I have been suspended from work and have a disciplinary meeting for Gross Misconduct on Monday to discuss it. The charges are trumped up, some are absolute lies. I can prove some are true but not others. Either way I'm fairly sure they want me out and they have enough evidence to do it. I don't care about losing the job but I really don't want a sacking on my record. I have adequate savings so I'm not worried about not getting job seekers. I know I'm innocent of it all and so do the people that matter so I'm not worried about proving anything really. Is it better to resign? I've been told my company just give a very basic reference i.e 'he worked here from x date to x date' Would I have to do it with immediate effect on Monday morning? Thanks in advance for any help/advice. This is a horrible time.

Hi Everyone, OH made two protected disclosures re poor care to the line manager about 1 month apart. Nothing was done no one followed the whistleblowing policy..in effect ignored. a couple of months later an incident flared up, an argument over a break. 3 weeks later OH was requested to have a meeting under the minor breach policy..no agenda given and no notice of the meeting in fact, straight after a 12 hour shift. At the meeting OH asked what is the meeting about? The sister said your conduct, wife said I'm the injured party..sister said..you might lose your job wife asked why what have I done..sister said I am going to write this you will answer questions and we will both sign it..wife said no sorry..you are part of my problem and this is not fair.. requested another manager lead the meeting then walked out. Wife then called HR who sent her back to the sister, she then went to the matron who again sent her back to the sister..wife came home and sent a senior HR manager all the paperwork i.e. copies of complaints she sent re bullying, the disclosures and a chronology. Later that day and after HR had all the documents the sister again called wife saying you must have the meeting with me and again this is serious you might lose your job. It looks on the face of it that the matron did not pass the whistle blowing to HR, decided she needed to get wife fired, we found out later they were all conspiring to this end. Wife had a meeting with her union but no help. A meeting took place with a senior HR manager, wife took a colleague for support, not an official meeting as such just to give her sick note, colleague told HR that the people involved in the incident had been bullying wife..again HR said this is serious..took no notes then produced 4 pages later..again, the manager never mentioned what the minor breach was about.. The HR then said there will be an investigation under WB & BH policies, this will take 3 to 4 months, wife could stay at home on sick with pay, then come back to work etc..( re affirm the contract..too late for a claim). We then wrote saying the situation was untenable as gossip had spread all around the wards, wife resigned due to inaction and breach of contract etc.. We then filed a claim with the ET..Detriment following whistleblowing, breach of trust and confidence.. There has been a huge cover up and still is..also the HR were helping to sack wife.. So far two case management meetings, and hearing set for next year. Anyone care to comment would be appreciated.. Nev.

Dear all. I am enquiring on behalf of someone else. Sorry for late notice, I know that this might not be seen in time, nut I thought I'd reach out for some advice anyway. Person (X) is an employee of a high street bookies as an Assistant Manager in a branch. Has been employed for 11 months and is rated highly by her direct line manager. Had a squeaky clean disciplinary record until recently. Final Written Warning issued late Dec In early Dec, the shop had a 'mystery customer' and the shop failed. X was working alone at the time. The shop scored badly in the mystery shopper test along with nearly all other shops in the area (this is a typical retail structure: shop managers, area manager looking after a dozen shops and regional manager above that). X was investigated and using CCTV, she was seen talking on her mobile phone behind the counter. A hearing took place and she was told that she would receive a Final Written Warning (this is a first offence). Seems harsh to me when a first written warning is an option but that's just my opinion. She is still waiting for the letter confirming this and has not been given a chance to appeal this decision as yet. Next incident - early Jan - Gross Misconduct One evening, again working alone, a group of men came into the shop. It turns out later that one of them is a known conman who goes around bookies trying to defraud. I know many who work in this industry and the betting shops are not interested in pursuing fraudsters and are instead focussed on prevention. It is normally the staff who take the bullet. One of the group placed a bet just before a race and then used a trick (involving distraction techniques by the group) to alter the selection after the race had finished. The result is that the customer walked out with £1.5k of ill gotten gains. They also tipped X £20. It is common for a winning punter to tip the cashier in this industry (I mention this because it comes up later). The known fraudster always stayed in the corner of the shop and avoided the counter. Errors made by X include: X paid out on the basis of the altered slip rather than following correct procedure. There happens a lot apparently but is not good practice. X also failed to run it past security who would have likely spotted the fraud. There is some mitigation here as the race track in question is a new one and not on the 'call security list' yet. Investigation X has been investigated and evidence (incl CCTV) collated and a hearing for Gross Misconduct is due tomorrow (is currently suspended on full pay). X will be accompanied by her manager who wants to keep her in the organisation. Accusations in the letter are: 1. Allowing the customer to defraud the company with the intent so that X can personally gain (I wonder if they are suggesting that by receiving a tip, X was 'in on it'. We feel can successfully challenge this point as it is simply not true) 2. Not using correct procedure to put the bet on the system so that the altered slip was used instead of the scan of the original 3. Not phoning security Mitigating factors: 2 is bad practice and other staff often use the paper slip to put the bet on the system as scans are often faded and difficult to read. This is a weak excuse in my opinion but I wonder whether it amounts to gross misconduct. A warning combined with training would be remedial, especially as X is of good character and has a good record. 3. He manager has a list of tracks whereby if a bet wins, security must be called before pay out. New track means that the list is not up-to-date so X did not realise. X can demonstrate that correct procedure has been used previously for those on the list. Also, unlike some, X has not been sent to training course on security or been given any of the available training. X has been overlooked Questions: It looks pretty damning, doesn't it? My gut feeling is that X will be dismissed. 1. Should this not be found to be Gross Misconduct, is this not a different strand of procedure meaning that the recent Final Written Warning is not related and therefore X could end up with 2 x FRWs instead of dismissal 2. What are the implications if they do not have the above view and treat as the same strand despite not having the opportunity to appeal the other FRW? 3. X has not completed 2 years of service so tribunal cannot get involved at a later date if X feels it is unfair. However, what if the employer does not follow procedure properly and breach their contract? I'm thinking about the right to appeal, not using a first written warning for the original offence 4. Any other advice? Many thanks!

