Please help with disciplinary advice and procedures

[sebear]

Hello all

New to this site but very pleased to have found it.

My partner received a letter a week ago from her employers and the letter informed her that she was to attend a disciplinary hearing two days later. The letter enclosed some photographs showing the store was in a mess and advised her that it was in relation to "failure to meet company expectations". On closer inspection of the photo's they did not all match up. In one photo there were red ties all in a pile and then the rest of the ties were neat and in another photo is showed the same red ties but then it also had a pile of shirts, which were not in the previous photo.

My partner is the assistant manager in a retail shop.

My partner attended the meeting and asked when the photos were taken and she was advised it was on a Thursday at 12:30. My partner was in charge of the store that day but left the store at 12pm as she was very ill. She advised the supervisor and her line manager (who was taking minutes in the meeting) that she would not have left her store in that state. She has been working for the same company for over 7 years and she has always been praised for her high store standard.

She also advised the people at the meeting that the person, who was just visible in one of the photos (if you looked really carefully) only started his shift at 4pm on that day and therefore the photos were not taken when the line manager said (a complete lie - the line manager and my partner do not get on).

They said they would get the cctv footage and check. My partner has now received a letter saying the cctv footage has been sent to the company that deals with it and the disciplinary hearing will re-convene in about 3 weeks time.

Firstly, they did not do an investigatory meeting - just staight into a disciplinary. Is this legal - when my partner asked about it in the meeting she was told they were the same things?

Secondly can they take three weeks to check the cctv?

Please help as soon as possible.

Thank you

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, I'm sorry to hear your partner finds herself in this position.
An employer should certainly carry out an investigation before any disciplinary meeting is arranged, and I am amazed that her manager did not discuss the matter with her at the time.

Have a look at the information ACAS provide regarding disciplinary matters here: Acas - The disciplinary meeting

Is seems your partner has investigated the matter more thoroughly than her employer, and there is certainly doubt over the photographic evidence they are using.

Kind Regards

Ell-enn

[sebear]

Hello Ell-enn,

Thanks for your reply. We have done a lot of research on this issue as we feel that her manager is a bit threatened by my partner and wants her out the shop. I have had a look at the ACAS website and it has been very helpful. It would seem that they should have done the investigatory meeting first and in fact (having now obtained a copy of my partners Hand Book) that is what is stated as normal procedure in their own book!!

As they clearly have not followed correct procedure what do we do now - should we write to them saying that it cannot proceed. My partner has a terrible time with her manager and she makes her life miserable every day and feels she has to watch her p's and q's constantly. We would like it to be noted that the manager lied about the time the photos were taken and we believe the cctv footage will clearly show that but can they wait three weeks to obtain that evidence?

My partner does not want this hanging over her head for three weeks and, as someone has tampered with the clothes (pile of red ties in one photo with no shirts in sight and then the same pile of red ties with a pile of shirts in the next) she is concered that perhaps something will happen to the cctv footage.

[sebear]

Although Ell-enn has given me some advice i would be grateful if someone could let me know whether or not an employer can now take 3 weeks to investigate the cctv as mentioned in this post even though they have called my partner in on a disciplinary? Also we have established that they should have done the investigatory meeting before calling a disciplinary - as they have not followed the correct procedures what can we do - can we have the whole meeting called off?

My partner has discussed the situation with another colleague and he has confirmed that the photographs were taken when he was there and as he only starts at 4pm at least 4 hours after my partner left work, it could not have been her responsibility. My partner feels her current manager is trying to get her into trouble and has blatently lied about the time the photographs were taken. What should she do?

Thanks

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, would your partner's colleague be willing to give a written statement confirming the time the photographs were taken? She should then start a grievance against the manager who is trying to get her into trouble.

Regarding the length of time taken to investigate the CCTV, that is certainly unreasonable, and she should have been kept informed of what stage they are at with that. Personally, I think they have discovered discrepancies in the evidence the manager has given for the disciplinary and I have a feeling they will drop the action. However, this in no way lets the manager off the hook, and as I said, your partner should use bring a grievance against her.

Kind Regards

Ell-enn