What is gross misconduct?

The term comes from UK employment practice. The Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures says disciplinary rules should give examples of acts the employer treats as gross misconduct, and gives theft or fraud, physical violence, gross negligence and serious insubordination as examples. Acas’s wider guidance adds acts such as bullying, deliberate damage to property, unlawful discrimination or harassment and a serious breach of confidence, and notes that what counts can depend on the organisation, so your own policy should list examples relevant to your work.

Gross misconduct does not remove the need for a process. Acas is clear that even where gross misconduct is suspected, the employer should investigate, hold a disciplinary meeting at which the employee can respond and be accompanied, and offer an appeal. If you suspend someone while the facts are established, keep it short and do not treat it as a finding. If the dismissal goes ahead without notice, the employer still owes pay for work already done, accrued holiday and any expenses.

The label carries less weight elsewhere. In the US, at-will employment means an employer rarely needs it to dismiss someone. Other countries use their own terms in statute; in Canada, for example, federal severance pay is not owed where the dismissal is for just cause, and Australia and India each have their own rules on notice and dismissal for misconduct.

For HR, the safest approach is to list examples in the disciplinary policy, apply them consistently, record the investigation and the reasoning, and make sure the decision-maker was not also the investigator where the size of the organisation allows. This is general information, not legal advice.

Also called: serious misconduct.