Disciplinary Hearing Invitation Letter template
A disciplinary hearing invitation letter is the written notice an employer sends requiring an employee to attend a disciplinary hearing — setting out the allegations against them, enclosing the evidence, stating the possible outcomes honestly, and confirming the date, time, venue, and the employee's right to be accompanied.
This letter is where the fairness of the whole process is won or lost. The ACAS Code of Practice expects the employee to know the case against them — with the evidence and the possible consequences — in time to prepare an answer, and an employment tribunal reading a disciplinary file starts here. A dismissal that follows a vague invitation, or one that never said dismissal was possible, is in trouble whatever the employee actually did.
This template gives you the full letter with every placeholder marked, plus what to check before it goes out, how rearrangement works when a companion cannot attend, and how to deliver and file it.
Full text, ready to adapt.
Highlighted fields are placeholders — replace them with your organisation's specifics. A starting point, not legal advice.
Disciplinary Hearing Invitation Letter
Letter · Company Policies
1. When to use this letter
Send this letter after the investigation has concluded there is a disciplinary case to answer, to call the hearing at which that case will be heard. It is not the letter for an investigatory meeting — inviting someone to a fact-finding conversation with a letter that reads like a disciplinary charge poisons the process, so keep the two clearly separate, as our disciplinary policy does.
ACAS publishes two versions of this letter — one where a warning is the likely worst outcome, one where dismissal is possible. This template covers both through the possible-outcomes paragraph: choose the honest version. If dismissal is genuinely on the table, the letter must say so in terms; if it is not, do not threaten it.
2. What to check before it goes out
- The investigation is finished and found a case to answer — the letter should be able to point at specific evidence, not promise it later.
- Each allegation is specific: what is alleged to have happened, when and where, and which rule, policy, or standard it would breach if upheld.
- Every document the hearing will rely on is enclosed, including witness statements and the investigation report. Nothing should surface at the hearing that the employee has not seen.
- The possible outcomes stated match reality — including dismissal, where a live final written warning or a gross misconduct allegation makes it possible.
- The chair named in the letter was not the investigating officer, wherever the size of {{org.name}} allows.
- The employee has enough time to prepare — set a notice period of [number] working days and scale it up when the evidence pack is thick.
3. The letter template
[Date]
Private and confidential
Dear [employee name],
Invitation to a disciplinary hearing — [brief subject, e.g. conduct on [date]]
I am writing to tell you that you are required to attend a disciplinary hearing on [date] at [time], at [location, or video-call details]. The hearing will be chaired by [name, job title], and [name, job title] will attend to take notes. It will be held under the {{org.name}} disciplinary procedure, a copy of which is enclosed.
The purpose of the hearing is to consider the following allegation[s]: [set out each allegation clearly and specifically — what is alleged to have happened, when and where, and which rule, policy, or standard it would breach if upheld. Vague labels such as "poor attitude" are not allegations an employee can answer].
I enclose copies of the evidence that will be considered at the hearing: [list every enclosure — investigation report, witness statements, records, and the relevant policy or procedure]. If you intend to rely on any documents of your own, or to call witnesses, please tell me and provide copies by [date] so the hearing can consider them properly.
I must also tell you the possible outcomes of this hearing if the allegation[s] are upheld: [no action, a first written warning, or a final written warning] [where dismissal is genuinely possible, say so plainly instead: "Because the allegation is one of gross misconduct / because you have a live final written warning, I must tell you that one possible outcome of this hearing is your dismissal."]. No decision has been made, and none will be made until you have had a full opportunity to respond.
You have the right to be accompanied at the hearing by a colleague or a trade union representative. Please tell me the name of your chosen companion by [date/time]. If your companion cannot attend at the time above, tell me as soon as possible and we will rearrange the hearing for a reasonable alternative time in line with the ACAS Code of Practice.
At the hearing you will be able to respond to each allegation, present your own evidence, call any witnesses you have given notice of, and ask questions about the evidence. If any document listed above is missing from this letter, or you need an adjustment to take part fully — for example because of a disability — contact me before the hearing.
