Unfairly suspended

[Guest]

I work in a care home that is under funded and understaffed, the result is that I am unable to do my job properly because of all the other demands on my time. I have constantly asked the directors for support but they have ignored me. I have been on holiday for a week and while away they have emailed to say I am suspended while they investigate the way I do my job. This is the first move towards dismissal. What do I do?

[ULA]

There is not much you can do at the moment. How long have you worked at the care home?

Suspension is normally used when an allegation of serious or gross misconduct is being investigated but not established i.e. they do not know for certain and want to find out the full fact first and from which a decision will then be made as to whether to carry out any disciplinary action.

As part of the process you may be invited into an investigation meeting so that you can answer any questions that the investigator may have and respond to the allegations that have been made.

The outcome of the investigation and period of suspension has a couple of options either the investigation does not find that the allegations are upheld and you can return to work or there is sufficient evidence for the company to consider some form of disciplinary action and you will be asked to attend a disciplinary meeting.

The correct procedure should be that at the time of your suspension or very soon after you should be given written confirmation that you had been suspended that includes:

• the reason for the suspension and how long it may 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
• remaining on full pay unless your contract of employment says otherwise in the event of you being suspended.

It should also have been confirmed that you receive your full pay and benefits during a period of suspension, unless there is a clear contractual right for your employer to suspend without pay or benefits.

This period of suspension should be kept as brief as possible and your employer should keep you regularly updated about the suspension, the ongoing reasons for it and how much longer it is going to last.

I hope that helps with the process but if you have any further questions just pop back to this thread. You will need to register on the forum which is easy to do and other than an email address (used to sent alerts that someone has replied or make posts in this thread) we do not hold any other personal data.*
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