Hi, just wanted some initial views please. My daughter works in a national chain restaurant. She didn't turn up to a training event recently and neither did she phone to give her apologies. At her next shift she apologised, explained why etc. As a result she was told that she was being disciplned. She was given the impression by her manager that her disciplinary letter was in the office for her to collect. So she went to the office to collect it (I understand this to be fairly routine for staff to collect payslips etc from the office). Sure enough on the desk was an enveloped addressed to her containing an invitiation to a disciplinary hearing in a few days time. The following day she was contacted by the employer to say that she was suspended and since then she has received a letter from them to say that they are now investigating a case of gross misconduct - "the unauthorised possession or removal of property belonging to the company", the property in this case being the disciplinary letter!! This to me sounds completely ridiculous, can an envelope addressed to her, for her attention be classed as company property, can she really be accused of unauthorised removal of this "property" when she was under the impression she was to collect it? Thanks in advance.

I am very worried In October my partner was dismissed gross misconduct. He was accused of company theft stealing a large amount of money (he worked for Sainsburys) he was investigated by his employer numerous interviews with a witness in the room taking notes. CCTV was shown of him attending to his duties this is the point where he was accused of stealing (May I add he did not do what was accused) Eventually it was determined that they had to dismiss with immediate action gross misconduct. At the time of dismissal they stated that police would be involved. No police have been in contact with my partner since his dismissal in October. A couple of weeks ago he received a phone call from DWF the lady gave her name and reason for calling was to notify him of a debt collection for the sum of £1400 she said his employer had contacted them to recover the money. She even asked my partner on the phone if he did actually commit the theft which I think is extremely unprofessional and wrong. Are they actually allowed to ask such a question to him over the phone? He of course denied it as he did not commit the theft. She stated that a police officer had been involved with the investigation which is completely false, he told her this. We still have all his notes taking during the investigation with employer. No mention of police officer in the notes my partner has never met said police officer. At this point she became confused didn't know what to say. She said that she would have to call his employer to speak as things weren't adding up. She then added that he should expect a letter in the immediate future. It's been about 3 weeks since this phone call and still no letter. I have been worried to death it's been a hard time (Christmas) I have two children as well. I am frightened to death of bailiffs turning up at my address. Do you think we should contact the lady who called from DWF, still have her number. Any advice, guidance appreciated.

Sorry for the long post but here goes! I am due to start a new job on August 3rd and am working my current job up until then. I have had issues with my current job which have been highlighted to the store manager on numerous occasions. I have been signed off sick due to depression during christmas last year and returned to work to be given an incident report for 'not listening to management' which had never been raised with me prior and i disagreed with. I had another manager changing rotas last minute and then giving incident reports for not turning up when my rota stated i was off (this was later pulled my a new store manager) and various other incidents which have caused me a lot of stress. On sunday there was an incident where a customer didnt have a trolley token, i didnt have one and neither did the other two checkout operators. I apologised and told her i couldnt give her money out of my till in case it didnt come back (some staff do this for regular customers but i will not) i told her if she found someone on shop floor they could assist her. She then found the manager who proceeded to query whom shed spoken to and made comments i couldnt quite hear. When he returned from getting her a trolley i asked if there was an issue, and he started telling me i should have gave her the £1. So i said its my till and id get in trouble. He continued to argue with me as he walked off up the isle. The customer i was servinng at the time was disgusted with him. He later pulled me into the office telling me i backchatted him and he was my manager i do as he says, and made allegations of previous times when id 'shouted over customers' at him. I asked why he was allowed to speak to me like crap but didnt expect it back. There was a heated argument and in the end i lost it and told him to cash up my till i was going home and walked out of the shift. I went into work today and my shifts had been crossed off and my manager told me i couldnt work, walking out was gross misconduct, as was refusing to follow my managers orders (she showed me the following orders in the employee handbook though he never actually told me to give her money for me to follow, just stated i should have) I told her that i would have been in no state to work on the shop floor because if a customer was an arse (which i get daily) i was worried id snap. Im angry that they seem to play the gross misconduct card as and when the please. The manager in question had had previous complaints against his regarding his temper and the way hes treated a staff member (shes also leaving because of him) and he has allowed a staff member to remain on shift whilst she was intoxicated. To me that is gross misconduct on his part and the staff members. Im guessing i dont have a leg to stand on as i walked out but any advice would be great. I didnt want to leave under bad terms Thanx Rachael

