I've split it in to two sections, giving the reasons for my mistakes, the impact dismissal it will have on me. And the issues I've had within the business that have had an effect on this. So it's a bit of both. Is that a bad idea?

Well I've been trying for the best part of a week to get in touch with the union but they don't seem to be answering any of my e-mails. HR have given me the number for two employee reps, neither of whom are answering. It seems I'm going to have to go in there alone. I've prepared a statement giving my explanation for the four failed calls, two of which are issues not covered by the companies DPA policy, and the other two are simple user error. I've apologised for the issues, explained that they won't happen again and given steps I'll take to ensure that. In terms of mitigation. I've mentioned that the fails happened while I was undertaking exams, and therefore studying and in labs/lectures all week, then pulling 17 hours over the weekend. I've also mentioned my boss' negative attitude towards me, numerous failures to follow up on call monitoring on his part and the fact that the minutes were altered removing at least one of his responses and making me sound abrupt. I've also mentioned that I consider the fact that I was suspended for an investigation yet no additional evidence was produced a breach of ACAS guidelines. I've also mentioned that this may have a severe impact on my future in the NHS. If I'm going in there with a statement prepared am I obligated to send them it before hand? Also is if this does end up going past appeal and to a tribunal, is there a limit to what they'd consider gross misconduct? It seems to me failing to ask two questions, one of which is completely inconsequential to the security of the account, is an extremely overboard response.

Hi, I just thought I'd give you guys an update on this. I'm still suspended, I've received no communication from them until today when I received a letter inviting me to a disciplinary hearing along with the evidence they intend to use. The letter they've sent me indicates the circumstances are exactly the same as when they suspended me so they've essentially had me suspended pending an investigation that has yielded nothing aside from what they already had. All of the evidence provided is exactly the same evidence used in the original meeting, which makes me think they haven't investigated at all. They are pushing for gross misconduct, based on the four calls I mentioned previously. They've provided me with documents I've signed for two data protection policies, the personal DPA procedure which is essentially 'don't access your own account or the account of anyone you know' and the online DPA procedure which is about not leaking or selling information. Neither of these covers the customer DPA procedure we do over the phone with customers/dealers so they're trying to make it seem like I've signed a document I haven't signed by presenting similar documents I have signed. Anyway I signed up for a union when this all kicked off, when I signed up their website didn't give a minimum term for assistance but I doubt they'll help me after being with them for only a month, I guess we'll see on monday.

Thanks Bazza, that's extremely reassuring. I'd rather keep the job but should it come down to it, I'd assume once they finish "investigating" they'll either dismiss it with a warning or start the gross misconduct proceedings. Should they start those proceedings and I quit, do I still count as being fired for gross misconduct?

It's not that I didn't read the forms, or understand them, it was simply that I forgot two extremely minor points in a frequently changing system. I asked for a customers ID information and didn't follow up by asking if they'd seen the ID (something everyone just says yes to anyway because they're salesmen and they'd lose the sale if they said no). And instead of asking an additional third security question during a failed password check I told the third party to have the customer change their password to something they knew and denied access. In the first instance even had the third party not seen the ID, they'd have lied and I'd have had no way of knowing. In the second instance there was no information given out as the customer was instructed to change their password. Therefore the end result had I asked these questions would be the same. Now it's not that I don't appreciate the feedback, but what's done is done, responding with "well you shouldn't have done that" isn't helping me because I'm aware of that. I just want to know what in your experience you'd do to escape this with as little damage as possible? I'm sure I don't need to tell you that the NHS will do background checks, and "gross misconduct" for failing DPA is going to result in me being unemployable. While I, know I can't just walk in to a meeting and tell them my team leader is trying to get rid of me because she doesn't like me. The reality of the situation is that's what's happening. I absolutely get why people would be sceptical about an employee saying that about their boss, but I need you to trust me on this one.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Just a couple of points, while the evidence they have suggests I've failed DPA on 50% of calls this evidence was cherry picked. He has four calls with me failing DPA because four is all he can find. It's not like a random subsection of calls has been taken, he gets to listen through each call before writing it up as evidence. For the sections that I have failed DPA on, I've already admitted that I was at fault. The issues are that when a third party did not hold a password I asked them two additional questions rather than three. And that when a first party rang up I asked for the customers ID details but did not ask if they'd "seen ID". These were slips of the mind and not something I normally do, but as we have three different DPA procedures each with 8-10 points to cover, some of the minor bits slipped my mind on a minority of calls due to tiredness. I'm a medical student currently pulling extended weekend shifts to accommodate my studies so between reading, studying, lectures, travelling, placements and working, I'm pretty much working 7 days a week. I joined a union last night, seems my workplace has two unions.

