Mid-disciplinary, the employee has raised a grievance about me. Do I have to stop?

The answer Just Ask, HR gives

Concise Charlie — Direct, no fluff — the bottom line first.

Bottom line: a grievance doesn't automatically stop a disciplinary. You choose — pause, or run both concurrently — based on how connected they are. But you must deal with the grievance properly either way, even if you think it's tactical.

The ACAS Code says where the two are related, you may deal with them concurrently or pause the disciplinary — it's judgement, not obligation. Apply this test:

• Does the grievance attack the disciplinary itself? ("The investigating manager is biased", "the allegations are fabricated"). Then it's directly related — the cleanest route is a short pause, or assign a different manager to hear the grievance quickly while the disciplinary timetable slips by only a week or two.
• Is it about something separate? (Car parking, an old holiday dispute). Run both processes in parallel, different managers on each.

Practical rules that keep you safe:

• Never hear a grievance about yourself. If you're the accused bully and the disciplinary manager, hand one of the roles to someone else — another director, or an external HR consultant in a small business.
• Don't punish the grievance. However tactical it smells, raising a grievance is a protected step. Any hint the disciplinary outcome hardened because they complained is a victimisation claim waiting to happen.
• Document the decision — pause or parallel, and why. That one paragraph is your answer to "they ignored my grievance" at tribunal.
• Keep both moving. The commonest failure is the disciplinary quietly dying. A short, dated pause with a restart date keeps control of the timetable.