Giving notice and disciplinary hearing due

[Andrew4321]

Looking for advice if possible please.

I've been with a co. for 6 months, passed probation I am in a field sales role. I have been on a PIP for 2 months and have 1 month left. I am way over my sales figures target approx 150% YTD.
I was on a PIP because I had not sold anything, this is different now. The only metric I am not hitting on my PIP is activity, meetings sat etc .

I have received a formal invite to an HR disciplinary hearing next week with HR and my Manager. It simply says the meeting will be held to discuss - potential current level of under performance.

I today handed my notice in, this was going to happen anyway as I have another job offer ( they do not know about this).

1 - I'm worried I'll be sacked
2 - If Sacked, not get my new job as the reference will be terrible
3 - The cost of fighting this as I am sure my manager has it in for me. Manager resents that my deals won have come too easy to me and feels I don't deserve them

Any advice or words on this would be greatly appreciated as I have never experienced this before and I am a proven successful sales person.

Thank you

[Amethyst]

Tagging Ula for you and I've moved your thread down to the Employment forum... hope you can find it lol.

So, did you hand in your notice AFTER you received the invite to a formal disciplinary ? ( Just wondering if it's related, or if it looks like you resigned to try avoid the disciplinary - how long is your notice period ?)

Is this a standard monthly review of progress under the PIP or was it due to be reviewed after the 3 months originally ?

Your sales figures are up, but presumably they think they could be higher if you organised more meetings with potential clients?

I don't think they CAN give a bad reference, just refuse to give one, or simply confirm start date and reason for dismissal etc.

[Andrew4321]

Thank you for moving the post and reply.

i handed in my notice now rather than the end of month to try and avoid the disciplinary meeting.

I have one one month left on my pip. My notice period is one month. The plan was one pip review per month and then a final pip review in December to either pass it, extend it or get the sack.

Im trying to work out my chances of getting sacked or will they let me just go on garden leave and do a decent handover?

I have a wife and 3 children and I’m scared stiff to be honest. X

[ULA]

Unfortunately I cannot guarantee how your employer will react. Hopefully they will just accept your resignation and either ask you to work your notice or if you are going to a competitor they may request you go on garden leave.

Unfortunately with less than 2 years service your company could dismiss you fairly unless you meet certain criteria. However I would suggest that if they have already tried to deal with what they feel are non-performance issues by way of a PIP then I am encouraged that they are an employer that does follow fair procedures. Did the formal notification to the disciplinary meeting say what the potential outcome would be e.g. written warning. Did they also give you the right to be accompanied?

In regard to a reference they have to be accurate and truthful. Therefore if your new employer asks about performance then your current employer if they chose to answer this would have to do so accurately. They may however chose just to provide basic information, start/end date, job title, salary, alternatively they may decide to decline to give a reference which they can do as an employer is not legally obliged to give a reference.

[Andrew4321]

Thank you for replying. It’s does say to make me aware the outcome could result in dismissal and that I’m there to talk about my view of things and defend myself etc.

I did view my company handbook and it mentions verbal warning, written stage 1, stage 2, final and then dismissal. A pip is not mentioned in this process at all so I’m left wondering if a pip is final or first stage?

They did say I can have a witness who is a work colleague but they cannot speak for me.

Id feel ok if I knew they’d accept my notice now but it almost seems nasty for them to not accept it and just sack me.

Im a top ten performer in the whole sales team, no absence, lateness, or problems whatsoever and still have a month left on my 3 month pip. I don’t get why they are doing this now without getting to month 3 on the pip?

[ULA]

Ok so it sounds like the notification for the meeting has all been correct. As you say though if they are running with a PIP for 3 months then disciplinary action should only really be considered once that process has been exhausted and if there is no improvement in performance against the agreed objectives.

I hope that they will just accept your resignation and that you get confirmation of this next week.