Even though the company goes easy on him along the process or drops the idea of dismissing him, he is decided to leave peacefully anyway. If they have done him wrong or if they have acted maliciously, then he will just let them deal with their on guilt and conscience. He just hopes that next time, they would have the objectiveness and maturity to deal with worker's issues in the most moral, humane, and legal way possible.

My friend admits doing them, no question about that against company rules and standards. But how would you treat a company who ignores the law, no respect for human dignity and privacy, and leaves their management to intimidate, bully and harass people that they dislike at work. They don't even take notice of my friend's loyalty of coming to work at least one hour every night without pay just to get ahead of his job. When they have projects on-going at the premises, he covers the production maintenance alone while his collegues deal with the project works. He does rest/lie down sometimes but he knows he has got to squeeze in his maintenance works between company break times and before and after production schedules to tender to maintenance tasks. But it is hard to influence people's thinking anyway, we are all entitled to our own opinion. At the end of the day, let us just accept the fact that we are only numbers in the company. Gone are the days when companies regard people as assets. And worker's loyalty and service to the company will all be forgotten with one or two misconduct committed. He just have to learn his lesson from these things and move on with his life.

Hi stu007, I totally agree with you stu, at the moment he is very focused on the disciplinary hearing. He is waiting for the copy CCTV footage evidence and the company policy on CCTV operation and their notice of the hearing. So far the ICO inquiry was only for the purpose of legality on how to request for the footage. He had not asked the ICO to request for an assessment even though he knew that they have not registered their CCTV system which is a legal violation of the DPA. He even did not question the company about the legality of the disclosure they have done about their Data (CCTV footage) on him to unauthorised people. He aims to clear his name on these allegations (whether they really constitute a gross misconduct) and resolve the issues for the benefit of both parties involved in a just and peaceful way. He hopes that the company management is mature enough to deal with him objectively and constructively.

Hello assisted blonde, I believe that there things we do in private life that we won't show in the public eye. Take for example sleeping undressed, putting facial cream at night, etc. The things that they found him doing in the locker room was done in good faith that he has his privacy in there, and that those activities don't pose a threat to anyone or the company operations. He does not think of it as some sort of criminal activity that needed secret, intrusive, and excessive monitoring. A quiet word from the manager about his issues with him could have resolved everything staight away. Everybody makes mistakes at some point in their life and everybody deserves a second chance. But if one's dignity, privacy, and human self-worth have been ignored just to get what they wanted seem not a good way to manage workers. Can we blame him if he wanted justice, especially in a legal point of view? And besides, it looked like that they have already condemned him even before they have suspended him by the way things are happening. They have probably the right to watch their people on the CCTV but do they really need to do that to correct some issues and concerns with workers?

Hello Steampowerd, Your questions on sleeping/eating/using phone are answered on the reply to Emmzii. He is not refusing to attend the hearing, he just thinks he needs all the evidences and documents he is entitled to have to defend himself before going to the meeting. The manager have been pushing for a meeting without giving him a chance to informally resolve it first. He wanted him to attend the hearing even though they have not given him copies of evidences to prepare jis defense. Recently, when he sent a letter about Subject Access Request for the footage, they have not got back on him about the disciplinary meeting and the manager said that they are looking further at some of the evidences. My friend is just worried by the fact that they have been showing the footage to some supervisors and managers and allowed them to write their witness statement based from the footage shown to them. If these things happened to you, would you feel that it is fair. It is easy for us to comment or condemn a person but if we are in his shoes, maybe we will look at it differently. One man against a group (a company to be honest) is not an easy battle for him. That is why he wants out of that company as soon as possible. When they wanted people out in the past, they would just intimidate them their limit. Sad thing this is happening to my friend. He admits doing some of the allegations but are they dealing with the issue objectively, constructively, morally, and lastly legally? Let us uphold justice for all parties and for those who really deserve it.

Hi Emmzzi, My friend admits letting himself down. He is not denying that he did those things. He had just been from sickness and since the company does not have a contractual sick pay he went back to work while still on painkillers. He had seen the GP even a week before he got sick complaining about the back pain. If you are a family person, you would bear the pain and go to work to pay your bills. Knowing that the locker room was private in the workplace, he would occassionally lie down to ease the back pain. When he was sent home after being watched for two consecutive days, the management did not even show any concern about his health or condition. Based on the witness statements that they have given to him, they have been discussing about him and his recent performance behing his back. They have not tried to informally resolve it first with him. On use of phone (his personal mobile), he remembers taking some calls expecting that he has privacy inside that room. On eating at prohibited areas, doing night shift (which was about -4 deg. Celsius). He thought that as long as he cleans the table and dispose of waste properly, that would not be an issue. Even his supervisor was found guilty of eating in that area in the past (during Client site inspection and audit with the management team) but they just let it go and reminded him not to do it again. Why now it allegedly a gross misconduct for my friend? Could they be singling him out? By the way even if he is standing, sitting, or lying down, he has his radio with him all the time ready to answer calls from production supervisors. He works as a maintenance staff and had never had a verbal warning, written warning or case of misconduct for 3 years or even his previous employment. They will find it in the footage that whenever they call him on the his radio, he would get up and attend to their call. Whatever he did in the locker room was done in good faith that he had his privacy in their and he make sures that he cleans his mess of food to prevent cross contamination issues. Just still wondering why they were keen to require him to attend the disciplinary even knowing that they have not given him copies of evidences for him to defend himself. And they have mentioned ACAS procedure when they sent him home and handed the written suspension letter the following day but obviously they are not following them. Hope this gives light to some of the doubts.

