suspended from work awaiting disciplinary - ** RESOLVED **

[help001]

hi all new here and ina state of panic and anxiety. I worl for an organisation using various files for various staff and client files. the files are in folders called 'cofidential to (department name) staff' which I have access to.

 

Over a period of time I accessed others personnel records such as appraisals folders labelled private and confidential and alsthough I was stupid and had no need to look at them I did (which I regret) which left an audit trail to me being caught accessing them.

 

whilst I was stupid and admitted being stupid when suspended I did mention that although I was in the wrong like my files I put in this folder that I password protect surely having access to these records and them not being protected or stored in inaccessible folders was a breach on the company and the individuals storing them there

 

I know I am in the wrong and am awaiting my disciplinary and worried I will of course lose my job and even if I keep it my relationships with people are burnt.

 

Should the worse happen would I be better off offering my resignation to get a reference for potential new employers? Also are the company at fault for not having personnel files locked/encrypted and accessible (I am not ecusing what |I done|)

 

thank you

regards

very worried

[lostfaith]

How long have you been employed by the company?

[help001]

How long have you been employed by the company?

coming up to one year. thank you

[Sidewinder]

I have to be honest, this doesn't look good. Most organisations take a pretty dim view of unauthorised access to personal files, and it doesn't matter whether they should have protected them (they obviously should have) - this is irrelevant to the case here

 

If you did access the files, and have no reason to have done so, then it will be impossible to argue that any disciplinary sanction up to and including dismissal for Gross Misconduct, would be unfair. The one year's service would also be tricky as even in the event of a flawed disciplinary process you would not have teh requisite two years to claim for Unfair Dismissal.

 

In my opinion, the best that you can hope for here would be to throw yourself on their mercy and to hope that aside from this incident you are considered worthy enough of another chance. Resignation may be an option, but the employer is not duty bound to accept it. Might be best to see the process through and if the worst came to the worst, negotiate a quiet exit.

 

Sorry I cannot be more positive - I have seen dismissal for far less, but equally I have seen a final warning for far worse

[ericsbrother]

TBH, it will be easier for your employer to dismiss you than keep you and suffer the backlash. The people whose files you took a look at will be able to make hay if they have a grievance against you or the company. Be factual about what you did any why, you cant mitigate it by saying it is their fault that they didnt lock them away properly even if their measures of protecting peoples data are woefully inadequate as 2 wrongs dont make a right and all systems are only as good as the people entrusted to run them and that trust was pleced in you.

[Noah1]

hi all new here and ina state of panic and anxiety. I worl for an organisation using various files for various staff and client files. the files are in folders called 'cofidential to (department name) staff' which I have access to.

 

Over a period of time I accessed others personnel records such as appraisals folders labelled private and confidential and alsthough I was stupid and had no need to look at them I did (which I regret) which left an audit trail to me being caught accessing them.

 

whilst I was stupid and admitted being stupid when suspended I did mention that although I was in the wrong like my files I put in this folder that I password protect surely having access to these records and them not being protected or stored in inaccessible folders was a breach on the company and the individuals storing them there

 

I know I am in the wrong and am awaiting my disciplinary and worried I will of course lose my job and even if I keep it my relationships with people are burnt.

 

Should the worse happen would I be better off offering my resignation to get a reference for potential new employers? Also are the company at fault for not having personnel files locked/encrypted and accessible (I am not ecusing what |I done|)

 

thank you

regards

very worried

 

It's worth to mitigate as this was your first offense. If you apologise, saying you've learnt from it and you're aware of the seriousness of your offense. If you want to stay, ask them for it, if not at least mitigate references.

[help001]

Hi all an update. My boss called me today and invited me to a meeting at head office which is not where I work so keeping it away from the people I work with which I guess is fair. Now, I don't want to be overly cocky about anything but this invite - do they have to put this in writing and also outline the reason I am being asked to attend? They briefly said what it was about face to face a couple of weeked ago when I was suspended on full pay but since then apart from a letter stating I was suspended on full pay pending investigations I have had nothing else sent to me for me to prepare what I want to say and bring up.

 

I will obviously go to this meeting but should the worse happen is this a case of not allowing me to prepare fully by not sending me anything in advance?

[Emmzzi]

is it an investigatory meeting or a hearing?

