Suspension pending possible disciplinary/dismissal action

[LaurynM]

Hello, this is my first post so bare with me, I'm very nervous!

 

I work for a very large company in the UK in one of their call centres. I am a customer service advisor in their retention department and have been an employee for just over 3 years. On Thursday last week I was suspended from work on an allegation of gross misconduct for apparently inaccurately logging my retentions (i.e. sales) which I am paid commission for.

 

I met an employment lawyer on Monday however they couldn't advise me of a lot as not much had yet happened. I then had a meeting in my work yesterday (Tuesday) with the two investigating officers and my Union rep. On particular days when our systems are down or we are very busy we are instructed to take a manual note of the number of retentions and losses we have, and log these at the end of the night. Following an internal anonymous letter which was sent last Thursday, my work suspended me and began an investigation, where they have found a number of inaccuracies in my statistics (they have listened to all of my calls over a number of days and compared the figures with those I have submitted). On 3 days I took a manual log I have been found to be quite inaccurate, however on 3 days where our system was working, I was 100% accurate.

 

I am currently awaiting notification of the next meeting, however there are a few questions I could do with advice on please:

 

I have been feeling unwell for a number of months, feeling faint/dizzy, feeling sick, loss of memory sometimes about details, generally feeling run down. Today I was diagnosed with stress by my doctor. Factors influencing this include my up and coming graduation from university - I completed my degree in April and had a lot of important and difficult exams and pieces of coursework leading up to this. I also visited my doctor at this time regarding chest pains and strange lumps on my head and behind my ear which I was told were stress related. I have also gone from part time to full time employment and started applying for managerial positions within my work.

 

My problem is that I have been worrying about exam results (I received these on 7th June, the days with inaccuracies are 31st May, 4th and 6th June) and have been worrying about my future now that I am graduating. I haven't been keeping a log of things in work and have been submitting whatever I thought was correct. My work do not know about my stress or that I haven't been keeping a log - is this information likely to aid/hinder my investigation? I am not trying to create a blanket to cover up my actions but more so trying to explain why I have had inaccuracies.

 

Sorry for the length of this, any advice is appreciated.

 

Thank you

Lauryn

[kevinob]

Hi Lauryn

 

A little background about myself. I was recently dismissed from my employment on the grounds of gross misconduct, however after submitting a tribunal for unfair dismissal the company are now settling out of court.

 

As an Area Manager and from what you have mentioned above (submitting incorrect sales) it could be deemed you have falsyfied sales for your own personal gain i.e. bonus purposes. In my industry (consumer finance) that would be a sackable offence if proven.

 

You will be provided with all evidence against you prior to your disciplinary hearing. I would suggest you obtain a letter from your doctor as mitigation, highlight the system failure, point out when the system was working you were 100% correct and providing you have no other sanctions against you - put it down to human error.

 

I definitely would not mention you have been making up your figures as the company will not care about your exam results or allow you to use stress as an excuse.

 

You need to know exactly what evidence they have against you - is it real or speculative. Ask if anybody else has made any errors during the system failure.

 

Good Luck

[Lanney50]

Hi I agree with Kevinob,dont tell them anything , How long have you been there,is this your first disaplinary, and I also agree get a letter regarding your health issue,let them tell you what there accusing you of, if you tell them you could be giving them more evidence they could use against you,see what exactly they come up with first, , ask them was this letter only about you or did it name others are they only investigating you, is there anything wrong with anyone elses figures ?,get umion rep to attend the meeting with you what have they said so far,good luck dont panic,keep us posted

[LaurynM]

Hi I agree with Kevinob,dont tell them anything , How long have you been there,is this your first disaplinary, and I also agree get a letter regarding your health issue,let them tell you what there accusing you of, if you tell them you could be giving them more evidence they could use against you,see what exactly they come up with first, , ask them was this letter only about you or did it name others are they only investigating you, is there anything wrong with anyone elses figures ?,get umion rep to attend the meeting with you what have they said so far,good luck dont panic,keep us posted

 

I have been there for just over 3 years, this week I also had two senior management job interviews which I cancelled, but my aim is to progress within the business and I enjoy working there. I've never been subject to ANY allegations of misconduct or even had a blemish on my record up until now.

