Suspended pending investigation: what are my rights?

Sent home from a care shift or shut out of a warehouse before anyone has heard your side? You are still employed. Suspension does not prove the allegation, and your employer should normally keep paying you. Get the reason and pay arrangements in writing. Rent does not stop because work has.

Can they suspend you without proof?

They do not need to prove the allegation before suspending you. But an allegation is not a reason to suspend everyone it concerns. Your employer must have reasonable and proper cause and should consider alternatives before deciding.

Acas says suspension should protect the investigation, the business, other staff or the person under investigation. A serious allegation may justify urgent action, particularly in safeguarding. The employer still needs to consider the actual risk of you remaining at work.

In Gogay v Hertfordshire County Council [2000], the Court of Appeal found that a knee-jerk suspension of a children’s-home care worker breached the duty of trust and confidence. But suspension is not automatically a breach. London Borough of Lambeth v Agoreyo [2019] confirms that the question is whether the employer had reasonable and proper cause. Paid suspension can still be unreasonable.

When suspension is reasonable, and when it is not

Ask what risk your absence removes, and why changed duties or another shift would not address it. “We always suspend people for this” is not an assessment of your situation.

Your employer should put the reason in writing, say how long they expect it to last, name a contact, confirm you remain on usual pay, and explain limits on site access and contact with colleagues. Suspension is not disciplinary action. If the letter reads like punishment, keep it. It helps later.

Do you get paid while suspended?

You should normally receive your usual pay and contractual benefits. That is the Acas starting point. Ask payroll what it will include. Overtime, shift premiums and bonuses may have contractual conditions; they are neither automatically guaranteed nor automatically lost.

If wages are properly payable under your contract, section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 protects you against unauthorised deductions. A deduction needs authority in law, a relevant contractual term or your prior written agreement. An allegation of misconduct is not, by itself, authority to stop your wages.

An unpaid-suspension clause is not the end of the question. Acas warns of legal risk even where the contract appears to permit reduced or no pay. Get advice about the wording and how it has been used. Do not sign away pay because the manager calls it standard procedure.

How long can it last?

There is no statutory maximum length for investigatory suspension. Acas says it should be as short as possible and kept under review. A complex safeguarding investigation may take longer than checking a till discrepancy. That does not excuse leaving you without updates or failing to reconsider whether you still need to be away.

Ask for the next review date and an explanation of any delay. Your employment and continuity of service continue, and holiday still accrues. You can request holiday during suspension, but your employer must agree it; cancelling booked leave requires the correct notice.

Rules while you are out

Your employer may restrict site access and contact with witnesses to protect the investigation. Ask for the rules in writing and make clear that you need access to your union rep or adviser. If a restriction prevents you getting support or preparing your response, ask your rep to challenge it. Do not contact witnesses yourself in breach of an instruction.

Stay available and contactable. Keep the suspension letter, payslips, rota screenshots and a dated record of conversations. Avoid discussing the allegation on work WhatsApp groups or social media. If evidence is on systems you cannot access, ask the investigator to preserve it and explain how you can put forward your account.

What are my rights if I am suspended pending investigation?

1. Get the decision in writing. Ask for reasons, expected length, review date, pay arrangements, contact rules and a named contact. Save your contract and disciplinary policy.
2. Contact your union. Start with your workplace rep. UNISON organises in care and NHS support, GMB in retail and warehouses, Unite in hospitality and logistics, and IWGB among riders and cleaners. No rep? Try Acas, Citizens Advice or a law centre. Do not assume joining a union now will secure funding for an existing dispute.
3. Ask about alternatives. Could a shift change, temporary move or different duties address the risk? Ask why these were rejected.
4. Challenge missing pay. Ask for the basis and calculation. If unresolved, raise a written grievance. Notify Acas in time for any tribunal claim; a grievance does not pause the deadline.
5. Ask for a companion. Workers have this statutory right at disciplinary hearings that could lead to a warning or sanction, and appeals, generally not at investigation or suspension meetings. Your policy may give more. See who can accompany you.
6. Get advice before resigning. Constructive dismissal depends on the facts and is risky. You do not need to resign to raise a grievance or claim missing wages.

Police, sick leave and holidays

A criminal investigation does not automatically stop the workplace process. In North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust v Gregg [2019], the Court of Appeal held that an employer could proceed without waiting for the criminal case, subject to limited exceptions. It also held that the Trust could not withhold the doctor’s contractual suspension pay because a regulator’s interim suspension prevented him working. This was a decision about his contract, not a universal rule for every regulated job.

