts

Mrs Spence had worked for her employer for 10 years with an unblemished disciplinary record. She was then summarily dismissed for making and receiving personal phone calls at work.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that it would usually be unfair to dismiss a long-serving employee with an unblemished record for this type of misconduct without a formal warning process.

It noted that the tribunal had failed to consider the ACAS code of practice on disciplinary matters; had it done so, the tribunal would have questioned whether this was a case of gross misconduct and, if so, whether Spence knew that she could be dismissed for the phone calls.

The EAT stated that tribunals have a statutory obligation to consider the code. The case was sent to a different tribunal for re-hearing.

Spence v Manchester United plc UKEAT/0285/04