 

So far they have told me that the 3 manual days they audited are inaccurate, the 3 non manual are accurate, and that this came to their attention via an internal anonymous letter which was handwritten. Through my own source in work I've discovered that a full team are behind it, one person has been nominated to write the letter, and the letter has named several individuals including me - basically the top earners. We are now being investigated and a number of people not named in the letter are also being investigated now (it makes me sick that people in there care so much about other people's performance and would write anonymous letters to grass them in but there you go, my manager won't name who the individual/team is/are but told me to be careful who I think my friends are, so it's someone close to me.

 

What is the best thing to do now? Yesterday they asked for my side of the story as to why my stats were out and I couldn't give them one because I don't have one - but I'm graduating in Criminology and Law and not stupid enough to try and claim extra sales, I'm good enough at my job as it is without sounding big headed, I don't need to add things on.

 

I also found out on Monday that many people in my office including 2 managers were caught talking about me and not only know that I've been suspended but also the exact reason why. Argh!

 

P.S. I do have a union rep who has attended all meetings so far with me.

 

Thanks for all the info so far

 

Lauryn

[LaurynM]

Hi Lauryn

 

A little background about myself. I was recently dismissed from my employment on the grounds of gross misconduct, however after submitting a tribunal for unfair dismissal the company are now settling out of court.

 

As an Area Manager and from what you have mentioned above (submitting incorrect sales) it could be deemed you have falsyfied sales for your own personal gain i.e. bonus purposes. In my industry (consumer finance) that would be a sackable offence if proven.

 

You will be provided with all evidence against you prior to your disciplinary hearing. I would suggest you obtain a letter from your doctor as mitigation, highlight the system failure, point out when the system was working you were 100% correct and providing you have no other sanctions against you - put it down to human error.

 

I definitely would not mention you have been making up your figures as the company will not care about your exam results or allow you to use stress as an excuse.

 

You need to know exactly what evidence they have against you - is it real or speculative. Ask if anybody else has made any errors during the system failure.

 

Good Luck

 

I'm going to go see the doctor tomorrow, what kind of evidence/certificate should I try and obtain? I've been to the doctors several times in the last few months with chest pains, strange lumps on my head and not being able to sleep etc, all of which they have said is stress and anxiety related and gave me Diazepam to calm my nerves and help me sleep, so the doctor has a record of visits where I haven't been well.

 

I wasnt sure whether or not if I said I have been suffering from stress and anxiety over the last few months and haven't been as vigilant and alert as I usually am, but I don't want to sound like I'm creating a cover up. I guess I'm just trying to prove to them that I didn't intentionally try and claim extra sales because I'm not that stupid, I think I've just been too pre-occupied and made a total arse of it really

 

Thanks again

Lauryn

[Lanney50]

good morning Lauryn, I personally would ask the doctor to give you a letter regarding the stress/anxiety you were under at the time and get him to explain the medication he gave you and its possible side effects, this will then would account for your lapse of concentration, this then could explain what might have been the probale cause for you not to be as alert as usual, hence the possible human error,also tell them that when the system is working you are 100% accurate, plus one question why does the system keep failing?what has your union advised you to say why are they not advising you,also I would also mention the fact you are extremely upset that senior managers/staff are discussing your case,this in its self is a breach of confidentiality could therefore be deemed biased,has anyone else you mentioned under investigation been suspended ?also i would state your exemplorary service record,never had any problems in the past ,see were this gets you hope this helps.

[jc1234]

I agree - no one should be discussing this case, especially in earshot of anyone else. How was the job originally sold to you? Was it on the basis of the system working 100% of the time or were you informed manual logs and calculations may be necessary? To put it simply, there is a condition referred to as 'number dyslexia' which would impede such manual record keeping. However, is there any particular reason as to why you didn't keep a log? This whole situation might have been avoided.

[LaurynM]

We only received instructions round about October last year to 'go manual' if the call volumes were high or if the systems were running slow. When a lot of people are using the system it begins to stick and run very slow and if we are busy it is detrimental to customers waiting on holder while we mess about with the system to log the call.

 

My Union rep is very nice etc but not very helpful. He seems very negative and isn't really keeping my hopes up or saying anything within the meetings which makes me feel on my own. The two investigating officers are both known to me and people I am friendly with, one of them is actually an ex manager of mine and knows my character and usual performance which is always very good - he also said in the second meeting that when investigating my calls it is clear that I am excellent at my job, but I suppose at the end of the day, the cold hard evidence is that I said I retained X and removed X and these figures were incorrect.

