Should I suspend someone while I look into it?

Alan Creevy, Founder · 12th November 2026

In a business of nine people, sending someone home is the loudest thing you can do. There is no quiet way to manage it. The others work out within the hour that something has happened, they work out who it involves, and by the end of the day they have settled among themselves what it was probably about. That is the cost employers tend not to price in, because suspension feels like the responsible move. In a large organisation with other floors and other teams, sometimes it is. In a small one it rarely is.

Suspension is a decision, not a pause

Acas is unusually blunt on this. Its guidance says suspension “does not mean an employee has done anything wrong, and should not be used to discipline someone”, that as an employer you “should not use suspension automatically”, and that it is “usually best to avoid suspension if possible”.

The Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures says at paragraph 8 that where a period of suspension with pay is considered necessary, “this period should be as brief as possible, should be kept under review and it should be made clear that this suspension is not considered a disciplinary action”. Look at the order of those words. Necessary, then brief, then reviewed, then explicitly not a punishment. If your reason for suspending is that it would be awkward having the person around while you sort this out, it fails the first of those words and the other three never come into play.

The risk is not theoretical. Acas says that if a decision to suspend is not reasonable, “there’s a risk you could be breaching the employment contract”. A breach serious enough to entitle the employee to walk out is capable of becoming a constructive dismissal, which section 95(1)(c) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 describes as the employee ending the contract in circumstances where the employer’s conduct entitles them to leave without notice.

Name which of the four reasons applies, and write it down

Acas says you should only consider suspension if you reasonably believe it would protect one of four things: the investigation, the business, other staff, or the person under investigation themselves.

So write down which one, in a single dated sentence in the file, before you speak to anybody. If you cannot finish that sentence without using the word “awkward”, you do not yet have a reason, you have a feeling. That line is also the first thing you will be asked to produce if this goes further, and writing it at the time is the only moment at which it carries weight.

In a small business the alternative is access, not a different desk

Acas says that in all circumstances you should check if there is an alternative to suspending someone. Some of the alternatives on its list assume a certain size of employer: working in a different part of the organisation, from a different office or site, or from home. In a business of nine there is often no other part, no second site, and a job that cannot be done from a kitchen table.

The rest of the list is where a small employer should look, because it removes the specific capability the allegation concerns rather than the person: changing shifts, stopping part of the job, working with different customers or away from customers, and stopping the use of a particular system or tool. If the worry is what someone might say to a complainant, change the rota so they are not on the same shift. If it is what they might do to a record, take the system permission away. If it is cash or stock, the article on being told an employee is stealing works through that version.

The test is whether removing the capability does the same protective job as removing the person. Where it does, take the smaller step, because the smaller step does not announce anything to the other eight.

Do not touch their pay

This is where a judgement call turns into a claim. Acas says a suspended person should continue to get their pay and any benefits in their contract, and that if an employer reduces or stops pay during suspension, “the employee could take legal action”. It adds that there is still a risk of this even where the contract appears to allow reduced or no pay, and that an employer thinking of not paying should get legal advice first.

That claim does not depend on length of service. Section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 says an employer shall not make a deduction from a worker’s wages unless a statutory provision or a provision of the contract authorises it, or the worker has agreed in writing beforehand, and section 23 lets any worker take a breach of it to a tribunal. Unlike unfair dismissal, there is no qualifying period. Someone in their second week can bring it.

Holiday is the one point that runs the other way. Acas says an employer can refuse or cancel someone’s holiday while they’re on suspension, provided the correct notice is given.

Set the review date before you make the call

Acas says there is no minimum or maximum amount of time you should suspend someone for, that you should keep it as short as possible, and that you should review it regularly to make sure it is still needed. It also warns that the longer a suspension runs, the more likely it is to lead to a breakdown in trust, which could breach the employment contract. The word regularly is doing a great deal of work there, and it is exactly where suspensions go wrong. They are begun with care and then left running, because nobody owns the decision to end one.

Fix that before you start, by putting a date in the diary. The free disciplinary timetable starts from five working days of investigation, so a review on day five falls where the investigation should be finishing and you can ask honestly whether the protective reason still holds.

Acas notes there is no legal requirement to give written notice of a suspension, while advising that you put it in writing anyway to avoid misunderstandings. Do that, and keep it short: that they are suspended, that this is not a sanction and not a finding of anything, that pay and benefits continue unchanged, who their single point of contact is, and when you will review it. Tell them in person first if you possibly can, then confirm it the same day.

What getting it wrong costs

Today an employee needs two years of continuous service to bring an ordinary unfair dismissal claim, which is what section 108 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 still says. On 1st January 2027 that falls to six months and the cap on the compensatory award is removed, a date fixed by regulations made this year. The consequence for suspension is straightforward. The newer employee you might send home in December without much deliberation will, within weeks, be able to challenge how you went about it. The article on unfair dismissal at six months covers the rest of that change.

Two things never turned on service anyway. Suspending someone because of a protected characteristic, or treating them worse in how a suspension is handled, is a detriment that section 39 of the Equality Act 2010 forbids with no qualifying period at all, and the deduction from wages claim above needs no service either. The qualifying period was never the only thing standing between you and a tribunal.

What to do today

Write the one sentence naming which of the four Acas reasons you are relying on. If you cannot write it, do not suspend.

Then ask whether removing one specific thing, a key, a login, a shift pairing, a customer, achieves the same protection. Where it does, do that instead and say nothing to the rest of the team.

If you do suspend, put the letter out the same day, diarise the review for five working days’ time, and then actually hold it. Ending a suspension early costs you nothing. Letting one drift is what turns a sensible precaution into the thing you get asked about.

Tarn.hr provides HR guidance based on UK employment law and Acas codes of practice. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Employment law is complex and turns on the facts of each case. For any situation involving significant legal risk, potential tribunal claims, or matters of particular sensitivity, you should seek advice from a qualified employment solicitor. Tarn.hr is not responsible for any decisions made on the basis of its guidance.