in what way would you say its good news for me? How can I use this to my advantage? I wasnt given a copy of the miutes

So the hearing was today and I need some further advice. The decision has been 'deferred' until tomorrow. My union rep accompanied me and he has some concerns. They are - we were interrupted as the room was only booked for one hour and this was very unsettling - the char didnt seem interested in what I had to say - he barely looked at my evidence and simply put it in a pile next to him - he said "ive got no idea what im doing here, this is way beyond me, i havnt got a clue' - he also referred to "other documents" I would have signed. He was, I think, referring to other internal documents which I may have completed online to do with ensuring all information is correct and so on. - these 'other things' I would have signed/completed on-line were not part of the investigation report and therefore cannot be used - the only question the chair asked my line manager, who was brining the case against me, was around the implication on the customer and my line manager confirmed no implication on the customer which he gathered in the form of an email with a senior member of the compliance team - I then questioned my line manager and said "have you spoken to compliance - what have they said?". My manager said "i was told that what you have done wrong has not affected the customer - I have an email confirming this" - the chair didnt take an information about this, nor who my manager had spoken to, the content of the email and so on - the char said he would speak to compliance himself - the chair didnt ask me any questions and kept looking at his watch. His demeanour was that he was very nervous and didnt really care what I had to say - he says he will ring be before COB today to arrange a time for me to see him tomorrow (ive not yet had the call, but it isnt 5pm yet) - im now really worried that he wont relay my case to this person he is going to "confide in" and it wont be a fair outcome - my union rep was disgusted. He said if i dont get the right outcome tomorrow (final written warning) I should appeal and also raise a grievance against the chair for not following the process - the chair didnt let me sum up What are your thoughts on this?? any help much appreciated

Thanks for the advice.. I need it. Yes, I know it looks a bit dodgy/dubious to an outsider. I just didnt think about it generally. I guess I really didnt think it would have impact on the customer nor the bank. But ultimately I now know I have not followed procedure. I hope my openness and heartfelt appeal will work. If not im screwed.

The customer is elderly and this had been going on for a while (coming to the branch a number of times) as he kept forgetting to ask a witness to sign the form. I fear he lost his barings on what I needed, perhaps it was my fault for not fully outlining what I needed. anyway, I sent the now completed form to the insurance company who forwarded it on to him. He then called them asking who the person who had signed the form was.. he was told to go into branch. So he came in yet again. I reminded him he asked my friend to sign the form!!! grrrrr. The insurance company clearly then raised suspicions and alerted my employer. Now I am subject of all sorts of investigations. File checks, customer contact calls and interviews - very demoralising!

Thanks for the reply! There was no impact on the customer. No losses. A new form was completed, this time successfully Yeah, i had not lied about it and when my line manager and his sidekick came to formally interview me I explained exactly what had happened and that I did not believe I had made a mistake.

Hello all, New to the forum so thanks in advance for replies and all that. I have been suspended pending further investigation for allegedly failing to follow procedure for completion of a customer form, which I asked a friend to sign as a witness who does not now the customer. I work for a bank. This is a potential gross misconduct case. I could lose my FSA licence. There is no doubt that I am guilty of not following procedure fully so my case would be more to do with mitigation. I have come up with the following mitigating circumstances/facts which could help me. Clearly I'm no expert in this area so any advice /suggestions would be most welcome. -The client was elderly and came back to the office with the form which required a witness at least three times and asked me to "find a witness" as he had repeatedly forgotten -I did not believe it was mandatory for a witness to personally know the client -In fact, it does not state the above in the training manuals nor on the form guidance rules - only that the witness must be independent of the trust (i.e. not a settlor or beneficiary) -Clearly, my friend did not witness the client signing the form - i cannot dispute this -I do not believe I had sufficient training on this matter - the company I work for took the decision to stop all employees selling the product I sold because it felt we were a risk -It then sent us on a one day training course which did not test the above alleged breach -I did not gain financially from completion of the trust document -I have no previous in 7 years -I have an annual rating which is the highest possible - im a top 5% performer -The client did not complain, in fact he was most complimentary of me -My friend has written a letter confirming he signed the form with a copy of his passport to prove this isnt a case of fraud, which I intend to use as evidence at the hearing -I only know now with hindsight that I have committed an error and I did not think at the time / had a moment of madness So... thoughts? what should I home in on? any areas of specific strength for me? or weakness for the company? would a heartfelt apology suffice? will my union guy (who is involved) represent me or do I do the talking? and how would I go about tendering my resignation in exchange for a neutral reference only? do I do this at the hearing? or do I contact HR to see what they say before the hearing? Its very delicate as Ive not got the full management report yet - they are still in the process of investigating. I intend on fully fighting this but ive had contact with another employer who were very sympathetic. I got the impression that if I negotiated a clean reference I could 'jump' to them - although they havent confirmed this. Its also delicate because I dont want HR/my line manager to record a call where I have phoned asking them for the rules around resignation/references as they might use this against me at the hearing