 

I am upset that people are gossiping about me but don't feel that there is a lot I can do. As far as I know I'm the only person so far who has been suspended, but there could be others that I'm not aware of. It's a very large office and a lot of people have time off etc booked because it's the summer.

 

I just want this to go away and I'm terrified of losing my job. It's been one week now since I've been suspended and my whole world has turned upside down, I've stopped returning messages and not answering the phone, and just feel so so down and negative about the future, I don't know what to do with my life, I'm 21 and due to be graduating from University next week with my honours degree and I just feel ashamed now of what's happened

 

Thanks again

Lauryn

[papasmurf1cx]

Hi Lauryn

 

The first thing to do is to stop worrying. I know that is hard to do but in the greater scheme of things you have a lot more going for you than most.

 

There is nothing you can do ubtil they take some action or not. It appears that there is a BIG problem if they are not only investigating the named people in the letter but now others. I would imagine that if there is fraud going on on that scale then management, rightly, are worried as it reflects on them. What you need to do is concentrate on your own 'defence' as and when they take some action.

 

How much money are we talking about from the matter they are investigating on you? Obviously the less the better.

 

There seems to be a couple of life lessons in there from what has been written about, one being that one should never confide in 'friends'. This happens time and time again people confide in each other and then they are surprised that the friend has done the dirty on them. People at work are not friends, they are acquaintances they are friendly with, there is a deffierence. Another life experience is not to overburden oneself with work. Obviously you need the money to work whilst studying but perhaps you should have reduced your shifts whilst under pressure in your last year... (Hope you did well by the way do you know what you got?). However the biggest one I think is "lumps on your head" ??????? Stress ????? Never ever heard that one before. Have they gone away yet? Is your GP sure? I would ask him for a referral. Try NHS direct and get an opinion there.

[LaurynM]

I only worked 20 hours per week up until April and had some days off at the end of March/beginning of April which my new manager managed to sort out for me (my work initially declined my requests). I then went full time on 11th April and started to apply for managerial roles within the company. The dates in question over the inaccuracies are 31st May, 4th June and 6th June, so these are after I basically doubled my working hours.

 

The amount of money we're talking about out is approximately £300, however to give you an idea of my earnings, on a good month of retaining in work I can make £2500-3000 commission, plus my salary, so this is about 10% of my monthly commission (the reason I mention that is I appreciate £300 is a lot of money, however I have always been a good performer and have always been rewarded well for that).

 

Regarding the lumps on my head, my doctor said at the time that I could just be run down and worried about my exams etc in Uni as these were my finals. He told me to keep an eye on them and if they didn't begin to go down then I was to come back. I forgot about them due to other worries but I've noticed I still have two behind my right ear.

 

I know my work need to or want to prove that I intentionally changed my numbers for financial benefit, and up until now I've given them no real explanation as to why the numbers I submitted were wrong - I just don't know if telling them that I've had medical problems and haven't been feeling myself due to anxiety and stress and have not been keeping an accurate log (we keep a 5 bar chart style log on our desks) because I'm used to a routine of logging everything electronically on the system, and when I haven't had access to this I've been forgetting to mark up my manual/paper sheet due to these problems, is this enough to create enough doubt over whether or not I intentionally added numbers on?

 

To answer your question ^, yes I got a 2:1 in my Honours which I was very happy with, I missed a 1st by 2% but I feel that I deserved a 2:1 anyway and not really a 1st. The sad thing is instead of leaving my company now and going and using my degree, I really wanted to stay there and work my way up.

 

Also you're so right about what you say about friends - I've known from day one of this investigation that it was someone close to me who has done this, if I manage to get my name cleared then I will be much much more careful about who I associate with. I can't think who it could be at the moment but I'll find out. Hopefully they have satisfaction knowing that their anonymous letter has caused some damage down the line whether people deserve it or not. If I had a problem I would go direct but we're all different at the end of the day.

 

Thanks

Lauryn

[jc1234]

Firstly as papasmurf says, try to stop worrying. Your body can do the strangest things to itself in releasing stress, recoginising that can sometimes help alleviate symptoms. To share a personal experience, I had a perfectly healthy appendix removed during my 'A' levels because I had all the symptoms of appendicitis. Take deep breaths and try to calm yourself. I have also found herbal rmedies such as Calms and Rescue Remedy to be helpful.