If you become ill, check the contract before accepting a switch to sick pay. Acas says full contractual suspension pay may continue while you are sick. Illness does not give a manager a free choice to pay less. See discipline during sick leave.

You can also be suspended while on holiday. Ask whether the employer expects you to attend a meeting and how your leave will be treated. Suspension does not remove the need for a fair investigation.

Zero-hours, agency and probation: when work disappears

Your legal status matters more than the label on the contract. A genuinely self-employed contractor normally relies on the contract for payment. If the label does not match the job, get advice about your status.

On a zero-hours contract, your rota may empty without anyone using the word “suspension”. Ask whether you are suspended, whether already agreed shifts have been cancelled and what pay is due. Keep the old rota. If the contract promises no hours and the shifts were never agreed, there may be no wages owed for that period. But that does not answer whether removing work was discriminatory or unlawful retaliation. Do not accept “zero hours” as an answer to every complaint.

An agency assignment can end while your relationship with the agency continues. Ask the agency, as well as the hirer, whether you are suspended and what your contract promises. Equal-treatment rights after 12 qualifying weeks in the same role do not, by themselves, give you investigatory suspension pay from the hirer. See agency workers’ rights.

Probation does not remove pay rights or justify unreasonable suspension. Ordinary unfair dismissal currently requires two years’ service for most employees. Some automatically unfair reasons, including protected whistleblowing, specified health and safety action and asserting certain statutory rights, need no qualifying service. A wage complaint may engage statutory-right protection, but dismissal afterwards is not automatically unfair just because the events followed each other.

Medical and maternity suspension pay

Medical and maternity safety suspension are different from being sent home over an allegation. Employees suspended under specified medical safety provisions, such as rules on hazardous substances, radiation or lead, can receive normal pay for up to 26 weeks. You need at least one month’s continuous employment, must remain available for work and must not unreasonably refuse suitable alternative work. This is not a general 26-week entitlement whenever an employer sends someone home for health reasons.

For maternity safety risks, the employer should first address the risk through adjustments to your working conditions or hours, then suitable alternative work. If neither resolves it, an eligible employee should be suspended on normal pay. There is no minimum-service requirement or 26-week cap. Unreasonably refusing suitable alternative work can affect pay entitlement. A pregnant warehouse picker with normal pay of £508.40 a week, suspended for 12 weeks with no safe alternative, would be owed 12 x £508.40 = £6,100.80. See discipline during maternity leave for the separate disciplinary rules.

Challenging suspension, dismissal and delay

There is no general tribunal claim called “unfair suspension”. The route depends on what happened. Missing wages may support an unlawful deduction claim. Discriminatory suspension may support a discrimination claim. A serious contractual breach may support a contract claim or, if you resign in response, constructive dismissal. Ask your adviser which claim fits before choosing a route.

Use a grievance to challenge the decision or pay, and an appeal if there is a disciplinary outcome. You usually need to notify Acas for early conciliation before bringing a tribunal claim. Internal grievance, disciplinary and appeal procedures do not extend tribunal deadlines. Notifying Acas within the applicable limit pauses the clock for early conciliation.

Which deadline applies?

For most Great Britain claims, including unlawful deductions and unfair dismissal, the normal limit is six months less a day where the relevant date is on or after 1 October 2026. It remains three months less a day where the relevant date is before 1 October. The commencement regulations define that date for each claim. For missing wages it is normally the payday, or the last deduction in a series; for unfair dismissal it is the effective date of termination, not the date suspension started.

Scotland has a separate transition for tribunal breach-of-contract claims: the longer limit applies from 9 November 2026. Do not confuse that exception with an unlawful deduction claim. See how to bring a tribunal claim.

The Acas Code covers disciplinary and grievance procedures and expressly addresses keeping paid investigatory suspension brief and under review. It does not create a standalone suspension claim. In relevant claims, an unreasonable failure to follow the Code can lead to a compensation adjustment of up to 25%, under section 207A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. The increase is not automatic; a worker’s unreasonable failure to follow the Code can lead to a reduction.

You can apply to the penalty scheme once at least 42 days have passed since the tribunal judgment was sent to both parties. An unpaid Acas COT3 settlement can be reported after its agreed payment date. Follow the official scheme’s eligibility rules and seek advice about enforcing the debt through a court if payment still does not arrive.

Northern Ireland and Scotland

England, Wales and Scotland share the main suspension rules. Northern Ireland has separate employment law and the Labour Relations Agency for advice and early conciliation. Ordinary unfair dismissal normally requires one year’s service there, and statutory minimum disciplinary procedures remain. Do not apply GB deadlines or reforms to an NI claim. See employment law in Northern Ireland.