worked for my company just over a year, last week i crashed my company van into the back of a vectra. The car just stopped dead, and i went into the back of it, total accident. The front of the van was a mess, due to the car infront having a tow bar. I was doing 30mph in a 50 area due to traffic About 4 weeks ago i reversed into fence and damged the back light, nothing major just the lens broken. I followed all company procedures. Today i arrived home to be greeted to a letter asking me to come in for an invistigation meeting, regarding gross misconduct. the allegations are: 1. that i have "been involved in 2 separate road traffic accidents, in a short period of time" 2. "That phone records indicate that i moments before and after i was using my company mobile" 3. the tracker for the van shows that i have been "driving my van in a dangerous manner on numerous occasion" My thoughts: 1. fair enough, this is true. 2. I have bluetooth hands free, provided by the company on both the van and phone, so always use this to call people. It is voice activatedand the phone sits on a mount. This isnt illegal, and provided by the company. Plus the wording is odd. "before and after" of course i would be using it after, i called work to say i had crashed the van. 3. This is the 1st time i have heard about this. I knew there was a tracker, and i knew it could tell how i drove, but at no point have i been told i was driving dangerously. As far as i can tell from the company polices is only point 2 can be construed as gross misconduct, as it states that using a handheld phone while driiving is gross misconduct. But i wasnt, plus i dont think they would have the means to tell if i was holding the phone or if it was mounted. And if my driving is so dangerous why am i still and have been since tuesday, driving a replacment van? I expected an investigation for crashing twice in a short space of time, but gross misconduct has thrown me totally. Should i go in all guns blazing at the investigation? Is there anything i should do? or say? Could it be a mistalke? thanks for your help.

Hi guys, Firstly, I'm sorry that this is my first post, but I've been racking my brains all night researching law/employment/rights etc and was finally recommended this forum, so I'm hoping someone can help clear one or two things up for me, one way or another! Yesterday (10th June) I was dismissed from my job without notice and without pay in lieu - I genuinely believe this is unfair. Some quick background; I worked remotely (Offices are based in London, I'm based in Glasgow), have been in contract with them since the 1st April 2015, was full time (40 hours minimum per week to average out over the course of the month), and took many concerns, wherever possible, to my manager (including not having any breaks on 7/89/10/11/12 hour shifts, all of which required me to be in front of the computer at all times). I was told to basically deal with it while the company employed more staff and trained them up accordingly in order to reduce the hours I worked. Basically something happened within the company over the weekend and I, admittedly, flew off the handle about it - I got very angry in a personal discussion between myself and a colleague (not a manager). At no point did I put the company at risk, their clients, the company's reputation, or falter in my work - The discussion was (what I believed to be) a personal discussion between myself and a colleague. Long story short, my colleague took back what I had said to my manager, who issued me with a written warning on Monday morning - To clarify, this warning was not sent in the post or through e-mail, but provided via an internal messaging client (much like Facebook Messenger) that was used for agents and staff to speak with each other. I, personally, didn't agree with this warning, but accepted it and wanted to move on; Tuesday night, the same colleague and I were having a further discussion - a general conversation about our day and so on. He eventually moved on to the topic of the issues over the weekend, and riled me up to the point where I said to him, using much more colourful language, that if the company were to dismiss me, I would take them for everything they've got. My colleague assured me it wasn't his place to take that back to management - of course, he did, and here I am. A stupid thing to say - Yes. Grounds for gross misconduct and immediate on-the-spot over-the-phone sacking? That's what I'm not too sure about. The manager who decided to sack me actually told me partner (who works for the same company) before he told me - So I actually found out from my partner before the company - Is it either fair or legal to tell a different employee that a colleague is getting sacked before that colleague is made aware? There was also no investigation, no disciplinary hearing/discussion, no chance for me to put across my point of view or have my say, no mention of any pay owed to me for the hours I have worked, no mention of an appeal being allowed, and no mention of any of the disciplinary procedures set out in the contract (which is very sparse, and does not cover ANYTHING with regards to what they class as gross misconduct - The disciplinary steps are stated in the contract, none of which have been followed). I am aware that I have MUCH less than the 2 years service required to go to an employment tribunal; I'm also aware I already had a written warning, as far as the boss was concerned, despite the fact it was written to me over an instant messaging service and wasn't supplied in a formal, written method. Yes, I should not have said what I said, but I'm not 100% positive that a dismissal was a necessary next step - He never even mentioned in the phone call that it was classed as gross misconduct, the words never even came up, he just called me to say he had no choice but to dismiss me in order to protect the company. That was it. No 'You're being dismissed for Gross Misconduct', no 'You're being dismissed because you said/done this', no appeal information, just 'you're being dismissed, we had no choice, sorry'. I have so many questions regarding this I'd feel cheeky asking them all here when I've just joined, so I suppose the biggest question is; Do I have any grounds whatsoever for wrongful/unjustified/etc dismissal? I don't believe the correct procedures were followed leading up to the dismissal (there was no formal investigation or discussion for the written warning, either), I don't believe the correct procedures were followed for the written warning, and my partner was informed of my dismissal before I was, meaning my boss had already made up his mind on my dismissal long before speaking directly with me. If anyone has any advice, that would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