I just took a look, the union for my employer specifically states in their FAQ that they won't provide resources or expertise to people who join only when they have a problem.

Nope, I wouldn't even know where to begin getting one?

Hi all I was just after a bit of advice as to what I should do. I work in a call centre for a large telecom company, I've been there for about two and a half years now. Over the last two weeks I've been made to listen to some of my own calls and fill out self assessment forms, no reason for this was given. Today I logged in as normal got over half way through my shift and I got an e-mail saying log out for a meeting, completely out of the blue with nothing scheduled in. I went with my manager to the meeting room expecting something minor, until I see a note taker sitting at the desk, they sit me down and tell me I'm under investigation. I immediately asked them why I've received no formal invitation and no time to prepare or have a representative attend. My manager stated that it was a fact finding meeting and as it was not a disciplinary I was not entitled to notice or a rep. They pulled me in for minor breaches of company DPA policy, nothing serious I thought, I just forgot to ask a minor question on a few calls. They had 8 calls to hand and 4 missed the question, this is not representative of my actual work as I take hundreds of calls per week. DPA in my department is more complex than most as we deal with third parties. I admitted my mistakes, and raised some issues around the training provided by my manager. He produced some hastily signed forms with the DPA procedure on them and pointed out a number of methods for us to gain access to this procedure, none of which we realistically have time to do while taking calls. They dismissed the meeting, and my manager and the note taker discussed the outcome, they decided to suspend me with pay pending an investigation for gross misconduct as I'm a threat to the business for missing a tiny number of DPA questions as a genuine mistake. I asked who would be investigating and my manager said he would, I said that this would be a conflict of interest he said it wouldn't and that was basically it. Does anyone know what my rights are with this? I mean I'm at university at the moment and I can't afford to have a negative mark on my employment record when I graduate. I'm absolutely shocked, I had no idea this would happen when I walked in to work this morning. I've been given no paperwork, I've had my ID confiscated. If I'm a threat to the business why wait until over halfway through my shift to suspend me. My manager doesn't like me, but I had no idea this was coming. Is there anything I should be doing to better my chances of coming out of this still employed at this early stage?

Here's a link to the course: http://www.qeliz.ac.uk/courses-overview/access-to-he It doesn't actually say if it's full-time or part time, the student loan I've taken out is specifically designed for this access course and isn't available to typical students, as it gets written off should I continue on to university and get a degree. I only attend 10 hours per week one of those hours is for tutor time, which we only attend if required for ucas applications and the like. The only assignments I get are an assignment from each subject roughly once every other month (1000-2000 words) which amounts to nowhere near the six hours a week of home study required to push this in to a full time course. I've told them that the gaps between my lessons are more than sufficient to complete any work I need to do. I'm only unavailable to work on Mondays (due to sporadic lesson placement), and half of Tuesdays and Wednesdays until 1pm. Leaving half of Tuesday and Wednesday, all of Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday to work, which considering that totals five days, is more than enough for the 40 hours they require me to be available for work.

Just a quick update on this. To date I still haven't received a decision, so far I've given them my learning agreement, a signed letter from the college, my student loan information, and the exact hours I'm in college, and they also asked for a copy of my cv. Once again they told me they had everything they needed. As soon as I got home I received another call from them, asking for printouts proving I was applying for jobs that fit around my college hours. Most applications don't discuss hours until the interview stage, but I've managed to find two applications that I have filled out my availability on to give them. I'm due to hand those over tomorrow when I sign on. So far I've done everything they've asked, when they've asked, and done it with a smile. But this really isn't fair, I'm taking the quickest route in to university I can, in order to better myself. I'm so far getting straight distinctions in all my courses, while looking for a job at the same time. Being out of work is stressful enough, without having to worry about whether the benefits I'm entitled to are actually going to continue. Is there any route I can take to complain about this now? I mean if I don't get paid this week that'll be 2 months without any money at all which is absolutely disgraceful considering I've done everything by the book.

