need urgent advice/ help with gross misconduct cliams

[hollydog1]

I have been suspended from work on full pay while investigation is taken place. the company i work for was contracted to carry out a job on a business building. whilst working there I picked up 3 textile badges with the intention of asking the manager if i could buy them for my kids. As the manager was attending to other business within the property I put them in my pocket so i could ask him when he cam back to see me. It was then we had problems with the job we were doing. it all got a bit hecktic and i forgot all about the badges. The next time i remebered about them was when i got home from work, took my keys out of my pocket and they fell out. I didn`t say anything to anyone as I knew i was returning to finish the job in a few days time where i could them put them back or appolagise to the manager and explain the mistake.

unfortunately the business i was working at had a theft and asked my boss to ask his employees if they knew any thing. when asked i explained i had taken the badges from the building, and followed it up with a email to my boss explaining the mistake.

does anyone have any advice for me. i am panicing about all this. thankyou.

[hollydog1]

ps. I don`t even know if the phone call to my boss about the theft at this business was about the badges or something else entirely, no one will say.

[honeybee13]

Hello there, welcome to the forum and sorry to hear about your problems. I hope some other caggers will be along to comment before too long.

 

I don't know if this is relevant, but why did you leave it a few days once you realised your mistake please?

 

HB

[hollydog1]

I knew i was returning to the business in a few day to complete the job + I only work 3 days a week.

[SarEl]

I'm afraid it is too early to really say very much to you. Obviously hindsight is a wonderful thing, so I bet you now wish you had phoned up and told them straight away. At this stage the only thing to do is to tell the truth and explain what happened, and hope that they believe you and don't take it any further. Suspension does not mean that they will, so it's perhaps best to try not to dwell on it, and hope for the best for now.

[hollydog1]

I am going to a investigation meeting tomorrow and have been told i can take some one , but i`m not part of a union and the other employee ,was on the same job but in a diffferent part of the building and i have been told not to talk to him. the boss will lead the investigation, with his wife a chair person and his mum as note taker and witness, and there is no one else in the company left for me to take. I will just have to tell the truth and wait and see.

[honeybee13]

Telling the truth is the best thing, I agree [less to remember, as they say]. Fingers crossed for you tomorrow. Please come back and tell us how it went, whatever happens.

 

My best, HB

[hollydog1]

Thanks for your advice and your promp reply

[hollydog1]

sorry, promt reply.

[papasmurf1cx]

Hi Hollydog1

 

You really should take someone, even if it is a partner or friend. These type of things can be quite stressful and if someone not involved in it is there then they can think clearly, take notes clearly and generally detach themselves from the process. Having a note taker, noting what you said is important because the employer can write anything and that then becomes the line they take. Having your own note independently taking gives some credence to your side of the story.

 

Are these badges worth anything? What is the significance of asking the manager? Was it your manager or the other businesses manager ie who had the authority to allow the ownership to pass to you by buying them?

 

I concur with the honesty policy, seeing as you have now admitted it anyway. Try and give the impression of the busy period that caused you to forget. It is mitigation and hopefully they will see it as a minor breach.

[jsgraver]

i am at the tribunal in 2weeks time as an employee representative with broadly the same issue(except that the theft was NOT admitted)

will advise you of outcome then

you must take someone with you

I agreewith papasmurf1cx and hope it blows over and is seen as a minor breach and not gross misconduct

[hollydog1]

Thanks for all the replies,

An update after the investigation meeting.

I attended the investigation meeting, the boss`s wife was the impartial member who was asking the questions and his mum the witness and note taker. The boss did not attend. This was just an informal chat to ask my side of the story. I explained the silly situation asked how we could amend the problem and made apologies. I explained how busy we were on the job, re-explained the mistake as I have explained earlier in the posts. The boss`s wife then just said ok we will be in touch. Now 4 days later I am requested to attend a disciplinary meeting with the boss and a co worker as witness and note taker. The letter I received said

"

This matter is potentially gross misconduct and therefore the consequences of the disciplinary meeting may be summary dismissal (dismissal without notice or payment in lieu of notice).

You have the right to be accompanied at the meeting by a work colleague, trade union official or lay official and you will be given an opportunity to answer this allegation in full at the hearing and to put forward any mitigating circumstances that you feel should be taken into account.

"

Does anyone have any idea of what should be said or how to best approach this situation.

Thanks.

[Sidewinder]

Hi. It would appear that your employer is doing this by the book, and the notice of a disciplinary hearing certainly suggests that they intend to take some sort of action against you. This does not necessarily mean dismissal, and nobody except the employer will know whether that is what they have in mind, but I have to be honest and say that dismissal could very easily be deemed an appropriate response.

 

There is no getting away from the fact that you did remove property from a client's premises - whether there was intent or not is largely irrelevant as the company only have your explanation, and as would be a natural reaction, this could in their mind have been an excuse upon being found out. The question is whether you are believed, so this will depend on your previously good standing, the trust of your employer, and whether they feel they need to be seen to take decisive action in order to preserve the relationship and standing with the client. All you can do really is to plead and mitigate.