accused off gross misconduct wife added dates to sick line without my knowledge now accused off fraud by employer

Hi all, Hoping someone can help me here.. .unsure if I can claim against unfair or constructive dismissal due to the timeframe etc and am seeking advice on what to do and where to go so here goes.... I dismissed from an employed back in August for what they have described as gross misconduct. We worked in a sales environment and from their side they believe myself triggered a commission payment to a junior member of staff deliberately. I did not accept this claim and they dismissed myself but was however offered a lower ranking position where the salary was 5K less and due to the commission I had from my role would total 15K less per year if accepted. There was other incidents in the office where people had done the same and never been penalised and feel this was mainly due to the fact I had 3 weeks off. Senior members of staff including my line manager often let us change "files" into other members of staffs names to ensure they hit target so to me this was quite the norm. We worked in a heavily commissioned sales environment and quite often were tasked with doing junior members of staff roles, telesales etc and this impacted heavily on our commission also. In the May/June I was signed off sick by my doctor for stress and anxiety due to work and a marital split and was continually told by my friends who I worked with/colleagues that if I did not return to work after being signed off I would be demoted on my return. I decided to return after sick leave and was then confronted with the fact my targets were now increased (along with 2 other members of staff) over and above everybody else in the office and having 3 weeks off I was never going to hit these targets and miss out on significant commission payments. I was offered a lower salaried position but declined for financial reasons and the fact I had time off sick and was now even more worried about my job and home etc and felt due to this claim being brought against me I had no choice but to decline their offer of employment and to leave. I worked for the company for 3 years but had 2 breaks from the employer, once in year 1 after 6 months and after 20 months for various reasons including the company threatening to withold commission payments. Any more Q's please feel free to ask - I know I may have missed the deadline to claim but this is now impacting me on future job applications Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hi to Everyone, I am hoping to get some advice for a colleague of mine who has just been sacked for gross misconduct he has not received his final letter stating he can appeal, so we have time to prepare a good appeal, below are an overview of his disciplinary file 1 Feb 2013 given a 12 month final written warning using bad language in the workplace. clean record from this date on , last week my colleague got into an argument at work, in the stair well with his step daughter and 2 other colleagues, they were shouting at him as their work boots had been damaged and they were in his car , he did not retaliate or shout, he was apologising - his dog peed in their work boots they all got suspended 3 of them have got final written warnings on file for 3 months my colleague has been dismissed as he had a previous final warning on file what can he do ? he was met with a representative of the company and told to resign he went to a meeting with a different representative of the company and dismissed now he is at appeal stage , In all of our contracts of employment , it states that disciplinary action will be carried out by our line manager ... the 2 representatives who met with him are not our line manager by telling him he should resign is that not a pre determined outcome he actually did nothing wrong no one has showed him any statements against him what can I do to help him, my colleague is not " the Brightest button in the box" but he does work very hard for our company, I feel as do the majority of our workforce is that he is being treated very badly and we would like to help him in some way does anyone have any advice

I was dismissed after a gross misconduct hearing with NHS, I appealed and lost the appeal. I applied under DPA for all information that they held about me. They sent me the same information that I had been given prior to and during the hearing. Due to my profession the disclosing and barring service are involved. A year after my dismissal the DBS sent me papers for me to respond to. The papers were from the NHS; the papers were a copy of the report made by a seniour NHS manager for the gross misconduct hearing. The problem I have is that the statement provided to the DBS by the NHS contains a different account that was provided to me; I have never been presented with this version from the NHS. The DBS version contains information that was taken from a meeting during 2011; however that information was initially recorded as a draft; that draft was recorded as a draft and the information was corrected during 2012 I have found a document (an email) within the DPA information that was written by a very senior NHS manager; that email talks about removing the 2011 comments as she does not want me to know about it. The NHS managers now have two versions of a statement one that was used during the gross misconduct hearing and another provided to the DBS. The one that was used against me during the hearing has no real negative issues, but they decided not to share with me some important elements; they used this against me during the hearing but didn't bother to share so I never had a chance to explain and provide any evidence to dispute. Now the DBS have this other statement I am going round in circles not knowing what to do. Thanks for reading I hope it makes sense

deleted pending work decision.

