The Owen Paterson mess!
The Owen Paterson mess!
What if he he was an employee, not an MP?
Owen Paterson
It’s very difficult to avoid the Owen Paterson saga currently being played out in the national media.
Following the report of the Committee on Standards, Jacob Rees-Mogg, as leader of the House of Commons, put forward a motion in Parliament to carry out the recommendations of the Committee and suspend Paterson, but noted the proposed amendment put forward by Conservative backbencher Andrea Leadsom. The motion was passed and:
Did not impose any kind of suspension on Paterson;
Noted concerns about 'potential defects' in the standards system;
Resolved to appoint a Select Committee chaired by John Whittingdale with four other Conservative MPs, and with 3 Labour and 1 SNP MP to give recommendations on;
whether to give MPs a right of appeal similar to employees
whether to reconsider the case against Paterson
how the standards rules should be revised to be 'compatible with natural justice'
The Standards Commissioner and Committee had recommended his suspension from parliament for 30 days following their investigations into his inappropriate lobbying whilst sitting as an MP.
Members of Parliament are not employees. They are elected to their position by the electorate. Their salary and expenses are paid by IPSA (Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority).
Whatever the rights and wrongs of what Paterson did, it is worth considering how the situation would have panned out if he were an employee in the ordinary sense of the word.
Firstly, there would be an investigation. Following the investigation, if there was evidence to suggest wrongdoing, the investigating officer would prepare a report for the matter to be progressed to a disciplinary hearing. I presume this is more or less what happened in Mr Patterson’s case. Generally the investigating officer has no further input, save to present the facts. Obviously, in smaller companies this may be impracticable, and the investigating and disciplinary officer are one of the same.
The Standards Committee held that he had breached the ministerial code and he was duly sanctioned with a 30 day suspension. This is what would happen in a ‘normal’ disciplinary situation.
The difference here is that, on being given the sanction, he would also be offered the right of appeal. That is a basic right in all disciplinary sanctions. He cannot appeal the Committee’s decision.
At the very least, employers are expected to follow the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance procedures. This has been around in its present form since 2015 and replaces a 2009 version.
The interesting thing about the ACAS Code is that employers are not duty bound to follow the guidelines within, but a failure to do so can have the effect of increasing a tribunal award by up to 25%.
So, had Mr Paterson been an employee he would have been entitled to rely on the provisions of the Code, specifically, the right of appeal.
Paragraphs 26 & 27 of the Code provides:
26. Where an employee feels that disciplinary action taken against them is wrong or unjust they should appeal against the decision. Appeals should be heard without unreasonable delay and ideally at an agreed time and place. Employees should let employers know the grounds for their appeal in writing.
27. The appeal should be dealt with impartially and, wherever possible, by a manager who has not previously been involved in the case.
In that sense, I have a degree of sympathy with Mr Paterson’s position, although most will probably say that a 30 day suspension for what he did is probably getting off extremely lightly! However, it’s not for me to comment on that point.
Perhaps the government should have voted to amend the process simply to allow a right of appeal. After all, I believe that’s what he and minister’s have been saying they want on the news today. It wouldn’t be difficult to adopt the ACAS Code or something very similar, thereby denying an MP the opportunity to claim that the process adopted to hear their alleged misdemeanour was unfair.
As it has turned out the government have today backtracked somewhat, no doubt due to the adverse public reaction to yesterday’s events and it looks as though he will be serving his suspension imminently.
Employment law is all about process and reasonableness
Having a fair and reasonable process makes it is difficult for an employee to claim they have been unfairly treated. Failure to follow the Code will put employers on the back foot from the get go. It gives an employee a bargaining position at the outset of any claim even if, had a fair process been followed, the result would have been the same.1
Minimum Wage rates from April 2022
National Living Wage for those aged 23 or over will increase by 6.6% from 1st April 2022 from £8.91 to £9.50 an hour.
National Minimum Wage rates will also increase:
- from £8.36 to £9.18 an hour for 21-22 year olds
- from £6.56 to £6.83 an hour for 18-20 year olds
- from £4.62 to £4.81 an hour for 16-17 year olds
- from £4.30 to £4.81 an hour for apprentices.
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Compensation can and probably would be reduced if the result would have been the same had a fair procedure been followed. Following a fair procedure may avoid expensive litigation in the first place.