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Unfair Disciplinary Hearing

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  • Unfair Disciplinary Hearing

    Hi all.

    I am seeking advice from all angles on the subject of Unfair Disciplinary procedures.

    Bear with me, this may be a long read. Basically, I've been working for my current employers for 8 years, and at the end of October I was asked if I wanted to take on a new role within the Office. I was told (and already knew) that the job was complicated, but that I would receive their full support and be given necessary training. I enthusiastically accepted as I was ready for a new challenge as my previous duties were extremely easy and really quite dull!

    Fast forward a few weeks. Despite asking different managers/supervisors on different occasions - I have received hardly any training. The training I have received has been 15 minutes here and there, loosely explaining different procedures, which have never tied together in the right order. Mistakes have been made, and I haven't been told what I've done wrong or shown how to not make the same mistake again. I've been told numerous times to 'refer to your notes.' This book of notes includes - again - different procedures all about the place! Step one on one page, step two on another. I could go on, but basically, it's a shambles and I find it unacceptable by management to rely on just some scrappy bits of paper.

    Fast forward again to the beginning of December. A big error has been made, and myself and at least 5 other employees are getting a Disciplinary for it. I STILL have had no more training, the work load is preposterous, and I feel I am being treated extremely unfairly. One step that was missed is stated in one of the multiple versions of notes that are in the book. The one I've been following DOES NOT state that step.

    Does anyone think I should appeal? Or should I sit back, shut up, and take it?

    Many thanks to anyone who has read my essay

    JL

    PS. In that meeting where they asked me to take on this new role, they said it would actually be a trial, and I could change my mind if I didn't get on with the job. But I don't see how I can go back, because they offered a part timer more hours to cover my job as soon as I said yes...
    Tags: None

  • #2
    Re: Unfair Disciplinary Hearing

    I am going to bump this thread for one of our Employment Law experts to look in. My gut-feeling is that your employers are on a very sticky wicket, indeed, due to them not providing you with adequate or proper training.

    :bump:
    Life is a journey on which we all travel, sometimes together, but never alone.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Unfair Disciplinary Hearing

      Have you had the disciplinary hearing yet ? you can't appeal until afterwards. Also when you appeall it can go either way i.e you could come out with a worse outcome than when you went in.

      Make sure you go in with a reprasenative so if they say anything out of order you have a witness. You need to get your case together fast as you normally only get about 5 days to appeal.

      Apart from that my advice would be listen to what BlueBottle said and see what the experts have to say.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Unfair Disciplinary Hearing

        The key word in all this (as in most legal matters) is reasonable. Your employers must act reasonably towards their employees and they haven't. You can't do much until you've had the disciplinary hearing. Get your case together, write it down in point form to start. Be sure to include everything you want to say. Take those points with you to the meeting and use your list as an aide-memoire.
        Take a representative with you to the hearing, that's important. Do not go in on your own. Use your union rep, or an employment lawyer, or fellow worker experienced in these matters. Get advice now, before the hearing.
        If you can remember, write down the dates on which you approached managers / supervisors to ask for training. If you can't remember specific dates use approximate ones, but make a list - the more times you asked and got nowhere the better for your case. Carefully preserve your "book of notes" - I would make a copy just in case management tries to take it off you. It could prove to be vital evidence in your favour to support your contention that you did not receive adequate training.
        If you can't do the job because you haven't been properly trained, that's management's problem and not your fault. They cannot properly dismiss you on grounds of capability given the circumstances you have outlined.
        Have a look at what ACAS has to say on disciplinary procedures:- http://www.acas.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1662
        ACAS also have a helpline you might try. If you are in a union they may offer a similar service.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Unfair Disciplinary Hearing

          You can't take a lawyer to a disciplinary hearing. The law is clear that it is a trades union official or a work colleague - with only a very few specialised exceptions extablished in case law. An employer can permit someone else to attend - but 99.9999% recurring of them won't.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Unfair Disciplinary Hearing

            PS. In that meeting where they asked me to take on this new role, they said it would actually be a trial, and I could change my mind if I didn't get on with the job. But I don't see how I can go back, because they offered a part timer more hours to cover my job as soon as I said yes...

            have you actually asked them if you can go back. The minutes of the meeting should have been recorded so it should be down in writing. Secondly if its a trial and they are not happy with what you are doing can't they put you back in your old position.

            How many people work for your company ? If they are disaplining six people can they afford to lose 6 people ? You will probably come out with a warning at the worst. Use the oppertunity to explain to managment what is going on with your training etc , make sure you all go in and say the same thing and hopefully they will realise their is a problem and look into resolving this rather than taking it any further.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Unfair Disciplinary Hearing

              Did you present the booklet which stated that the critical step that needed doing was not in the book?
              What was their response to that?
              Have you actually had the disciplinary meeting? If not then your evidence of that book is very much crucial to that meeting.
              "Family means that no one gets forgotten or left behind"
              (quote from David Ogden Stiers)

              Comment

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