Hello folks can apologise in advance for this thread if it's been answered before it just I find myself at a loss and in something of a panic. First a bit if history I am mid forties and have worked since 17 and never claimed benefits so this is a new world for me . I was emergency services employee & face dismissal for gross misconduct , I will be dismissed as I am not engaging in the disciplne procedure. I was diagnosed with PTSD about 10 years ago but managed to work without incident but another incident , fortunately captured on CCTV , has left me with a head injury (I'm on anti-epilepsy meds although I don't have epilepsy ) and I suffer from daily headaches . I have been diagnosed with PTSD & severe depression both by my GP , by an independent expert and by my specialist . As a result those representing me through the disciplne procedure feel they are unable to take instruction from me and they've identified me at present as unfit to work for my present employer at least. I imagine the dismissal will come within the next 3-6 months at most. I am divorced and live alone and have a mortgage , I have a couple of thousand pounds in savings (less than 5) . I understand that I won't get any JSA for around 26 weeks is that correct ? So basically I'm on my own is that the situation ? Because I'm hopefully I can work but given my sacking & medical history I'm not exactly an attractive professional proposition . Like I say I've no clue what I'm eligible for so if anyone can help in anyway I'm be incredibly appreciative , thanks in advance. Regards

Hello, I'm nervous, stressed, not sure what to do, desperate,etc. I have worked at ? for more than ten yrs. The firm has about 1000 staff. I'm not in a union. Cut long story short, after disciplinary hearing last Thursday, got mail yesterday with a new witness statment. The statement about half a page of A4 got me mixed with the other member of staff, saying that I was pushing and shoving whilst the other person was sat down at the computer. It was the other way around as I was sat down being pushed and shoved. I rang the manager yesterday, he said "it does not matter as the witness just got you two/names mixed up (he has signed the statement). Towards the end of the witness statement the witness got the names right. I was told I was getting the sack based on the witness statement plus exchanging emails with the attacker using the company computer my working hours. My question is, if I get the sack, the mixed up, signed statement, would it stand in court/industrial tribunal? I had a witness but he was in another room and could hear me saying loudly get away from me, leave me alone, go/etc/etc - he did not see me get thrown off the chair but heard voices and did not want to get involved so never came out but has kindly given me a signed statement. That workers is a contract workers and not employed by my firm and the mangers said his acount was not "eye wintess, so taken into acount, not want to interview him as not impoatant." So, as most likely I alone will be fired I think, do I have a case re the witness statement that is flawed and the company refusing to interview my witness and saying thay have taken it into acount but basically not an eye witness. I'm desperate as it's very hard to get another job with my lack of skills and age. Thanks

Hi, To cut a long story short I am being formally investigated by another manager. The company has a formal procedure in investigations and part of this is checking IT. They will find in the recycle bin pictures depicting the Boss in an uncomplimentary manner....I got rid of them a long time ago as they were innappropriate, but I did not empty the recycle bin! I never sent them to anyone else or printed them but I'm sure that they will find them. Do you think this would be Gross Misconduct ?? Thank you.

Sorry for a long first post but really need help... Basically I have done something incredibly stupid. While logged into work Wifi on my phone (with a personal login) I have accessed an inappropriate website on several occasions over one month. The website is adult in nature and has a shopping section where you can purchase goods. After buying a load of ridiculous stuff for a blokes stag do I was never sent the items and got into a long dispute with the seller back and forth on the site's email system. The front page of the site has adult images however, my path was always the same - log in and respond to the email. I would never have downloaded or watched anything. Furthermore I would never have knowingly used the work internet. We have the cloud in the same building and I just didn't realise. I doubt that any of that matters really though and it's still no excuse. So now I'm stuck, I know I've been in the wrong and undoubtedly broken company policy, but just don't know whether to come out and tell my manager or wait and ignore it. I know I'm well thought of in the company and have been there almost 2 years but I am terrified of losing my job all the same. Any advice?

