Suspension

[Stuart35]

I have previously posted that I am currently suspended with regards to allegation of theft made by another employee that I contend are malicious and vexatious. The company has now contacted me to say I am under investigation for gross incompetence (although they don’t state what incompetence) and a reasonable belief of theft. I have spoken to my union rep and he says the company has never used reasonable belief before in allegation of theft against employees and we are both concerned this is simply because they have no proof I did anything and are trying justify their mishandling of the allegation and gross incompetence was not mentioned when suspended.
my question is surely they cannot dismiss me without some sort of proof I actually did something?? Surely I think he did something is not a good enough reason for dismissal?? And can they add gross incompetence to bulk out the “charges” if that’s not what I’m suspended for??

[Stuart35]

I have been suspended from work on allegation of theft made by another employee (not company) ignoring the fact suspension was immediately after allegation was made and not following an investigation, the allegation related to alleged theft of unspecified items 7 days previously. The company refused to name who made allegation however a manager tipped me the wink who it was and it appears the allegation was not made until after he was given a “talking to” regarding me reporting him for a minor incident dealt with in a non disciplinary manner. I was suspended last week and as off yet have not been contacted by the company obviously I believe the suspension is not correct surely his allegation should have been investigated and some sort of evidence gathered with regards to proving said theft. Obviously I absolutely deny the allegation and know this to be a malicious accusation however I am concerned they company will try to stitch me up as this would be the second suspension I’ve had resulting in nothing found return to work.

[ULA]

Suspension is normally used whilst an allegation of gross misconduct is being investigated but not established and from which a decision is made as to whether to carry out disciplinary action or not. So, the fact they have suspended you whilst they carry out the investigation is a correct process, what needs to happen is that they continue to operate in a fair manner.

You indicate that you have not had any contact with the company they should in fact write to you confirming your suspension and include:

·the reasons for the suspension and how long it is expected to last

·your rights and obligations during the suspension. For example, that you should be contactable during normal working hours

·a point of contact (such as a manager or HR) and their contact details for you during the suspension

·that the purpose of suspension is to investigate and is not an assumption of guilt

·confirm that you will remain on full pay unless your contract of employment says otherwise in the event of you being suspended.

As part of the investigative nature of the suspension you may be asked to attend a meeting for which you should be given notice and time to prepare.

I would suggest that as things move on you can always pop back here and check with us to see if your company is operating a fair process.

[ULA]

Hi stuart35 I responded to your previous post yesterday. You need to keep these all on one thread please do I am going to get them merged and the respond.

[ULA]

If the outcome of the investigation results in the company deciding that disciplinary action needs to be taken they will need to write to you inviting you to attend a meeting. In that letter they will need to provide all the evidence they are relying on to support the allegations, allow you to have a union representative or colleague present and give an indication of what disciplinary action might be taken if they do not accept your arguments/defence against the allegations.

How long have you been employed by the company?

[Stuart35]

5 years employment with the company, I am really concerned with the term reasonable belief as theft within the company is quite high this is common knowledge amongst staff I believe this is why the person made this allegation of theft simply because it’s a common occurrence. I’m worried that there’s lots of theft and you work here is going to be their stance how on earth can I prove I didn’t commit theft??

[ULA]

So with 5 years employment that is good because then they have to follow a fair process the start of which would be as detailed in my post #5.

At the moment you are suspended because the company has a reasonable belief that you committed theft - I am not saying you did but that is what the company via the allegations of a colleague are investigating. Now the outcome of the investigation may be that they cannot prove the reasonable belief in which case they would have little grounds upon which to proceed with a disciplinary meeting and you should then be allowed to return to work. Alternatively they may decide that they do have evidence to support an allegation of theft and then proceed with a disciplinary hearing at which you would need to prove that the evidence they have provided in not correct.

I know it must be really stressful for you but until the investigation has been concluded there is not much you can do. Do remember that as part of the investigation they can arrange to meet with you which then gives you the opportunity to prove you did not commit the theft.

[Stuart35]

I am still suspended (two weeks now ) and this morning I received a text message from a senior manager asking me to ring him and confirm I can attend the rearranged investigation meeting tomorrow morning at 9am.
Firstly I have no knowledge of a previously scheduled meeting let alone a rearranged one, he told me a letter had been hand delivered to my home yesterday which it has not so he got flustered tried blaming someone else then assured me it would definitely be re delivered today which it still has not.
My question is can I refuse to attend the meeting until I have details of allegations to study and allow me to form a defence.
Can I attend meeting and demand it is adjourned until I've had chance to study the allegations.
And finally if they as I believe have delivered letter statements etc to the incorrect address (they have my correct address as they hand delivered suspension letter) would that constitute a possible breach of data protection acy??

[ULA]

Reasonable notice should be given to you for attending a meeting whilst on suspension, although it is not like being asked to attend a disciplinary hearing which does require more notice as you need to prepare a defence based on the evidence they provide. Remember at this point it is still an investigation, no disciplinary action is being taken. You are already aware of the allegations, so the meeting should be about establishing facts or asking you to clarify something that has come up as part of the investigation.

I would certainly indicate that you are unhappy about the process and specifically that correspondence regarding the initial and rearranged investigation meeting have not been received by you despite the fact the company has your correct address.

You will have to have this meeting at some point and I would suggest better to get on with it and then hopefully bring this stressful situation to a conclusion.

At some point you need to attend the meeting so