Navigating Union Discussions: Should HR Consult Before Issuing a Charge Sheet?

Dear All seniors,

We have prepared the Charge Sheet for a worker who brought boxes of firecrackers on 29/10/2013 during the Diwali festival to sell to employees working in our company. The Security Staff has reported this incident. The Charge Sheet was prepared on 10/12/2013 after collecting all the information about the case.

However, the General Secretary of the Employees' Union is against issuing the charge sheet to the worker, stating that they are not against issuing the charge sheet to the workers and imposing any penalty, but the HR Department should have discussed the issue with the Office Bearers of the Union.

You are therefore requested to kindly advise us whether it is necessary for the HR Department to discuss the issue with the Office Bearers of the Union before issuing the charge sheet.

Should the HR Department discuss the issue with all the Office Bearers or only with the General Secretary of the Union? Also, are the date of the incident and the date of issue of the Charge Sheet acceptable?

Please give advice.

Issuing a Charge Sheet Without Union Consultation

If an employee has done anything wrong or against the rules of the company, you can issue a charge sheet to the employee. A discussion with the Union is not required, even if the matter involves an office bearer of the union. It is not the Union that will decide what action the company or the HR department should take. If that were the case, what would be the role of managers in the company?

Therefore, you can issue a charge sheet, conduct an inquiry, and take action against the worker. The only issue is the delay in preparing the charge sheet. Although there are no specific rules stating the timeframe for serving a charge sheet, it should not be delayed indefinitely.

Regards,
Madhu.T.K