Hi - I'll try to make this as concise as possible! My wife works as a nurse at a dental practice (mainly NHS patients). She returned to work this week after a weeks sick leave (not related to the disciplinary issue) and was called into a meeting with the practice manager immediately upon arrival. She was advised that she was expected to attend a meeting that lunchtime with one of the dentists regarding complaints made, which she did with some trepidation. She was informed that certain complaints had been made about her surgery whilst on sick leave, two of which she vehemently denies, the others (apart from one) she wasn't clear on, and the remainder she accepted there may have been an issue. This is the second time in as many months where the practice manager has gone down a disciplinary route (the first time informally), and my wife has told her boss that she feels she is being singled out/stabbed in the back. At the end of this preliminary meeting, nothing had been adequately resolved so she now has a "formal" disciplinary meeting this coming Monday and, although she has been told she can take a colleague in as a witness, the practice manager has decided to use the person who has made the "complaints" as her note taker and "impartial observer"! I have advised my wife that this is unacceptable (how can you ask the "accuser" to be impartial toward the "accused"?), so she should ask for a totally independent person to be in there. She has also been accused of health and safety breaches as part of this "disciplinary", but no proof has been provided, just the word of the complainant, which (I'm sure) is inadmissable. It is a commonly-held belief that my wife's boss has basically realised that she's "screwed up" her staffing and is trying to find a way to resolve it by using any means she can to reduce numbers, thinking my wife is an easy target. She doesn't want to lose her job, doesn't want to leave her job, but also doesn't want to have an official reprimand on her record just because someone is being bloody-minded. Are we right in assuming that : a) she can refuse to attend the meeting if the "impartial observer" is clearly NOT impartial b) demand to have "charges" removed as there is no proof provided (something she strongly denies doing, just hearsay) There are other concerns (validity of her contract, favouritism between staff, unfair pay scales, etc), but the immediate thing is this disciplinary. Many thanks for reading, and for any advice/help offered.

Hi, I am looking for a little advice. I have an appeal against redundancy meeting coming up, and papers will be exchanged next week. My last day at/of work was end of Jan, and I received my redundancy settlement at that time. I am appealing on the grounds that the redundancy process was flawed, and I was targeted after raising serious concerns about health & safety. I believe I have a strong case supported by a large amount of evidence. I had been treated unfairly over a 2/3 year period and 2 years ago suffered depression & a breakdown. I returned after 2 months sick leave and a risk assessment was undertaken, which was then promptly filed and ignored. I suffered a relapse late last year and was off for 2.5 months. On meeting with OH to discuss a phased return I made mention of my specific mental health diagnosis, and expressed disappointment that the previous risk assessment had been ignored. This was shared with a senior manager. Despite being assured I would be supported this time on my return, management did not contact me once between my returning and my leaving date 4 weeks later. My health has been seriously impacted upon and I am currently unable to work. Additionally, I do not foresee being able to work full time in the near future, nor ever in a particularly stressful environment. Efforts to redeploy me were insincere and since leaving several suitable alternative positions, some which I knew of, have now been advertised. I am not looking for reinstatement, but for acknowledgement I have been unfairly treated and compensation for same and injury to health/feelings. A senior HR manager is aware of this and suggested I might take specific detail to the appeal meeting. So, my queries: - how much detail should I go into at appeal and the papers I supply for this? - if it were to proceed to tribunal what would be the best way to proceed, ie: unfair dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing?? - what exactly should I take into account when arriving at a suitable compensation figure? Any help or pointers most gratefully received. Many thanks. Cheeselet

hi everyone - I'm hoping for a little help? I'm having a really rough time at work- and it is seriously affecting my mental health to the extent I have been signed off for the past 6 weeks. I was told to attend an investigatory meeting with HR regarding allegations that happened approx 8 months ago. the time this dragged on has led to my mental health issues - unbelievably - OH are being very supportive of me! meeting is Wednesday. basically- on looking at info I SAR'd from organisations OH company- there are two individual reports from two members of staff dated in the month the incident occurred stating that my disability falls under DDA ( equalities act), and pointing out their obligation to me to make reasonable adjustments- and making suggestions. None of this was put into place ( or fed back to me), the incident that occurred is directly related to my disability- but I am being accused of doing this deliberately. No action has taken place by the organisation to put in place reasonable adjustments, and a development plan that was devised for me in August of this year included performance items directly related to the traits identified by THe OH people that I needed help with( reasonable adjustments)- but no adjustments have taken place. Basically - I have been told the organisation are looking to get rid of me - and I am fighting for my job and career here. I feel I need to raise a grievance here under equalities act - but would like advice when the best time would be to do it?- before the investigatory on Wednesday- or wait till after? also should I raise an Et1 to tribunal - I don't want it to go out of date. Union rep is useless. any advice is very gratefully received- I can't give much more detail as they are watching my every move!!!!!!

