Thanks for all the comments on this. However I have decided not to appeal this. I do think it is all wrong and aload of ****. However I have had a death in the family of a family member I was EXTREMLEY close too and this has put a lot of things into perspective for me, in the fact that "do I really care". I am so devastated it is untrue. At the end of the day I have my job and that is what I will do. My job. I can not physically or mental give the company or my mangers any more emotion. If I did I would not be able to grieve properly and would not be in the right frame of mind. Thank you all for your support in this matter, really is appreciated to have so many comments on so many views and aspects. This site is a credit for all who need advice. Thank you.

Hi all, sorry I have been away from this for a while but things took a turn for the worse personally so I had to put all this work stuff to one side as it suddenly became the last of my worries. However I do have some news.....after being told over and over again that I would receive my outcome BEFORE I went on annual leave and was out of the country, low and behold it got posted out to me the day I WENT out of the country! I have been given a Final written warning for breach of trust and breach of staff purchase procedures. Obviously I am a little concerned as I know I have 7 days to appeal from the date of the letter, however being out of the country for 2 weeks seems to prevent me from doing this. I have emailed my concerns to headed office and they have said I need to call my area manager to discuss my "options of appeal" Is this a wise idea? Any idea on how to form an appeal letter?

Sorry.... Breach of trust as well.

Well I still have had NO contact from anyone so I am still being left in the lurch. I do have a very strong feeling that they are leaving it to as close as they can to me taking annual leave as I will be out of the country for 2 weeks. If this does happen I Recieve the decision the day before I go and need to appeal it, will I be ble to? As their letter will state I have the right to appeal within 7 days! I have been on the phone to ACAS again and the lovely lady I spoke to was pretty gobsmacked it has gone on for this long, but advised me to just sit tight. I have also spoken to my union rep regards my grievance. She hasn't seen it yet, but when I told her it was 9 pages long she said this was too long to begin with and that I am giving too much away. She advised me that I needed to do it in bullet form, so have reviewed it and come up with another draft. The points I am raising a grievance on are: Breach of policy's and procedures - disciplinary procedure. Breach of policy's and procedures - training policy Breach of policy's and procedures - dignity and respect at work Entrapment Defamation of character Breach of confidentiality (data protection act 1998) I also want to put in about the use of CCTV in the store and how this is used by the senior management in store to spy on people, but not sure if they are actually breaking any rules and regs. Any comments welcome as I am looking to hand this in at some point before I go on annual leave.

Thank you all for your support. Tracey I hope he doesn't get to 9 weeks like I have. It's unbearable! Your mind runs away with you all the time, it's awful! On the other hand I have prepared my grievance based on 6 points and it is currently 7 pages long!! Just some final touches to do to it and then will send their way!

I am ultimately for the tickets that were missing regardless of all the other angles and opportunities for them to have gone missing and the companies own flaws Was you aware of this? Is it in the job description or contract? Did you have any training on what to do if they did go missing?

Also yes it does state "seen as gross misconduct and may lead to your dismissal" it's a standard template that gets filled in with the employees address and allegations.

Thank you so much mariefab, excellent advice from you and I totally agree with everything you say. There is not a chance on this gods green earth that I am going to resign. I will take this as far as I possibly can no matter what the outcome! I have forwarded on all the e-mails I have sent and received along with another email explaining I have been in touch with my union, ACAS and my solicitor and that they are all in agreement that this process and the length of time is unreasonable and unacceptable. I sent this email to the employee relations e-mail address down in head office. This should be seen and read by all the senior hr executives in head office so should give them a kick up the back side to sort it out. My only concern is that I am due to go on annual leave outside the country for 2 weeks and I won't be able to do anything if I receive the outcome te day before I go!

Sorry to hear that mark! Sounds like they had made their mind up long ago and didn't really want to listen to anything you said. If you are guilty of theft and gaining financially like they say then isn't this is a criminal offence? If they had the proof to prove this allegation then why wasn't the police called? If the police took over this investigation and started to investigate you on the grounds of theft then I am pretty sure they would throw it out of the window. You need to be asking what their policy is on reporting such a theft? It really is horrible how these company's get away with destroying people's lives and really effect their health and well being. I have an inkling I will be going through the same process as you pretty much and to be honest I've pretty much accepted it, but am I going to give up? Am I heck!!! Like others have said...this isn't the end, but once it has sunk it, you will become very angry. You need to channel this anger into all your evidence and appeal hearing, then maybe possibly the tribunal. Don't give up! You have to take it as far as you can now.....

Well I received nothing yesterday...and have received nothing today! (these two days being the beginning of this week) So I sent ANOTHER email today explaining that this is causing undue stress to me and the rest of my family. We are in the 9th week now. I have seeked advice from my union, ACAS and my solicitor and they are all sayin that this whole process and procedure is becoming a bit of a joke. I explained that as stated in the previous email I was told that I would receive the final stages at the beginning of the this week AT THE LATEST. I got a reply that basically said "you will receive this upon completion which will be by next week" They are really dragging this out for all it is worth now and there is nothing I can do about it! I have really tried to be strong and positive for me and my family for the past 8 weeks, but this is really starting to take its toll again now. I can't eat, sleep, I am becoming snappy and I am feeling really down now. I can't believe there is nothing I can do to speed the process up!

Wow.....they really sound like a bunch of nasty nasty ****holes! All the best with this, I will keep reading your thread for any updates, but from the sounds of it you have an EXTREMLEY strong case so make sure you take it as far as you can! All the best!

Good luck and all the best mark! You know you can do it, totally understandable you being terrified and not confident, but you know you can do it! Give em hell....they have done so to you! Deb, all the best with your new job! A new chapter n all that.... I am due to find out the outcome of my 8 week (coming up to 9 week) suspension "early next week at the latest" so could be asking for more advice on your own experiences.

Update today.... Received an email stating that the final stages should be out to you early next week at the latest. What does "final stages" mean?? Looks like it is going to be a LONG weekend yet again...

Ok thanks for that in regards to the possible ET claim and timescale. Was getting even more worried than I already am. I am keeping records of everything and will be presenting this at some point. I really cannot believe it has been nearly 8 weeks, especially when I had my disciplinary hearing a week after the initial investigation, and the attitude of the person conducting the DH being that of "what the hell is all this about" as if it was some big joke or something. Which I have my rep to back me up on. It was all laughing and joking. I know I have to think positive about the situation but when you are off for this amount of time and reading other posts on here about others that have had similar treatment, you can't help but think that I am most likely to be dismissed. With a young family to provide for and the person I am (having worked for this company since 16 - i am now 28)never claiming any kind of benefit it, to be frank, scares the **** out of me! I've never been out of work.

Isn't the 3 months deadline effective once you have RECEIVED a disciplinary decision, and as I haven't received any such decision this time of waiting can not be included can it?? Is there seriously nothing I can do to get this to a conclusion? It is now coming up to 8 WEEKS! and is causing a lot of undue stress. I have sent e-mails asking for an update and they are not being responded to. I need to know where i stand for several reasons, we had an offer on a house accepted the week before this all happened so need to know if i need to pull out of it or not. Am i going to have to pay for a solicitor to send them a letter? 8 weeks is seriously unreasonable.........isn't it?