 

Secondly, get angry (in a constructive way). Your company is at fault for suspending you in such a fashion. you are not a criminal and should not feel ashamed. I gather that you are not a person who would normally do anything wrong so are in complete shock at what is happening. So, please try to stop feeling guilty and start to get back your self esteem and confidence.

 

Thirdly, your company changed working practice without consultation or training. Is it surprising that you struggled with the manual process, especially when you were so busy? Having been given no training in the procedure it was inevitable that errors wre to be made. The main point is that there was no intention to defraud. This can be proven by your 100% accuracy when using the system logs. You simply could not cope with the manual procedure and your company has failed you by not supporting you and training you.

 

Finally, whilst no one should be gossiping about you, bring this up at the hearing as this is clearly having a detrimental effect on your health, but be aware that it is likely to carry little weight. It is a sad fact that you can be treated as appallingly as this but hurt feelings do not register in the greater scheme of things.

 

Good luck, keep your chin up and get back your self confidence. You have been knocked sideways but you are still the same person as you have always been. You know the truth and that is what matters most.

[papasmurf1cx]

Lauryn, think of mens rea.... think about the defences to a criminal allegation. Think of the hurdles that they would need to jump to get a criminal conviction. It is not going to happen I assure you. That does not mean to say that they will not take some sort of action to discipline you. The civil law works differently to the criminal law.

 

Personally I wouldn't let out about your health and stress. if they discipline you then you could at some point raise the fact that your mind was perhaps elsewhere when you had your finals. I would make a big deal about the training they didn't give and that it would be grossly unfair for them to get rid of you in those circumstances.

 

The other thing is if they are investigating many people then there are going to be people in a worse position than you. If they get rid of everybody then they will have problems filling the spaces. It is a problem for them too because they have to still run the business.

[LaurynM]

Thanks everyone, this advice and support has been really valuable so far and is helping me stay positive.

 

Firstly as papasmurf says, try to stop worrying. Your body can do the strangest things to itself in releasing stress, recoginising that can sometimes help alleviate symptoms. To share a personal experience, I had a perfectly healthy appendix removed during my 'A' levels because I had all the symptoms of appendicitis. Take deep breaths and try to calm yourself. I have also found herbal rmedies such as Calms and Rescue Remedy to be helpful.

 

Secondly, get angry (in a constructive way). Your company is at fault for suspending you in such a fashion. you are not a criminal and should not feel ashamed. I gather that you are not a person who would normally do anything wrong so are in complete shock at what is happening. So, please try to stop feeling guilty and start to get back your self esteem and confidence.

 

Thirdly, your company changed working practice without consultation or training. Is it surprising that you struggled with the manual process, especially when you were so busy? Having been given no training in the procedure it was inevitable that errors wre to be made. The main point is that there was no intention to defraud. This can be proven by your 100% accuracy when using the system logs. You simply could not cope with the manual procedure and your company has failed you by not supporting you and training you.

 

Finally, whilst no one should be gossiping about you, bring this up at the hearing as this is clearly having a detrimental effect on your health, but be aware that it is likely to carry little weight. It is a sad fact that you can be treated as appallingly as this but hurt feelings do not register in the greater scheme of things.

 

Good luck, keep your chin up and get back your self confidence. You have been knocked sideways but you are still the same person as you have always been. You know the truth and that is what matters most.

 

Re your third point, I know and even the people investigating me know that there was no intention to defraud - I have a degree in Criminology for goodness sake and I value my job much more than a few hundred pounds, but I just need to prove this So far I havent really given any explanation as to why my statistics are out, and their argument is or will be that I am expected to keep a manual track of my work throughout the day and submit this at the end of the night at 8pm when I finish, and I have submitted incorrect figures. On Tuesday I gave vague explanations such as adding my totals to previous days manual totals in error, writing them down manually in error when the systems were back up and running and I was able to use them, and I also said I leave my sheet on my desk (it does not contain any sensitive information and is not at risk of leaking any personal info for any customers) and that anyone can view this etc. I have not and am unsure whether or not I should come clean and admit that the real reason my figures are all wrong is because I simply didnt keep a track.