Hello There Everyone, I have been off sick from work for 11 weeks due to anxiety and depression and have been asked to come in for a 'capability meeting' on Tuesday. I have only been told today about this meeting when I called in to advise that I had got another sick line from doctor. This seems very short notice especially for getting a letter from doctor to advise I am unfit to attend. I was met with employer and was disciplined 2 weeks ago for an issue which arose before I went off sick and I think my employer may have assumed that as this issue now resolved I would be ready for work this coming Monday - if not why not tell me then about this additional meeting at time of disciplinary? I am really uptight about this and think it's unfair that my employer's actions are exacerbating the symptoms which I am off sick for. Do I have to attend this meeting? Can I refuse or ask to meet a neutral venue? Any advice would be great. Thanks in advance.

Hi i am currently letting my cousin stay in my property - he only pays enough money to cover bills virgin, tv licence, water etc when he first moved in i rang council tax and told them his name but that i would be paying it still they said that was ok. It was anticipated that he would only be there for a short while unfortunately he has since had a child for whom he now has sole responsibility however he remains a single person so would be entitled to 25% discount which is what i am claiming although it is my name. I have now received a card asking me to contact council tax to arrange a meeting to discuss the council tax. I am now really worried that i might end up going to court etc and with a criminal record which will effect my work. Incidently he is moving out in 3 weeks i can only imagine that the council think we are living as a couple which we are most definitely not as i am staying with my boyfriend and only allowed my cousin to stay to be kind. So i am thinking that i may well be in big trouble for not telling them that i no longer live at the property even though i rang and asked them. My bank account and everything is still at this address as i wish to return there in 3 weeks. Please can anyone help. By the way i claim no other benefits wftc i stopped them when i started staying at my boyfriends.

Hi there, I have been called forward to a final stage sickness meeting and im terrified that i am going to be fired, i have been sent a document from the HR department outling all the days that i have been off, many of them relate to migranes, something that i have been bugged with for years. Both The OH doc and my neurologist have said that these are disabilites and are covered by the DDA, however going through the list, i have noticed lots of inaccuracies especially regarding the number of days i have been off. There have also been recent events where people have reported that i havent been at work when i actually have but have been told to go home. could this be called medical suspension? Luckily i have people that saw me. Many of the times that i have been off sick i have not had return to work interviews with managers does this mean that they havent followed the process properly? Also at the last meeting i had to raise with the management that they had infact got my score wrong and that they were not taking my disability into account. The OH doctor informed management that it is a matter for them to decide how much absence to tolerate as a "reasonable adjustment" so far they havent!. They also have documented that i have been removed from shifts between 11pm and 6am then why is it that i was forced to be on call up until midnight? is this a breech of the adjustment? He also recommended that i returned to ward based duties which i was told was out of the question! Recently i have had two collapses which at the time i did not know the cause of, but having spoken to my neurologist and GP who provided a fit to work note stating that she was concerned about my duties to work in the community due to risk of collapse, they have been found to be linked to my migranes. My neurologist has written to confirm this and has changed my medication, and due to see my GP again this week. Again i have been forced to go home by HR telling my manger this and stating that i was not to return until i had seen the OH doctor. I have had trouble with my absences in the past but i am actively trying my hardest to reduce this, i have even gone to the lengths of having surgery in my annual leave as to not increase my sickness anymore. What can i do at the meeting and where do i stand legally? would i be able to proceed with a tribunal if the worst happened?