[BazzaS]

Hi all an update. My boss called me today and invited me to a meeting at head office which is not where I work so keeping it away from the people I work with which I guess is fair. Now, I don't want to be overly cocky about anything but this invite - do they have to put this in writing and also outline the reason I am being asked to attend? They briefly said what it was about face to face a couple of weeked ago when I was suspended on full pay but since then apart from a letter stating I was suspended on full pay pending investigations I have had nothing else sent to me for me to prepare what I want to say and bring up.

 

I will obviously go to this meeting but should the worse happen is this a case of not allowing me to prepare fully by not sending me anything in advance?

 

Emmzzi has already asked the relevant question.

is it an investigatory meeting or a hearing?

 

However, even if it turns out to be a disciplinary hearing, even if they don't follow procedure : don't try and pin your hopes on complaining about procedural matters - as you only have less than 2 years service they don't have to "dot the i's & cross the t's"

 

So, either way, you are best taking the approach of co-operation and humble contrition, rather than giving any impression of looking for procedural flaws to catch them on.

(This would be different if you were being discriminated against on grounds of a protected characteristic, but getting caught looking at other people's confidential files gives them a reason that doesn't sound discriminatory!)

[help001]

Hi all. Well I am back - it was an investigatory meeting and not a hearing - basically it lasted about an hour and I was presented with evidence of the files I had looked at (no arguments from me) and asked if I wanted to say anything. I said I had no mitigation and was unethical and stupid rather than malicious. The meeting was just me, HR and my boss. I was sick all morning but they put me at ease saying although it was serious they were not there to make me feel bad but to discuss the facts so I calmed down during the meeting and was told to take breaks if |I needed.

 

Basically I was told that as it was a DPA breach the likelihood would be it would go to a hearing - this would be in around a week once a report was written. The hearing when then decide the outcome and I was told dismissal was an option which I understood and said I understand they are only following protocol.

 

I asked the question about resignation - they said if I wanted to choose this route I could and the suspension would stop at that point and go no further and I would get my holiday pay and any pay for the notice period but be on suspension and not working until the formal leaving date. I was also told I could contact HR and theemployee assistance line if I needed.

 

After thinking about it, and needing a clean reference I have decided that my chances are not good and will be taking this option before a hearing so I am suspended on full pay until next week sometime.

 

Some questions:

 

What should I put in my resignation letter as the reason for resigning? I obviously need to claim Universal Credit so want tominimise any sanction period for JSA although this will not affect my housing benefit

 

At what point should I claim UC? Once I have resigned or once my notice period has run out?

 

What happens to debt and benefits when voluntarily resigning? I owe about £3k on credit cards

 

I actually feel slightly relieved and as a past sufferer of anxiety and depression I don't think I could take a formal hearing and being ill and dismissed and not having a reference to fall back on.

 

Advice welcome. Thanks.

[BazzaS]

Hi all. Well I am back - it was an investigatory meeting and not a hearing - basically it lasted about an hour and I was presented with evidence of the files I had looked at (no arguments from me) and asked if I wanted to say anything. I said I had no mitigation and was unethical and stupid rather than malicious. The meeting was just me, HR and my boss. I was sick all morning but they put me at ease saying although it was serious they were not there to make me feel bad but to discuss the facts so I calmed down during the meeting and was told to take breaks if |I needed.

 

Basically I was told that as it was a DPA breach the likelihood would be it would go to a hearing - this would be in around a week once a report was written. The hearing when then decide the outcome and I was told dismissal was an option which I understood and said I understand they are only following protocol.

 

I asked the question about resignation - they said if I wanted to choose this route I could and the suspension would stop at that point and go no further and I would get my holiday pay and any pay for the notice period but be on suspension and not working until the formal leaving date. I was also told I could contact HR and theemployee assistance line if I needed.

 

After thinking about it, and needing a clean reference I have decided that my chances are not good and will be taking this option before a hearing so I am suspended on full pay until next week sometime.

 

Some questions:

 

What should I put in my resignation letter as the reason for resigning? I obviously need to claim Universal Credit so want tominimise any sanction period for JSA although this will not affect my housing benefit

 

At what point should I claim UC? Once I have resigned or once my notice period has run out?

 

What happens to debt and benefits when voluntarily resigning? I owe about £3k on credit cards

 

I actually feel slightly relieved and as a past sufferer of anxiety and depression I don't think I could take a formal hearing and being ill and dismissed and not having a reference to fall back on.