I worked offshore until 2 days ago employed as an agency offshore medic on a rig. I had been on there for 6 years. My father passed away a month or so ago and I was in a very emotional place. When I was off looking after him, they had a female medic cover me, she was supposed to only do 10/11 days of my normal 21 day trip. This was on record with my agency, the main H.R. and the rig manager onboard by emails. When at home i discovered that they were keeping this female medic onboard for my FULL trip and never informed me. Again I was in a very bad way emotionally as my dad was given a couple of months to live and he went within 9 days. I went back onboard the next trip and I was not thinking straight. I was crying every night in my cabin but completed the trip. In that trip, I sent an email to the female medic, thanking her for covering me but told her I was upset with the rig manager and the safety man who insisted she do my previous trip. I was mad with them both and said personal things but again I was very very stressed. This email was from facebook message to facebook message, not to anyone else but her, I asked her to not say anything. Unknown to me, she had been sleeping with and having an affair with my brother in law onboard the rig while I was looking after my father with my sister, his partner. The female medic then started sending txts/phone calls to my sister/brother in law saying she was going to destroy me and anyone else. She held on to this email for 2 months until 3 days ago when I was called into the offshore rig managers office. He had the email in his hand, the witness was someone else mentioned in the email. I was never warned what was happening, I sat there in a state of shock, I am also on 20 tablets a day awaiting an operation on my kidney. I was told I was leaving on the next chopper. The rig manager did not know hat the female medic had been having an affair with my brother in law onboard and off. No procedure were followed correctly and I was informed on the beach that it was for gross misconduct.

Hi, I am looking for some advice, I was brought into my boss's office at around 5pm and told due to my poor performance recently I will be having a disciplinary meeting the next day at 8am and I can bring a colleague if i want to ect. After reading up on-line this should of been done in writing and within a reasonable time frame. So I emailed my boss and asking for it to be in writing and within reasonable timeframe, I got an email back next day at around 8am with a PDF attached stating what its about, and date of meeting which was on 25th. Everything was going okay the next day, And I was trying my hardest to make sure i was trying my best. One thing that was odd I was made to sign an confidentiality agreement randomly and he said its for a customers pci compliance we all must have one signed (I had signed a none-disclosure agreement when I started anyway). However when I was being suspended he mentioned that I have now signed a "agreement" and to not do anything to harm company/sabotage ect.. (I would not do this anyway...) While I was on phone to a customer I get told to put them on hold and to come and sit outside office on chair for 5 minutes. I did that then I was brought into his office and told "You are now being suspended for gross misconduct for accessing another employees email, there will be an investigation and we will contact you. Do not try to access any systems, customer networks, or call any customers ect or try to sabotage anything or we will call the police. Do you understand?" I said no and he said "Basically get your stuff and leave." so I did and said bye. I have not accessed anyones email either and he hasn't gave me any information I have aspergers syndrome and this is causing me stress as I don't know when im coming back or if its on full pay or its not in writing, so i don't know what will happen next.. This is really unfair. I have had nothing in writing yet about the suspension or anything. (I was suspended Friday). Could someone please give me advice on what to do next?

Hi, I work for a company that uses an electronic swipe box for employees to clock in and out at the start and end of their shifts. Failure to clock in and out correctly falls under misconduct, i.e. Not registering at the correct time of starting and leaving, forgetting to clock in or out or forgetting all together. Recently we have come under a lot of pressure to ensure that 90% of the clock ins and outs are accurate; so we are there when the staffing system thinks we should be. As a result of this the management team have implemented a one strike policy; if you forget to clock in or out you will be given a warning and if happens a second time the entire shift will be unpaid. No where in the misconduct or even gross misconduct policy does it state non payment for a shift can be used as a punishment. I was wondering if they have any legal power to implement this policy seeing as a workers rights to pay seem to be pretty clear cut: adviceguide.org.uk/england/work_e/work_rights_at_work_e/rights_to_pay.htm I understand that if I am late they have no obligation to pay me for the time I was not there, but the entire shift seems disproportionate. Any advice or insight on this would be greatly appreciated.