Hello all. After a few absences in the last 7 months (3 separate periods all with the same medical condition and all accompanied by a Dr's note) and returning to work over a month ago, I was informed that I would be receiving a verbal warning for unsatisfactory attendance. After waiting over a month for this meeting, I was informed yesterday afternoon that the meeting was scheduled for today. I was just wondering if it is usual to have to wait such along time from returning to work and receiving the disciplinary warning? Also, part of the warning means that I am unable to take any days of sick for a period of 7 months (so I hope my medical condition doesn't flare up again) - should the 7 month period start from the date I returned to work or the date of the warning (as previously mentioned, I have been waiting a month for). Thanks for any help

I had an investigation meeting at work recently following three allegations of mis-conduct. The first allegation is that I failed to apply legal protection to a case. Basically, the formal process is that we question a client and if they say they already have their own legal protection in place, we do not apply our own legal protection. I did question the client as per the process and the client confirmed they do have legal protection in place, so I did not apply legal protection. My employer is saying that I should have asked the client more detailed questions. The second allegation is that I closed down a file without contacting the client. The file came through with literally no information and we have previously closed cases on this basis. There is no formal process for this, but the management team have advised me and other people in the department to close cases in these circumstances. My employer is claiming I should have taken steps to try and get the missing information rather than just closing the file, my response was that I had previously closed cases in this manner. The third allegation is that I did not capture some mandatory client information on a telephone call. I have held my hands up and admitted it was a mistake on my part, however, I felt very stressed at the time of the incident (due to another investigation meeting not related to this one, the outcome of which was to take no further action, basically because my employer was found at fault through lack of coaching). I have asked my employer on a number of occasions for support and coaching on telephone calls and it has not been delivered (before and after the date of this incident). My employer disputed that I felt stressed and said there was a gap of one month between the previous investigation meeting and this incident, to which I argued that I feel like I am constantly having to look over my shoulder and that I have asked for coaching (this is documented on coaching forms, too) and it has not been delivered. My trade union representative will be attending the disciplinary meeting. What do you guys think of the situation? I have worked for my employer for 16 months now.

I attended a formal meeting with line manager and person from HR about my recent Occ Health report. I had a doctors appointment to talk about the possibility of an operation after this meeting. However after a short discussion about the report the manager changed the subject to an incident I had earlier that day with a supervisor where I made what I had thought a minor flippant comment (even the supervisor told me it was all sorted out when I spoke to him, but he was obviously lying). The manager then continued to 'grill me' about the incident. I asked him not to continue with his questioning as I wanted union rep to be involved. He continued with his questioning or should I say interogation. When I finally said I had to leave for doctors appointment he said "this is not over and we will continue this tomorrow!" Anyway I was signed off sick for 2 weeks and nothing ever came of the disciplinary. I have since put in a grivance against this incident and other lack of duty of care relating to my disability (which is another story). It was never really investigated properly at the grievance so I have appealed. Question is when does a disciplinary meeting actually start as I feel I was denied my rights of being given a letter and the legal right of representation? Manager has used an entrapment tatic by using the occ health meeting. This was clearly not just an investigation but a disciplinary hearing! Any advice appreciated!

Wonder if anyone can give me a few pointers when I attend this meeting please? Brief history...was taken ill Feb 14th 2011 spent 5 weeks in hospital, in which time I had to have an operation to repair a ruptured intestine and after suffered many serious post-op complications, I have kept my work Manger informed of my progress or lack of it, supplied sick notes as needed. My sick pay ended after 26 weeks and am now on ESA(support) and DLA. I cannot return, as yet, to my employment due to my wound refusing to heal and being an infection risk, both for myself and the people I would be caring for,also will need further surgery to correct some complications caused by the first operation. The letter that arrived today informing me of this meeting mentions the points that will be covered by the meeting such as impact on the team, impact on management team, impact on the employee and cost. I understand the problems of replacing me with another member of staff but as for management time and cost...well other than a meeting lasting 10 to 15 mins every couple of months no other management has been involved and as for costs, they didn't pay me any sick pay and have not received any holiday pay that I think I was entitled to over the past year. Can anyone confirm that I am entitled to accrued holiday pay when I am on sick leave or am I mistaken? Also they asked my Doctor if he would class me as disabled which he answered yes, should they offer me another position in the company? I work in one of the largest private health care providers in this country.

My employer wants to arrange a welfare meeting at my home addess,as i have been on the sick since 20/12/2011. I have had an eye operation but still have double vison with my left eye advise please