I tried the above and got very confused. Here is my letter: Thank you for your letteroffering me the chance to appeal the decision to terminate my contract. I would like to give you thereasoning behind my appeal before the appeal hearing on Monday so that you havethe chance to give it consideration. I agree that it was extremelycareless of me to have left the vehicles unlocked however this is the firsttime this has happened, and I can assure you it will never happen again. Iappreciate that the fact that I was under pressure to load the vehicle alone isnot by any means a reasonable excuse, however it has happened with otheremployees forgetting to lock a loaded vehicle and the mistake was not picked upuntil the following morning. Those employees received no disciplinary action orsanctions other than a telling off by a manager, yet my mistake was noticedafter I had left and the vehicle was thankfully left secure, and I wasdismissed from employment. I do not feel a fair disciplinaryprocedure has been followed. I was given no warning of the disciplinary and nodisciplinary hearing. I was just told at 10am I was being investigated andasked informally what had happened, and then told my contract had beenterminated as I was leaving that night. I was advised of the termination of mycontract in a public place with my colleagues around. I was not advised of my right toappeal when I was told I had lost my job, I then find out that my job hadalready been advertised on the job centre website. I appreciate that by failing tocheck the vehicle was secured I was extremely careless and as previously statedI can guarantee it will never happen again. I am asking you to considerretracting the decision to terminate my employment and consider putting awritten or final warning in place instead. I really enjoyed working for ##########and would really like the opportunity to prove my competence to you.

The employee handbook says I have the right to a hearing and an appeal. However there is a paragraph stating that 'short service staff' (ie me) may not be in receipt of any warnings before dismissal but will retain the right to a hearing and the right to appeal. Is there a way to add a copy of my letter to the page or just copy and paste?

Hi Just and update. I had a phone call to tell me that they had cancelled last nights meeting and they would send me the information I requested in the post. Today I received my termination letter, a letter advising me my appeal hearing would be at 10 on Monday, a copy of both documents I signed and a copy of the employee handbook. I am drafting a letter now to advise of my reasons for appeal. I was wondering if someone could look over it and advise me before I send it if I should add, remove or reword anything in it. Thanks

I have a contract but it states 'see employee handbook' for disciplinary procedures. I have just had an answer message telling me I not to go in today and they will send me a letter in the post advising if my right to appeal. They had my job advertised before they even told me I was dismissed with no option to appeal.

I sent them a letter today requesting a copy of the original documents I signed yesterday along with a copy of the employee handbook and was just told to come back at 5:15 to see them. I have received nothing in writing from them at all.

The Meeting is at 5:15 today.

I am not part of a union. Is there anything I should say today during the meeting?

Yesterday morning I went to work without a care in the world. I was told by my manager then at 10am that an 'investigation' was being carried out as I had forgotten to lock a loaded vehicle overnight on Friday, thankfully it had been spotted and wasn't actually left unlocked. Then at 4:30 as I was leaving I was told that I had been dismissed and would be paid until the end of the week. I had no meetings (other than the initial 'we're investigating, did you do it chat), no chance to give my side across, and no letter or anything advising of my right to appeal. My manager had given me a sheet of paper to sign earlier in the day and said 'just sign it, it basically says you've been a numpty and you're sorry'. It basically said I admitted I had left the vehicle unlocked and I was sorry, as I had just had the investigation bombshell dropped on me I didn't question it I just signed it. Then at the end of the day again I was asked to sign a hand written paper and told it says I've told you you'll be paid until the end of the week and you're no longer employed by us. To be honest I was so shell shocked I just signed it without reading it. Some information: I have worked there for 6 months. I have a contract however disciplinary procedures are outlined in an employee handbook which I wasn't given and when I just went and asked for a copy I was told no. I know the same thing has happened by other staff members (and the mistake was not picked up until the next day when the vehicle had actually been left unlocked overnight) and they were basically told off, no formal disciplinary action was taken against them. When I got home last night I checked the jobcentre and found my job already advertised. I have written a letter of appeal and spoke to the HR person who apologised that I was told in the warehouse around other staff members that I had been dismissed and asked me to go back tonight for a meeting with her and the 2 top bosses. I don't want to take them to court I just want my job back. I made a genuine mistake which I held my hands up for immediately however my punishment is much harsher than anyone else has received. Is there anything I can do or say to encourage them to change their minds and overrule the decision? Have they followed procedures correctly? Thanks in advance for any advise.

Hi Ell-enn, Just wanted to thank you so much for all your help with this. My wife has just told me that all went well, and the judge agreed in our favour. He actually told GE's solicitor that GE shouldn't have threatened us with eviction (which apparently GE's solicitor agreed with as he had told my wife the same in the waiting room but said he had to follow his clients directions) and the judge offered to accept a lower monthly payment than we offered. A lady from CAB started chatting to my wife and offered to go in with her and has even offered to forward our details to a debt advise team within CAB to see if they can help us in any other way to make sure nothing like this happens again. It really has put both our minds to rest. You are an absolute god send, I honestly can't thank you enough.

No idea. My wife will ask in the morning. If there isn't a duty legal advisor available what does she need to say to the judge. Is having our son there doing to be an issue?

Yes she spoke to them yesterday and they settled her mind about having to go alone saying someone would go with her to speak on her behalf. Now they say it's too short notice. I'm can't believe the short notice of it all. Shelter told her we'd have a date for next week at the earliest.

My wife took the n244 in this morning and they gave her the letter there and then.

I've just got home to a letter advising the hearing is tomorrow at 10am, I can't make it so my wife will have to go along with our 2 year old.

There is a date box on the N244, Do I put in the date I hand in the N244 or the date of the repossession? Also my wife has been speaking to shelter and they said they can see her next Tuesday, should I put in the N244 before this?

Yes