My wife, has been threatened with gross misconduct, suspended and has a pending disciplinary hearing/meeting. She has been informed verbally (not written yet), that this was regarding an incident where her manager saw her writing private notes at work (in a work document, which they said was her deliberately hiding it), her manager then screamed at her humiliating her in front of her colleagues, and warned her doing it again would be her out. She has possibly written personal notes prior to this, never altogether more than 2 pages, her notebook was once found by her manager which she had left in the office after lunch (a result of writing in lunchtimes), and was left on her desk by her manager without any warning or questions. My wife sent her an apology email. Next day she was called into a meeting with her managers manager, where she was informed that her machine was being investigated, due to this incident, they didn’t know what the decision would be from here but he has declared this to be a gross misconduct. He even stated that he was happy with her performance in her role, and couldn’t believe she’d written personal notes in hours, that he was disappointed and that it was gross misconduct. I’m yet to know what the staff handbook contains. She is yet to be told what the outcome of this is, she hasn’t been dismissed for gross misconduct yet. There have been no warnings about this, she has never been caught doing it before etc. Her performance is immaculate, she was one of the only people to have her pay increased this year and get employee of the month, she has numerous emails reflecting this and has worked with the company for 4 years. This has never hindered her performance; she out-performs everyone that works there. This was literally her manager seeing her write something personal, screaming at her in front of everyone, and then being informed this WAS gross misconduct. Even on that day (provable), she worked 30minutes extra to what she has been paid and this was essentially done in that time. It’s a moderately small company, my wife is of ethnic decent, female and married a year ago, her manager made reference the management (manager’s manager) to her not getting more responsibilities since she might get pregnant (non provable, all verbal) in her appraisal... He’s made some horrible comments in the past (the managers manager, which I wont go into right now unless you’d like to hear them) again verbal, non provable (even one, a couple of years ago regarding them sponsoring her visa, when my wife requested to know whether they would sponsor her visa for the next year, that she needed to know, he responded that, “if she told him what to do he’d send her home” (paraphrased). It’s also important to note that mid 2012, another employee was discovered to have stolen company property, his training records. This employee was perhaps disciplined (unknown) but left of his own accord Jan 2013. Also, importantly one year ago, my wife was publicly bullied in the office by a colleague (in front of her colleagues), this was recorded officially, and the person may have been disciplined (unknown), but they continue to work there even now, and was not grounds for gross misconduct. There was a warning from HR on behalf of her managers manager, stating that there was a high internet usage in office hours by employees and this was not acceptable and if anyone was found to be using the net in excess would be liable for a penalty (financial). There has been no warning about not making personal notes. People continue to use the internet for personal use, managers manager acknowledged this in the meeting and said “that’s different..” Would this constitute gross misconduct? She no longer feels she can work at this place, she’s emotionally fragile and has been humiliated on several occasions. Is this constructive dismissal. Is this proportionate and consistent when they have excused bullying (the bullying was recorded against my wife, and the person still works there…) and theft in the past? How can I collect evidence? Do we have a right to access her emails etc.? At the disciplinary meeting, what can I do (I plan to attend..) what rights do I have to request information? Can I request any? Can I record the meeting? Can I request a similar investigation to be done on a colleague machine (to detect whether this is discriminatory?). Should I declare I intend to take this to employment tribunal? Thanks in advance for any responses. Help would be wildly appreciated. Kind regards Nathan