 

My daily job is challenging enough, and I do enjoy a challenge, but recently my work has been piling on extra duties in the hope of helping me progress to a managerial or more demanding role, i.e. providing me with experience, however as soon as I come off a call I have new people in my team asking me for help, we are supposed to have a half hour 1-2-1 session every week and I am given error reports to run for my team (oh the irony) instead of sitting with my manager for half an hour. I think this is because I am good at my job and dont really need coaching, but in actual fact I feel like they are totally overloading me and wanting me to do one million and one jobs over and above my own, in the same working hours for the same salary. I understand it is my own negligence that I failed to keep a log of what I was retaining and removing from contracts but with all of this going on in work, plus I was being rejected for new jobs in the business when I saw people who were cosy with management shall we say just stepping into new jobs, which is upsetting - it's who you know and not what you know in this company, I think its a little unfair to expect me to perform 100% all of the time when all of this is going in work plus my own problems outside of work. God I'm exhausted just thinking about it!

 

Today I have been looking for better jobs nearby, if they try and dismiss me I will use this to my advantage and find a better job where I am appreciated and have the opportunity to use my skills for something more rewarding and beneficial in the long run. I dont want this to get me down, I'm only young and have my whole life ahead of me, I just dont want to be sacked from a job for gross misconduct that I didnt intentionally carry out, I think it would be really damaging in the long run as well as now.

 

Sorry again for the long winded post.

 

Thanks

Lauryn

[kevinob]

Hi Lauryn

 

In order to help you I must write like an employer.

 

First of all - if you have obtained £3 or £300 from false reports the company have the right to suspend you while they investigate, for all they know it may not be an isolated event.

Second - if you have been maintaining 'manual inputs' previously then training is not an issue as you know how to do it. Since October how many mistakes have you made?

Third - your stress related illnesses will have no bearing as you are blaming your exams for the stress.

Fourth - the company will not accept 'I don't know' as a reasonable excuse. If it is a one off it can be put down to tiredness, error, mis calculation - take your pick.

 

I feel a key fact here is that the company have not discovered these discrepancies but have been alerted to them. What procedures do they have in place to check your sales submission are correct (manually or automated). Also how did the person who highlighted the discrepancies know they had taken place.

 

If other people have been mentioned in the same letter for the same offence - the punishment must be consistent for all. Now I don't mean to be rude but you say you don't know who is suspended or who is on holiday - FIND OUT by asking the question. The company will not volunteer any information, you have to turn investigator and judging by your posts you are well equipped to do it.

 

If people are talking about the situation, name names, if the breach has come fron an investigator it will invalidate the investigation. I would ask if you are suspended, how do you know people are talking.

 

If your union rep is anything like mine, get rid - they are useful for note taking but I find when they speak negotiations usually turn in favour of the company.

 

When was your last appraisal, if you are as good as you say you are - you will have glowing reports that will show you mistake is out of character.

 

You say you know an investigator, use Psychology on them, such as - 'you know me, I wouldn't knowingly do something like that'

 

You have a degree in Criminology and Law - use this situation as your first challenge in applying what you have learnt - you may surprise yourself.

 

Keep us posted and good luck.

[LaurynM]

Hi Lauryn

 

In order to help you I must write like an employer.

 

First of all - if you have obtained £3 or £300 from false reports the company have the right to suspend you while they investigate, for all they know it may not be an isolated event.

Second - if you have been maintaining 'manual inputs' previously then training is not an issue as you know how to do it. Since October how many mistakes have you made?

Third - your stress related illnesses will have no bearing as you are blaming your exams for the stress.

Fourth - the company will not accept 'I don't know' as a reasonable excuse. If it is a one off it can be put down to tiredness, error, mis calculation - take your pick.

 

I feel a key fact here is that the company have not discovered these discrepancies but have been alerted to them. What procedures do they have in place to check your sales submission are correct (manually or automated). Also how did the person who highlighted the discrepancies know they had taken place.

 

If other people have been mentioned in the same letter for the same offence - the punishment must be consistent for all. Now I don't mean to be rude but you say you don't know who is suspended or who is on holiday - FIND OUT by asking the question. The company will not volunteer any information, you have to turn investigator and judging by your posts you are well equipped to do it.

 

If people are talking about the situation, name names, if the breach has come fron an investigator it will invalidate the investigation. I would ask if you are suspended, how do you know people are talking.

 

If your union rep is anything like mine, get rid - they are useful for note taking but I find when they speak negotiations usually turn in favour of the company.