 

Advice welcome. Thanks.

 

Do you think there is a chance they may offer you a final written warning if it went to a disciplinary?.

Would you prefer there to stay there IF that were to be the outcome?.

[help001]

Do you think there is a chance they may offer you a final written warning if it went to a disciplinary?.

Would you prefer there to stay there IF that were to be the outcome?.

 

I actually think they would dismiss me as it is a serious DPA breach which they are hot on at the moment.

 

Also, I feel my position and trust (even though colleagues do not know anything) would be awkward and some what untenable

[unclebulgaria67]

If you resign from a job, unless there is a health issue causing you to do this, i don't think you can claim UC or job seekers for a period. I thought this was a period of 6 weeks from what i have read previously, but there are other people on this site who know more.

 

You should really look into obtaining some temporary festive work, if the resignation is going to mean no money over the Christmas period. If you resigned say next week and just waited for any benefit money to be paid by DWP, you might not see anything until after Christmas. If you can obtain some temp work, you can start to apply for full time work, which you might obtain to start in the new year, meaning you don't need benefits.

 

Edit- just checked online. If you resign from a job, you can be sanctioned for up to 26 weeks until you can receive any benefit money. It is up to a DWP decision maker and they will write to your employers to find out information. If your employer said you just resigned following disciplinary issues, you might be waiting for a couple of months.

[ericsbrother]

Well, if you want to resign you are not obliged to put any reason if you do not wish to, just say that you are resigning with 1 months notice or whatever and thank the company for giving you the opportunity of working there.

As for benefits- you dont get any for 3-6 months but that can also be true if you are dismissed so neither here nor there.

[help001]

Update

 

Finally sorted with the best outcome possible.

 

I resigned and get full pay for the whole of November as well as full pay (Gardening leave) for December. Overall this was the right thing to do for me based on the likely outcome. My full pay went in today and will also do so for December as confirmed by HR. I resigned on medical grounds as my A&D got a lot worse and have been to the GP about this and all disciplinary action against me has been dropped. If DWP write to my employers or indeed another employer writes to them there will be no 'resigned under investigation' mandated.

 

Now, I am in a UC area but was advised I should reapply for ESA and HB. I will only get ESA if my condition has got worse, I am seeing my GP again on Friday to discuss this. If my ESA claim fails it will be Universal Credit where I get a lot less. When I previously signed on and claimed HB my total payment was around £660pm. Under UC it seems I can only claim shared bedroom rate as I live at home with parents (private rent 2 bed) so my UC rate is around £580pm (used an on line calculator) This would leave me a shortfall of rent and leave me very short as the rest ofmy rent (50/50 with parents) would need to come out of my ESA or JSA element.

 

If I do not get ESA and have to claim UC is there any dicretionary top up I can claim? If not I guess this is all my fault anyway and I will have to suffer and get on to gas and electric, credit card, SKY etc and reduce payments and make a 'deal' with them until I can start paying more again. I have no savings either.

 

Can someone also advise that if I am paid my salary on Dec 16th taking me to Jan 16th when I should claim my ESA and HB or UC? As it takes 6 weeks can I claim anytime soon citing I am no lonnger employed from the end of December and funds run out on Jan 16th so that I can get my payments sooner rather than later? If I have nothing for 6 weeks (is it backdated?) not sure how I am going to pay my rent or bills! Please move/duplicate on benefits forum if better, thanks.

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

I'm very pleased it worked out for you, well done. I'll alter your thread title to show the outcome.

 

You need to start a new thread in the benefits section for your other questions, people on the employment one are unlikely to know the answers.

 

HB

[help001]

Hello there.

 

I'm very pleased it worked out for you, well done. I'll alter your thread title to show the outcome.

 

You need to start a new thread in the benefits section for your other questions, people on the employment one are unlikely to know the answers.

 

HB

 

Thank you

[ericsbrother]

to address your point aboutwhen you worked- you are employed until the end of Dec.

As for your bills. no-one will care about any of this as you live with your parents so they are obliged to pick up the strain. If the rent isnt paid the LL isnt going to say " oh yes, we will boot you out but your parents can stay here for half price" so you should set aside the money you have received to make sure they dont have an enormous financail shock as well. Speak to people like the credit card providers to see if the will accept a lower minimum payment or freeze interest. you cant do that with the gas and leccy becasue they will just say that your parents owe the money now if the account was in your name.