I am a gas engineer by trade, I have recently been dismissed from work for an apparent act of gross misconduct by leaving a supposed gas leak. The long and short of it is, that a National Grid engineer attended a property after I had carried out some gas work (8 hours later). I have been in touch with National Grid and the engineer's van was on site for a total of 6 minutes (18:01-18:07). In these 6 minutes the engineer had supposedly got his tools out, traced and repaired the gas leak, carried out all safety checks, and left the relevant paperwork?? For those of you not in the know, a gas tightness test (to check for gas leaks) alone takes 4 minutes, that leaves 2 minutes for the engineer to complete all the rest of the work/checks. I know for sure that I carried out all the relevant safety checks, and there was no leak present when I left the property. The work I carried out was in a small pantry just off the kitchen, with a closing door. My guess is that the customer had entered that pantry, there was still a lingering smell of gas from the earlier work carried out, so panicked and contacted National Grid. There is no physical evidence that there was even a gas leak on site, and no paperwork left by the National Grid engineer confirming this, just an email saying that a leak was repaired. As far as I am concerned the National Grid engineer could have told the customer he had repaired a leak, just to put her mind at ease. I was sacked for gross misconduct on the grounds of probability, saying that I "probably" didn't carry out the correct safety checks, when I know for sure that I did. There is not one bit of evidence, apart from that email saying that a leak had been repaired, it is just my word against theirs. I have my first child on the way in 2 weeks, and would not risk my job for the sake of carrying out a 30 second check with gas leak detector spray. I also do not think that the dismissal was fair, in relation to previous cases of gas leaks with other employees. There are two engineers still working for the company who in the past year have left open ended gas pipes (major leaks) yet they have been given final warnings. I was under the impression that all disciplinaries should be dealt with in an equal manner? Yet I have been dismissed on the grounds of "probability", without any physical evidence. I have an appeal hearing on Friday, and help/information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hi all, Really do hope me posting here I am able to seek some advice. I'm facing the likely prospect of handing in my notice so that I can continue using the reference for future jobs. Company has complied with ACAS regulations and has now set a side a final disciplinary date... The allegations against me are, lying to a member of staff regarding my whereabouts and asking for another member of staff to cover for me. I have admitted the allegations but I do believe it was done mitigating circumstances. The charge is breach of confidence and trust. Here is my story: My family have been going through a tough time whereby my partner’s grandfather had suffered cancer to the neck and lower body; it is a type of cancer attached to the blood cells which is treatable through specialist treatment. He was unwell for a period of time and was undergoing chemo therapy. At first the treatment responded well and he was fully fit and healthy and full of life. As time went by the lymphoma had returned and further subsequent treatment was required, this in turn slowly had weakened him until the clear was given. The cancer had returned for the third time over a period of one year, by this time doctors had advised this to be the final treatment, given his age and condition his body could no longer cope with the treatment. Prior to Christmas Eve he was eventually given his final treatment and the family could only stand by in hope. By this time the cancer had retuned and his health & weight fell into rapid decline, one day he could walk freely and then in the next few days bed ridden requiring assistance for his mobility and care. Doctors had advised he was going to be placed on the Liverpool Care Pathway as he was not able to have any more treatment due to his condition. I have stood by with the family and assisted where possible from the moment of his first treatment, using any time possible. Over time I and my partner’s granddad grew a special bond together, he had appreciated every help I could give to him and his family doing what was necessary at the time. On Christmas Eve he’d asked me to visit him and comfort him, he knew he was in rapid decline and asked for his family to be close by. On the day of Christmas Eve, I was working away with close proximity to my partner’s grandfather; I was hoping I’d leave for work in a matter of a few hours. I explained I had to leave for work, but he’d asked me to say. I understand I took it upon myself to go visit him and not contact a senior manager as I thought I could both work and comfort him at the same time. I now know this was the wrong decision to make and should have discussed with my Line manager during our one and only supervision session of home life difficulties. On Christmas Eve senior manager had called me and asked where I was, having known I’d made the wrong decision I lied to the senior manager and stated I was in another location. I knew this was the wrong thing to do and I panicked. I was at my partner’s grandfather side and was unsure what to say. I was sat with a man who needed care and a cross call with a manager. I felt the manager would have been displeased should I have told him of the situation and what I chosen to do. From the moment I panic, I contacted another member of staff and asked if should could cover me should the senior manager asked, she declined and from that moment I knew I should not of asked her to get involved. I felt some comfort that she declined and never was any under pressure to accept. I did not give her a reason as I felt this was too personal to push onto her. With his conditions getting worse by the day and knowing the Liverpool Care Pathway, I had asked work to take some time off some time off, which they agreed . My partner’s grandfather passed away during that time. I was there at his last moment to comfort him till the end and subsequently attend his funeral a few days later. I had 7 working days to confess the allegations raised. Whilst in that time period I noted there was supervision arranged for 07.01.2013. I did want to use this opportunity to discuss with my line manager of my actions and seek advice. My senior line manager said I had ample opportunity to discuss the allegation, however due to work commitments and nerves I was not able to succumb to the opportunity but did want to in Supervisions as it’s seen as an area to discuss anything affecting working life. I felt nervous, sick and appalled of my actions, stuck with a decision to help comfort or to be at the correct locality. They were was disappointed by my actions and I was and have been since sorry for what had happened. I never did want to cause a breach of trust or to waste anyone’s time in the matter. I continually did my work as required and never did use any opportunity not to do work, as there are many projects at hand to complete and do. I have worked very hard for the firm. I have placed more hours than I normally should have, previously not logged until management asked me to log all extra hours. I have been committed and always will be committed to my work and colleagues, always supporting them and looking for solutions to help aid everyday working practices. It’s given me time to reflect and think about the consequences, and has made me feel anxious and overwhelmed given me lack of sleep and health gradually subsiding due to not know where the investigation will lead to. Thank you all for reading and understanding. As a final note, my records a clean and I have been with the firm 3 years initially and 5 months currently, had one years gap in between with another company. Question now is of no doubt of handing in notice or not, to brave through the final hearing...

Hey everyone, I`m new to here and could really appreciate some advice! I was sacked from my retail job for gross misconduct a few weeks ago for being found guilty of dishonesty, Ive been trying to save up for a teacher training course for a few years by saving up money working at this retail job. Before I was sacked I applied for some teaching assistant vacancies to get more experience of working in a school and have been offered some interviews within the next couple of weeks. I have a former co-worker who would give me a great reference so should I mentioned I was sacked for gross misconduct at the interviews? Also if I did get a school job would it show up on any Disclosure and Barring service checks, CRB checks, employment/school vetting checks that I was fired for gross misconduct? Any help/advice would be appreciated! Mathieu

Hi, me again hope someone can help please. I started a job in August last year after being without one for 2 years and thought it was going well until recently. We have had a new upstart "manager" start in our driver section, he came from Tesco express, and since he arrived has made every ones life hell. I am a driver for this company and often have over £5k in cash in my van that has been collected from customers, they recently put safes in our vans to keep it in a secure place, the money is placed in an envelope that is sealed, we sign for it after watching the customer count it out to make sure it is correct, the also sign, well last week it seems there was £50 missing from one of the envelopes I handed in and he has accused me of taking it, I did say to him that why take £50 when I could if I had wanted to drive off with the van and the whole lot of money, he has been singleing me out and picking fault with everything I do. Yesterday when I got to work he said I was not allowed out and was being suspended while an investigation takes place, I took the said envelope to pay point at our work place and it was intact. I am now to go back on Thursday to see my boss who employed me and this idiot, I have got someone who will speak up for me as well and all my customers have never had a complaint about me. I would like advice please and sorry it is so lng but am worried as I am 53 so chance of getting another job may be slim, I love my job