Can I suspend my employee?

Suspension is when an employee remains employed but does not do any work or attend the workplace and there are several different circumstances when they may be appropriate. Suspensions can be used to protect the integrity of a disciplinary investigation, but they may also be necessary to protect the health and safety of employees. In any case, a suspension should only be used when necessary and not as a punishment or indication of wrongdoing. As this is a complicated area of Employment Law which can occasionally result in a tribunal claim being brought against you, our Employment Law team reviews here when you as an employer can fairly suspend an employee.

Suspending an employee for disciplinary reasons

Suspension may be used where you need to carry out a disciplinary investigation into an employee’s conduct and there is a significant risk the investigation would be compromised by the employee’s presence in the workplace. Given that a suspension can cast a shadow of guilt over the accused, it should only be used in limited circumstances and only after careful consideration.

You should only suspend an employee for disciplinary reasons where the allegation against the employee is of serious misconduct. There must also be a substantial risk that if the employee were to remain in the workplace, they could compromise the investigation through actions such as evidence tampering or intimidating witnesses. It may also be appropriate to suspend an employee where there is a chance they could harm others, as would be the case if there had been an allegation of sexual assault, for example. Even where you have a valid reason to suspend an employee you should still consider any alternatives, such as altering the employee’s duties or having them work from home. If you do make the decision to suspend the employee you should be able to justify why alternatives were not appropriate.   

Any employee who is suspended pending investigation is entitled to full pay. They should be suspended for no longer than necessary to investigate the allegations and the suspension must be kept under constant review.  

Suspending an employee for medical reasons

A medical suspension is when an employee is suspended from work while you investigate their health condition. If a health professional recommends that an employee cannot safely work with a particular risk or hazard, you should take this seriously and conduct a risk assessment for the employee. This will help you determine the potential impacts the hazard could have on the employee’s health and may help you identify steps you could take to remove or mitigate the hazard. Where the hazard cannot be removed, you should consider temporarily adjusting the employee’s duties or moving them to an alternate role. If no alternatives are available, you may need to suspend the employee on medical grounds.

Employees on medical suspension are entitled to full pay for 26 weeks provided they have at least one month’s continuous service from the date of suspension. Employees will not be entitled to pay while on medical suspension if they have refused suitable alternative work or are not available when needed for suitable alternative work.

Suspending an employee for maternity reasons

Employers should conduct a risk assessment for any employee who is pregnant or has given birth in the last six months. As with other medical suspensions, suspension should only be used when any hazards or risks cannot be removed and no suitable alternative roles are available. If suspension is necessary you may suspend the employee until the hazard no longer poses a risk to them or their pregnancy. While suspended the employee is entitled to full pay unless they have unreasonably refused suitable alternative work.

Suspension from work is not an ideal situation for either party. You have to pay the employee without receiving any work and the employee is excluded from the workplace and may even feel that they are being punished. You should therefore only suspend when absolutely necessary and after careful consideration of alternatives. If you are looking for advice on how to suspend an employee or have questions about the process, you can contact our Employment team on 023 8071 7717 or email employment@warnergoodman.co.uk.

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ENDS

This is for information purposes only and is no substitute for, and should not be interpreted as, legal advice.  All content was correct at the time of publishing and we cannot be held responsible for any changes that may invalidate this article.