Hi guys, I've been signing on to JSA now for about four months. From the moment I signed on I informed them that I would be starting a part time "Access to HE" college course in September, lasting a year, for 10 hours per week. They accepted this, signed me up as requiring full time work until september, when I started college I had this changed to part time. A month ago they started requesting paperwork from my college, and asking me questions about how I was paying for it. I told them I had a student loan, and brought them all the paperwork I had including the accepted student loan forms. Two weeks later they asked for more paperwork as my learning agreement didn't state my hours, I got a signed letter from the college stating my name, hours and course along with contact details should they have any questions, and gave that to them along with my learning agreement. I was told that everything was fine, I signed on as usual and was told my payment had gone through and would be paid on the usual day. on monday I received an ES48 letter, saying "A doubt has arisen on your claim for jobseekers allowance, as it appears that from 09.09.2013 you may not be regarded as available for work because you are a full-time student". The letter then directs me to read a leaflet that was supposed to be included in the pack, that is conveniently missing. I immediately rang them up, and was told not to worry about it, as the letter was probably sent out before they received my evidence, and that my payment would go through as normal. This hasn't happened, I've not received my payment, and it looks like they're investigating me for something they have concrete evidence isn't true. So does anyone know how long they can stop my payments for, and if there's anything I can do about this, as it seems someone has lied about my status.

But surely this is a completely unreasonable request in the first place, they were asking for two people who could not be employers or family members who had exact knowledge of when I was out of work. I don't know about you, but my friends certainly don't keep a dated record of my previous work history. I had to provide bank statements to prove my employment gaps, so it's not as if I was leaving them with nothing.

No I don't know why I didn't meet the referencing standard. 1: I asked them not to contact an employer due to the potential for malicious references and they rather than respecting that pressured me for access to them. I was made to give all employers from the past two years, rather than the employers I wanted to use as references, as is usually standard in the UK. 2: I've worked for this company before, directly after working for the employer I asked them not to contact, it wasn't an issue then, why is it an issue now? 3: Upon receiving the malicious reference, they didn't query it, they simply decided I was in the wrong, despite having no reason to lie, and every reason to tell the truth. 4: Even if the reason had come back as "failed probation" as inaccurate as that is, it's still no reason to decline someone a job. Companies have probationary periods in order to find out if you like the job, and are the right fit. Failing probation simply means you didn't like the job and left, or weren't the right fit for the job, not that your a bad employee.

Hi ladies/Gents. I received a job offer from EE, (in a call center I've previously worked in when they were under the Orange brand) on the 12/04/13, they sent me through a contract, and gave me my start date for 3/06/13. Since then I've received myriad calls, and e-mails from security watchdog, who apparently vet all their applicants, and from EE themselves. They've taken the following from me: All previous jobs within the last two years. All employment gaps within the last two years Passport Details Address and payment details Two work references Two character references (who they insisted must know of my employment gaps but I told them this wasn't possible) Bank Statements for employment gaps. Bank Statements proving I was actually employed by one of my jobs. Out of my four previous jobs, I requested that one not be contacted because I left due to bullying and would not receive a fair reference, as I handed my notice in, and as retaliation they failed my probation. Security Watchdog contacted me again asking me if I would give them permission to contact this reference, fearing that they might revoke the offer if I declined, I said they could contact them, but reiterated that they probably would not give me a fair reference. So I had security watchdog on the phone last week asking for the last set of bank statements, during which I was told that my references were fine, and the bank statements would complete my file. I received a call on Friday from EE stating that there were issues with my reference from the employer I asked them not to contact, they asked me to explain my reasons for leaving. I explained everything and asked if this would cause an issue. The lady on the phone said she wasn't sure and would have to contact her manager. I got another call from EE yesterday, asking if I'd read their e-mail they'd just sent. I said no, logged in to my e-mail at which point the lady said "We aren't able to start you on the 3rd". I asked if they when they were planning on starting me, she said "we're not", I asked her why, she said issues with my references, but would not give me anymore information. The e-mail said: "Sorry to hear you want to withdraw your application for our Sales Advisor vacancy. But thanks for letting us know. The EE Resourcing Team" So basically, I've been strung along by EE for a month, I've wasted an entire month of possible job hunting, they sent me an e-mail making out I've withdrawn my application when that's a complete lie, and to top it off they won't even tell me what the references said without asking them in writing. Is this legal, do I have any recourse here?

So, I've just received a response by letter from the postal review panel, issuing me a cheque for the customs handling fee. Well, I don't know about you guys, but that counts as victory in my book.

Accidental double post, please delete.

Hey guys, I just thought I'd share my current ongoing argument with royal mail over these fees. I import alot of model kits from Japan, and I'm really starting to get annoyed at Royal Fail's obvious profiteering and bullyboy tactics. Anyway: EDIT: Just received a response from the Escalated complaints team, as expected, they completely skip the issue of the charges being completely unsolicited, and deny that their staff were in breach of the postal services act by holding my parcel under retention by virtue of a lien. And continue to suggest that I claim the VAT back from the UK Border Agency, even though I stated right at the start that I'm not disputing the VAT charges.