If you cannot attend for a genuine reason, contact me as soon as possible and we will rearrange. If you fail to attend without good reason, the hearing may go ahead in your absence and a decision may be made on the evidence available; we would tell you before doing so and invite a written statement.
Yours sincerely,
[Name], [job title], {{org.name}}
4. Rearranging the hearing
Two rearrangements are routine and should be granted without friction: the employee's chosen companion cannot make the time — the ACAS Code requires postponement to a reasonable alternative the employee proposes within five working days of the original date — and genuine sickness or emergency, where you simply contact the employee and rearrange.
If the employee repeatedly fails to attend without good reason, ACAS guidance is to consider the seriousness of the issue and any rules {{org.name}} has about non-attendance before deciding whether to proceed in their absence — and if you do, to tell the employee first, give them the chance to submit a written statement, and confirm the decision in writing with a right of appeal.
5. Delivery and record-keeping
- Hand the letter over in person where you can, and send a copy by [email and/or post to the employee's home address] the same day, so there is no argument about receipt.
- Check every listed enclosure is actually attached before it goes — a missing witness statement discovered at the hearing means an adjournment.
- File a copy of the letter, the enclosure list, and proof of sending in the confidential disciplinary file in [system/location], separate from the general personnel file.
- Log the date sent and the notice given — if the fairness of the process is ever examined, the gap between this letter and the hearing is one of the first things checked.
How to adapt this template.
Finish the investigation first — this letter calls the hearing on a case to answer; an investigatory meeting needs its own, clearly different invitation.
Write each allegation so specifically that the employee could answer it point by point — incident, date, and the rule or standard allegedly breached.
Enclose everything the hearing will rely on, and list the enclosures in the letter itself.
Choose the outcomes wording honestly — if dismissal is genuinely possible, the letter must say so; if it is not, do not threaten it.
Set the hearing date [number] working days out, scaled to the volume of evidence, and name a contact for questions and adjustments.
Deliver it by [hand plus email/post], then file a copy with the enclosure list in the confidential disciplinary file.
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Disciplinary Hearing Invitation Letter template FAQs
What should a disciplinary hearing invitation letter include?
The allegations in enough detail to prepare an answer, copies of the evidence — including any witness statements — the possible outcomes, the date, time, and venue, who will chair, and the employee's right to be accompanied by a colleague or trade union representative. That list comes from the ACAS Code of Practice, which is the standard an employment tribunal measures the letter against.
How much notice do you have to give for a disciplinary hearing?
The ACAS Code sets no fixed number of days: the test is that the employee has sufficient information and time to prepare their answer, while the process still moves without unreasonable delay. Scale the notice to the evidence — one incident with two documents needs less than a thick investigation pack — and follow whatever notice period your own disciplinary policy states.
Do you have to tell an employee they could be dismissed?
Yes, where dismissal is genuinely possible. The ACAS Code requires the employee to be told the possible consequences of the case against them, and ACAS publishes separate invitation letters for possible-warning and possible-dismissal hearings for exactly this reason. Dismissing someone after a letter that mentioned only warnings is a serious fairness problem.
Who can accompany an employee to a disciplinary hearing?
A colleague, a trade union representative, or an official employed by a trade union — that is the statutory right, and the letter must mention it. The companion can set out the employee's case and confer with them, but does not have a right to answer questions on the employee's behalf. You can allow others — such as a support worker as a reasonable adjustment for a disabled employee — at your discretion.
What happens if the employee does not attend the disciplinary hearing?
Rearrange first: sickness and companion unavailability are good reasons, and where the companion cannot attend the ACAS Code requires postponement to a reasonable time the employee proposes within five working days. Only after repeated failure to attend without good reason should you consider deciding in the employee's absence — and ACAS guidance says to tell them first, invite a written statement, and confirm the outcome in writing with a right of appeal.
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