Hi stu007, One of the guys does take off his trousers in there to change from norm to work and vice versa. And yes, when he requested a copy of the footage stating the SAR and DPA and ICO plus a copy of the company CCTV Policy on its use and operation(which obviously they don't have and have not included in the induction of new employee) they said that they have some more evidences to look at. He told them that he will wait for the footage as per SAR to make preparations for his defense. Do you think my friend should ask the ICO to come in with the assessment ASAP so the footage could be secured before they get rid of it? Also the ICO should find out their DPA contraventions since the company is probably confused on what to face right now (the ICO/DPA violation or the Human Rights case against my friend). Anyhow, with the treatment that he got from the company, he just wanted out of there as ASAP but they need to learn their lesson and pay the price for their mis-management. He is requesting for legal advice from anyone concerned within the group.

Hi renegadeimp, He was also advised to submit a request for assessment of the company by the ICO. If they are found to have breached the DPA1998 and violated the rights of the subject on the footage, then they might not be allowed to use that illegally obtained footage as evidence. He could even be entitled for a compensation for suffering distress. They even asked some people to view the footage and made witness statements out of it. Another possible violationof the disclosure and privacy under the DPA and human rights act.

Hi stu007, My friend had been sick for one working week (no SSP paid but they gave him 1 day holiday pay since the New Year's day fell inside that week). When he came back to work night shifts, he noticed that the manager and supervisors are giving him more jobs to do than usual. He did not take notice of that. He sent an e-mail to the company asking why he was not processed for SSP and why a day of holiday was taken from him while he was sick for one week. No answer to the e-mail. A day after he sent the e-mail, he did not knew that an old CCTV camera at their locker room was reactivated (offline for about 3 years) to monitor him at night while on shift. Two nights he was being watched and on the morning of the 2nd night shift he was sent home on verbal suspension and instructed to come back the following day at the manager's office. The next day the manager handed him the suspension letter dated on that same day with the allegations for gross misconduct on grounds of sleeping while clocked in, extended use of mobile phone, and eating in the work area which is not allowed. They informed him that they have gathered evidences, witness statements, etc and that they are ready to conduct the disciplinary meeting if he agreeable. He was told that he is entitled to a companion during the meeting. Feeling that they are keen to dismiss him, he declined the proposed disciplinary meeting and told them that he need to seek advise and contact his union (no union in the company). When they learned that he is a union member, they asked him out of the office for a few minutes. when they called him back in, they said that he had raised the stakes and they hired a company to handle the disciplinary meeting. Last monday they sent him another notice of the disciplinary hearing with the name of the third party that will conduct it. They asked him to attend any of the days they have set that week. My friend reasoned out that he cannot attend the meeting unless he has copies of evidences against him and witness statements they have. They sent him the copies of evidences (apart from the CCTV footage) and mentioned that they are going to use the CCTV footage as evidence during the hearing and sent another notice of the Disciplinary meeting two days ahead. My friend told them that he wants a copy of the footage as well so he can prepare his defence. Hearing this, they said that they might go on with the meeting without him present. Since my friend had asked advice from ACAS, he told the manager that he cannot go to the meeting on a days notice and incomplete set of evidences against him.

Yes renegadeimp, recently my friend found out from the ICO that the company have not registered or notified ICO about their CCTV system. They could be violating the DPA1998 section 17. Also the ICO advised my friend to give the company a Subject Access Request (SAR) stating his rights under Data Protection Act 1998 Section 7(1) to obtain the copy of the footage as proof of the breach of DPA.

Hello dx, Just last week 17/01/13, an employee who had worked at the company for 3 years had been sent home on verbal suspension without any informal discussion. When he got home, he knew later on from a co-employee that the company activated an old cctv camera in their locker/changing area, but he was not made aware of it. They might have been spying on him for 2 shifts to find some grounds to suspend him. He was told to come back on 18/01/13 to a meeeting. On that informal meeting, the manager who sent him home handed the suspension letter to him and said that he is ready to conduct the disiplinary meeting on that day of 18/01/13. Does ICO need to be informed about possible CCTV code of practice breach. Does the way they try to conduct the disciplinary procedure unfair since they want to go with the hearing without giving copies of evidence to the employee to defend himself? Is this a possible case of harassment or victimisation? Regards, Victim

These gives me a lot of insights guys. I thought ICO would back you up if you whistleblow a breach by some CCTV operators. Especially if employers use cctv as evidence to maliciously dismiss workers they dislike.