Bit of an update here, went in to speak to my manager today to find three of them sat in the office. Asked to have a word with one of them and was abruptly told that I'd have to "book an appointment with him", and I "can't just walk in and ask for a chat". In other news, eyes have healed, but I now have blured vision in my right eye that just won't go away, and I'm still covered in very irritating eczema, thats itching so much I'm having trouble sleeping despite me using mosturisers etc.

I've never seen a contract so I wouldn't know. Company policy is basicly: First 3 days are unpaid, then you get time off on company sick pay based on the length of time you've worked for the company with pay being based on your contracted hours. After that you go on statuatory sick pay. Problem is my hours are almost always flexed up, meaning I stand to lose well over 2/3 of my wage from something that isn't really my fault.

Ok as some of you may already know I work for DSGI (currys pcworld etc). Currently our store is undergoing a major refit and well over half of the shop is cordoned off, with the other half being used for trading. About 3 weeks ago I started coming down with very small amounts of Eczema, which I've had in limited amounts, occasionaly since I was a child and so thaught nothing of it. Then two weeks ago I woke up to find my eyes were all red, I went to the doctors assuming this was conjunctivitus and they agreed and pescribed me medication for it and I carried on working for another week or so. I returned to the doctors after a week of the medicine not working, and they sent me to A&E, and finaly a day later to an eye specialist. Who coupled with the ever increasing amounts of eczema told me it was an allergy, she perscribed me some eyedrops and I went on my way. So after 4 days off (2 at the doctors, 2 days off) I find my eyes are all better again, and go back to work. After 1 day at work I find myself right back to the way I was when I started, with bright red eyes and eczema, all over my shoulders, back, face, wrist and rear of my legs. After ringing in sick again I recieved a phone call today telling me that my hours are being cut from 39 to 9, due to a rota change basicly reducing me to the minimum they're allowed to give me under my contract, 1 day before I can start claiming sick pay. Is their anything I can do about this? My doctor seems to agree with me that the allergy is caused by something that the builders are producing (dust ect).

Depends, if the loan is repaid, then by all means SAR the finance company (HFC finance), not DSG, and find out what if anything you've been charged for. If the loan is not repaid and you send them a SAR this could be constituted as recognition of the loan, I'm far from an expert on these matters but from what I've read a loan becomes statute barred after 6 years of non-recognition. Although this is just what I've read around the boards, I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. Not to mention the fact you'll be drawing their attention to an unpaid loan.

None of the macros are assigned yet, and the reciept says 1 year RTB warantee. The store has nothing anywhere about their returns procedure, although I'll be asking for a copy of it next time I go down. I managed to record some footage of it happening on my phone about 5 minutes after I got in, so I'll show them that and see what happens. Fortunately they gave me a reciept from when I left it in the shop so I have proof it was reported within 28 days.

Basicly I bought a microsoft sidewinder x6 keyboard on the 02/07/10 costing £49.99. Since I bought it, it randomly flickers and starts typing the same key over and over, before restarting and working again, this happens completely at random. I've checked all areas of compatibility, downloaded the latest drivers from microsoft's website, and even voltage tested the USB ports, as I'm a qualified computer engineer. So, having spent 27 days trying to get this damn thing working properly, I decided to take it back today as it'd be my last chance to do so and get a refund. I went in to the shop with the item fully boxed and with my reciept, I requested a refund on the product only to be told I wasn't entitled to one, I quoted the sale of goods act, to which the boy manning the counter shrugged off as incorrect. He insisted that he needed to leave the keyboard on test, in order to replicate the fault, he gave me a slip of paper on with the details and I left it with him. I returned 5 hours later to find the keyboard plugged into the till, at the front of the shop, without the numberpad plugged in (as it's detachable). And another member of staff proceeded to tell me nothing had happened and he'd need to leave it on test until something does happen. I declined as I need a keyboard for work to write up engineer reports. My question is, do I have to leave it with them on test for as long as it takes to replicate the fault in order to be entitled to anything. And even if it does happen, whats to stop them from just denying it, as I can't exactly sit in the shop behind their counter stairing at a keyboard.

Ok for starters, if you paid for a system diognostic you got exactly that. A diognostic isn't a repair, it's a series of tests designed to find a fault or faults. Hence why the price doesn't cover you for the actual repair, if you were told it would then you were lied to and should ask to speak to the person who booked it in and demand at least a partial refund from them. If they described it at all times as a system diognostic, then I'm afraid you got what you paid for.