 

When was your last appraisal, if you are as good as you say you are - you will have glowing reports that will show you mistake is out of character.

 

You say you know an investigator, use Psychology on them, such as - 'you know me, I wouldn't knowingly do something like that'

 

You have a degree in Criminology and Law - use this situation as your first challenge in applying what you have learnt - you may surprise yourself.

 

Keep us posted and good luck.

 

We have been submitting manual inputs on and off since October and as far as I am aware I have never made an error up until recent weeks. Whoever has submitted the anonymous letter has accessed the departments statistics using an excel spreadsheet which updates overnight that we all have access to (designed to help us check our statistics as and when we want to) and taken it upon themself to check individual's statistics and name anyone who they feel is performing too well. A lot of the information I know has came directly from my team manager who should not be communicating with me outside of work but has. He informed me of the letter before the investigators did on Tuesday, he told me that several names are in the letter however the investigators have not disclosed this information, and he has also named several names in the office who were caught talking about the situation and were removed and warned about this. My manager also told me that he caught 2 other managers gossiping about me and he told them to stop. A friend of mine who I also work with has told me that people have been asking my colleagues in my team where I am and if the allegations are true, people I dont normally associate with have been approaching my team and my manager had to call an emergency meeting to inform my team of basic information to guide them on the matter as no one knew what was happening. This meeting happened after the office started talking about it which started on Monday morning as far as I know.

 

All internal audits on our calls which have been carried out on me since the day I started have returned 100%. I've never experienced any allegations of misconduct at all so this is something very recent and new. I like my manager and feel he is sticking his neck on the line to help me, but I also feel that problems like this should have been picked up internally and not by some anonymous letter.

 

We dont really have appraisals in work but I was selected for 2 higher job interviews this week and am consistently praised for my high performance, I was also runner up of employee of the year in 2010 (funnily enough one of the investigators won the award). Anyone in the office who knows me knows my character but I dont know whether or not this will aid me at any point as I think they are only interested in cold hard evidence, is that correct?

 

My manager also told me that on the day I was suspended, the investigating officer spoke to him afterwards and told him he couldnt and wouldnt believe I would be guilty of something like this, and has known me from day 1 and has never had a bad word to say about me, his words were apparently that I "have always been spot on".

 

I'm scared about letting on too much in the investigating as a lot of info I know so far I shouldnt know, and my manager has breached his role if you like by telling me, he's also given me names of people caught talking about me who were reprimanded and has told me the team the letter came from - things he could lose his job over if he was caught so I need to be careful about what I let on, the last thing I want is for him to get into trouble for helping me.

 

Thanks

Lauryn

[jc1234]

You say that this data is held on an Excel spreadsheet and can be accessed by all. Is it possible that someone else could have falsified your figures? If so that should surely put a cloud of doubt over the whole allegation.

 

Good luck

[kevinob]

Ok

So it was a one off mistake by a person who performs well, has been given extra duties and is earmarked for potential progression within the company. Your manager will support you work and moral ethics.

 

Your mitigation has to be tiredness and a mistake - tell them you have overworked yourself with exams and work and that the added duties have distracted you. Your reasons will determine the seveity of the punishment.

 

If others named have not been suspended for the same offence it will show inconsistency.

[LaurynM]

Thanks again for all the help and advice. I received a letter this morning (signed for delivery) inviting me to a disciplinary meeting on Wednesday 6th July. I have had annual leave booked for at least 5/6 months from Friday 24th June - Monday 11th July and they are well aware of this. My partner has just booked a last minute holiday to go away for a week on Monday for us so I can't make this meeting anyway, although as far as I thought they couldn't call me in while I was on 'holiday' anyway.

 

The letter states they are inviting me to a disciplinary meeting based on the allegation of gross misconduct etc, it gives me a copy of all the info they showed me in the last meeting on Tuesday 21st June, and also states that although there are inaccuracies in my work - at present there is not enough information to prove that I have acted fraudulently. Does anyone have any idea of what could happen in this meeting?

 

It will need to take place on or after 11th July because I'm not cancelling my holiday, the main thing I need right now is a break and my partner has paid for the holiday as well so I refuse to cancel or change the dates, I'm just a bit concerned/confused as to what kind of action they may try and take against me.

