Disciplinary at work

[swampy76]

Bit of back ground,

 

I did some internal invoicing incorrectly in september, got pulled up on it early october by my manager and the accoutant, rectified the issue (accoutant admits giving me wrong advise at the start)

roll forward to november and another member of the accountant team calls me at work asking me to go over for a "chat" with him the following afternoon at 2pm.

I arrive at his office to find him and a note taker there as its not a "chat" but an "interview" over what went wrong.

we spend about about half an hour going through it and the procedures etc, at the end he says he would be in touch with his findings, I hear nothing more of it until exactly one month later when I summonsed by another manager and HR to a dispalinery review meeting over the matter.

 

this time i was made aware of what it was about so went in with lots of information , evidence etc to back me up with what was said etc, the meeting was conducted by the manager and a note taker was present, all we went over was the same as the original investgation , at the end of the meeting I was asked if i had anything else to add, at this point I got out some pages from our own company disapline manual, one paragraph in question stood out to me

 

'THE COLLEAGUE MUST BE INFORMED OF THE RESULT OF THE INVESTIGATION WITHIN 5 DAYS OF THE COMPLETION OF THE INVESTIGATION.

THEY MAY BE TOLD VERBALLY IN THE FIRST INSTANCE BUT THIS MUST BE FOLLOWED UP IN WRITING.'

When I raised the question to the manager chairing the meeting he asked if my answers would of been different if I was told of the outcome with in five days, I replied they wouldnt as they are the facts.

Now after the first meeting I heard nothing else until the request came to attned the disaplinery, I have approched my HR with the same question but they have yet to respond, my question is have they now realised they have shot them selves in the foot with a breach of policy?

[Emmzzi]

it's a badly worded policy for sure. Badly enough to dig you out of a hole.. I'd say not but it'd be for firstly the appeals manager and then an ET to decide. Assuming you had a letter to say it was a disciplinary and your right to be accompanied at that stage they've met the bones of their legal obligation.

 

Admin errors tend to not be as material as the facts of what happened.

[swampy76]

it's a badly worded policy for sure. Badly enough to dig you out of a hole.. I'd say not but it'd be for firstly the appeals manager and then an ET to decide. Assuming you had a letter to say it was a disciplinary and your right to be accompanied at that stage they've met the bones of their legal obligation.

 

Admin errors tend to not be as material as the facts of what happened.

 

for the first "chat" which they are classing as the investigation I was not tol what it was about, that it could be taken furhter or that I had a right to be accompanied, I have been told by a friend who is a senior manager for the DWP that I should of been told prior to going for the "chat" what it was about so that I could prepare for it and that I should of recived the invite via letter / email.

 

 

just to confirm though the investigation was conducted on

11/11/14

then nothing more was said about the matter until i was invited for interview on

11/12/14

 

so thats far outside of the 5 days they stipulate to let me know things would be going any further.

 

the admin error was that i used the wrong VAT status on an internal invoice at the advice of my senior accountant, only got the details from him verbaly though, but he has said that I asked him to look at the figures prior to me invoicing them but that he only looked at the cost line and nothing else.

[SabreSheep]

Unless it changed an employer could sack someone as long as they could prove that following the procedure would of had the same result. So do not rely at a tribunal level on their failure to follow the procedure

[Emmzzi]

there is no right to be accompanied or pre briefed at investigation stage,

[swampy76]

Unless it changed an employer could sack someone as long as they could prove that following the procedure would of had the same result. So do not rely at a tribunal level on their failure to follow the procedure

 

that is the most glaring failure to follow procedure there are also plenty more which i will be using to fight my case, such as.

 

My line manager has never been involved in this, it apperes to of been raised by the accountant straight to HR, the compnay guidance states my line manager should speak with me first (he didnt even know what was happening until I told him) to carry out the first level investgation.

 

a retraining programme should be offered including a time frame which to improve in.

[Emmzzi]

have you actually had the disciplinary outcome yet?

[SabreSheep]

To build on what emmzzi said regarding on right to be accompanied at investigation level.

 

What is said is correct UNLESS there is a union recognition agreement in place that adds rights above and beyond the legal minimum. You would nbeed to check your contract of employment and staff handbook

[swampy76]

have you actually had the disciplinary outcome yet?

no not yet, company policy says it should be same day except in exceptional circumstances.

the review was completed by 230pm yesterday but he says he wont have an outcome until some point on friday.

[swampy76]

we are allowed a union and they are allowed to attend with us but I dont know of any one in the company that is a member

[Emmzzi]

you can usually be accompanied at the disciplinary by a rep or a colleague.

 

I would be happy not to get an instant answer - implies it was not a foregone conclusion!

 

I would worry about appeals when you see what happens. I'd expect retraining (but that is based on the limited details here)

[SabreSheep]

we are allowed a union and they are allowed to attend with us but I dont know of any one in the company that is a member

 

Just for reference, ANYONE (Except excluded occupations) is entitled to join a union and you are not allowed to be treated less favorably for doing so. IF there is no recognition agreement that gives additional rights then you are as Emmzzi states restricted to representation n the disciplinary and appeals only. Recommend joining one for if you have any problems later on.