Disciplinary hearing

[ButteredToastAndStrawberryJam]

A disciplinary hearing with a national company, would you think it was the norm for the hearing to be headed by a Manager from another site? Would they not have a proper department to deal with this, a dedicated person from HR. We have no point of contact other than our own Manager. My Colleague had a problem a while back, the Manager would not give details of the person above them. Any idea who or where we can go/ask to get this info.

HR don't normally chair disciplinary hearings, they advise on them/attend/take minutes. Frequently the direct line manager would conduct a disciplinary hearing but it's certainly not unusual for another manager to do it - they usually have more objectivity as have usually not been involved and are less likely to have preconceived ideas about the individual.

Your company's disciplinary policy should state what their normal process is. If your colleague was subject to a disciplinary hearing and was not happy with the outcome/process used, he/she could have appealed the outcome, and should have been advised how to do this- did that not happen?

Normally the manager will chair the meeting and HR would often be in attendance as note taker. However, they may just have regional HR who don't attend every meeting, just those that are likely to be tricky and/or potentially lead to dismissal. They should note this on the invitation letter. Don't forget you have the right to be accompanied by a colleague or a trade union rep.
Not having a point of contact outside of your manager is unusual. Who would you contact if you had a problem with your pay or tax, for example? Or if your manager was off and you needed to call in sick. Do you use outlook and have a central email directory? At a push have a look on there and see if you can find any contacts within the HR department.
The manager should write to you following the meeting to communicate the outcome (even if the outcome is no further action) and there should be contact details in there. If there is disciplinary action then there should be details of who you can appeal to as well, normally someone a level up from the hearing manager or HR.

Yes, the appeals procedure has been followed but everyone involved Management wise are all close/friends.
We could do with speaking to someone in general now and at other times if we have any problems, be able to speak to someone neutral.

Thanks for both replies. This is the problem, we're stuck, the Manager of our site deals with everything, pay, sickness etc. We have no HR or point of contact other than the Manager. The appeal person was at the same level as our own Manager.

"everyone involved Management wise are all close/friends."

That's not necessarily grounds for appeal though. It should be perfectly possible to find out some contact details for HR, but don't make the mistake of thinking they are 'neutral'- they work for the employer.

Ps, we're not members of a Union, so they won't be interested in helping will they.

The appeal isn't about the Management being friends.
Yes I understand what you mean about HR not being neutral either.
Would be nice to speak to someone in the HR though but we can't as we don't know where to go or look.

Have you tried searching the website/company intranet for a contact within HR?

Yes, I can't find anything.

Have you rung the main head office number and asked for the HR department?

Ultimately if the process has been followed there's not a lot HR will be able to do to help, though.

That's what I'll have to do, nothing online anyway. I think I'll leave it as is for now. Just would be nice to have a local point of contact especially when I've not much faith in the Manager doing the right thing, this will be for future reference. Thank you for all your help.