 

I've also had interviews for other jobs while I've been off and have decided that regardless of the outcome of this investigation, I am going to hand in my resignation as I find it too upsetting to go back after I know there has been widespread gossip about my suspension, and I also think its time to start fresh.

 

Thanks

Lauryn

[papasmurf1cx]

Hi

 

Write to them in the manner and factual matters as you posted above. State that it is not reasonable to schedule this meeting when they had previously .. 4-5 months ago authorised holiday leave. State that the cost of cancelling a holiday at such short notice would not be recoverable. Ask for a new date after your return but sufficient also for you to prepare for it ie you don't want to come back one day and have the meeting the following day.

 

Sounds to me they merely want to give you a 'ticking off' ie they want to keep you .... I wonder how others fared?

[LaurynM]

Hi

 

Write to them in the manner and factual matters as you posted above. State that it is not reasonable to schedule this meeting when they had previously .. 4-5 months ago authorised holiday leave. State that the cost of cancelling a holiday at such short notice would not be recoverable. Ask for a new date after your return but sufficient also for you to prepare for it ie you don't want to come back one day and have the meeting the following day.

 

Sounds to me they merely want to give you a 'ticking off' ie they want to keep you .... I wonder how others fared?

 

Hi,

 

Thanks, they stated in the letter that if the date was unsuitable for either myself or representative then to call or email using the details provided - I have no interest in getting into any verbal conversation with the manager who sent the letter so I have emailed politely stating that the annual leave has already been arranged and a holiday abroad has already been booked, and asked that it be arranged once I have returned. Thats a good point about allowing enough time after I return as well thank you

 

I'm slightly relieved but also suspicious that they are stating that they do not have enough evidence to prove I have acted fraudulently (such evidence does not exist because there was no intended or known fraud committed on my behalf), so I am hoping that they are going to give me a written warning as opposed to any dismissal.

 

So far I havent heard of anyone else who has been suspended, although my line manager is 100% on the fact that other people were named in the letter and it was one of the two people leading the investigation that told him this, so I'm curious as to whether or not action against anyone else has been taken?

 

Thanks

Lauryn

[LaurynM]

Update - the meeting has been moved to this Wednesday at 8:30am (bloody awkward as I work a 12:00 - 20:00 shift normally, same as inviting me in when they knew I was on annual leave) so only a few days to go til I know the outcome.

 

I've also found out for a fact that out of everyone named in the letter, I was the only person suspended (prior to any investigation starting afaik), and following my suspension a large number of people have been investigated - 9 of which who have been found with a high enough number of irregularities to suggest gross misconduct, and NONE of them have been suspended! My manager has been told from someone within the investigation that once my case is finished on Wednesday, they will then repeat the same action against all other 9 people?! Surely as soon as they found a certain number or level of irregularities elsewhere these people should have been instantly suspended pending further investigation? I don't see how they can only suspend me and no-one else

 

A few questions if anyone knows the answer or can help which would be great- if they do dismiss me would I have grounds to take action for unfair dismissal on the basis that they didn't follow company procedure and there was not consistency/fairness, and if they don't dismiss me, would I have grounds to resign and take action for constructive dismissal on the basis that I have been texted, phoned and contacted through Facebook (which I have temporarily now deleted) by people from work who know private and accurate details of my suspension and investigation, people have been caught within the workplace including 2 managers also talking about it, and therefore my confidentiality has been breached and there is clearly an irrevocable breach of trust, and I feel that even if I am not dismissed, I cannot return to work because of the breach of confidentiality and damage to my reputation?

 

Any help/advice is really appreciated

 

Thanks

Lauryn

Edited July 15, 2011 by LaurynM

[RachelMD]

Oh baby. Just delete the company name from your last post.

Walls have ears.

[LaurynM]

Oh baby. Just delete the company name from your last post.

Walls have ears.

 

Thank you.

[LaurynM]

Update - they adjourned the meeting and I've just received another invitation to return this Tuesday, we went over the allegations etc and then I mentioned the breach of confidentiality which they totally denied, no surprise there then! I'm really angry because its a serious allegation that someone within the investigation has leaked info out and the company don't seem at all interested in looking into it or doing anything about it.

 

[stuart_coogh]

this is a serious matter because confidentiality has been breached and there is clearly an irrevocable breach of trust, your employer has basically given you the middle finger, sorry for the choice of words, i would put in a 2nd grievance as well, contact your union or see an employment advisor