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Today I was on my way to work and called by senior management asking me to "pop in and have a chat" with him and HR about "some of the extra hours I've been doing and my general wellbeing", they cancelled all my appointments and asked me to come in straight away.
I arrived and was told it was an informal chat for fact-finding and that HR was there to take notes. This manager is my manager's manager if that makes sense.
He proceeded to ask me about the bank work I had been doing for 2 different teams, how I found it, how it was conducted and what it involved (all very odd, he should have known what these teams do).
Extra hours are logged by me onto a sheet, emailed to the relevant manager, who signs them off and emails them to payroll. Nobody has ever questioned this although the manager for one team said HR had a problem with my hours a month ago, though nobody said what or told me.
He then showed me a printed word document which was taken from my work phone call logs. It was a list of the days I claimed to work, how many calls were made, what time and how long for.
My manager asked me to explain why on some days 0 calls were made, other days only very very brief calls, and other days the calls all made before 6pm (the hours I claimed were 6-10pm).
I explained the truth. My work phone is crap so I use my personal phone. I asked several times if this was not allowed and HR intervened and said it was not recommended. I pointed out that a lot of people use their personal phones in my ream, it's well known the work phones are crap. I further explained that if the phone is on speakerphone it works, which means I can make calls on that phone as long as I am somewhere private. Other times I get fed up of trying to be heard and disconnect the call then call from my personal phone. (these are mental health patients so confidentiality is key)
Manager clearly didn't believe this. I have claimed for 5 months at a total of approx £4,000 before tax.
The job for one team involves phone calls, a max of 20 min per person, with notes to be added onto a system. This accounts for probably under £500 over those months. I have an email from that manager saying on at least one occasion that even if I finished early she would put me down for the full shift. Some calls didn't answer, others were very brief, others well over an hour, it all depends. Notes can take me 5 mins each or way more, again depending.
The other job involves phone calls at no more than 1 hour per person (in reality can be anything from 10 min - 1 hour) but the admin work is significant and it can involve liaising with other agencies which my manager quite rightly pointed out can't be done at 6pm as these agencies are closed. This role is counselling so it involves taking notes which are uploaded onto the patient's medical file and I have to re-read notes before the next session to refresh my memory. It can be labour intensive as referrals etc. mean reading through the patient's notes to find certain bits of information. Quite often it means spending a lot of time researching the patient's condition and therapies or reading their medical notes. Basically it can be majority paperwork and not much actual phone call sometimes.
I felt victimised and became very distressed, The manager asked if I would provide them with a copy of my personal phone bill. I explain that I don't get one (sim only with giff gaff) but that I would try. He said this would "clear it up".
Manager said he isn't disputing that I did the work - he says he thinks I did it during my normal working hours, so basically he is saying I am claiming for 6-10pm but finished all my work before 6pm. (Sorry if this is confusing. I work 10-6 in my normal job, I was doing extra hours around my normal job, so 6-10pm, or 9-10am as well, these are the hours claiming for). So in other words, it's fraud because I wasn't working extra hours just doing extra work in normal hours.
Since coming home, I have discovered that giff gaff do not do itemised billing. I have emailed them (they don't have call centres) to see what they advise. I have screenshots to prove they don't do itemised billing and that I have emailed them.
I am now very concerned I will lose my job and go to prison for fraud because I cannot prove I made the calls (even though the calls are not the only part of the job). I can prove that notes were made and referrals made. I can't prove any time I spent researching, re-reading notes or making notes. I suffer with anxiety and this has made it so bad.
I should also mention I have worked there just over 2 years and in that time no disciplinaries at all. In fact, I am the "yes" person who does everything, I go above and beyond and have a good reputation amongst my team and patients. I have done bank work across 5 teams and work incredibly hard.
I wonder if the problem is the working time directive - i regularly worked over 48 hours for the first 4 months, but they only asked me to sign it a few weeks ago, could this be why they are trying to negate my hours?
In theory they could call all of my patients and ask them what time they are called by me, how often and how long we speak - but is that reliable? Some of them have been discharged and others are new, some rarely answer the phone, sometimes calls had to be ended (eg., if they were out and about not at home, or kids in the background etc), likewise some went way over an hour, it all varies...
sorry for the long post
I arrived and was told it was an informal chat for fact-finding and that HR was there to take notes. This manager is my manager's manager if that makes sense.
He proceeded to ask me about the bank work I had been doing for 2 different teams, how I found it, how it was conducted and what it involved (all very odd, he should have known what these teams do).
Extra hours are logged by me onto a sheet, emailed to the relevant manager, who signs them off and emails them to payroll. Nobody has ever questioned this although the manager for one team said HR had a problem with my hours a month ago, though nobody said what or told me.
He then showed me a printed word document which was taken from my work phone call logs. It was a list of the days I claimed to work, how many calls were made, what time and how long for.
My manager asked me to explain why on some days 0 calls were made, other days only very very brief calls, and other days the calls all made before 6pm (the hours I claimed were 6-10pm).
I explained the truth. My work phone is crap so I use my personal phone. I asked several times if this was not allowed and HR intervened and said it was not recommended. I pointed out that a lot of people use their personal phones in my ream, it's well known the work phones are crap. I further explained that if the phone is on speakerphone it works, which means I can make calls on that phone as long as I am somewhere private. Other times I get fed up of trying to be heard and disconnect the call then call from my personal phone. (these are mental health patients so confidentiality is key)
Manager clearly didn't believe this. I have claimed for 5 months at a total of approx £4,000 before tax.
The job for one team involves phone calls, a max of 20 min per person, with notes to be added onto a system. This accounts for probably under £500 over those months. I have an email from that manager saying on at least one occasion that even if I finished early she would put me down for the full shift. Some calls didn't answer, others were very brief, others well over an hour, it all depends. Notes can take me 5 mins each or way more, again depending.
The other job involves phone calls at no more than 1 hour per person (in reality can be anything from 10 min - 1 hour) but the admin work is significant and it can involve liaising with other agencies which my manager quite rightly pointed out can't be done at 6pm as these agencies are closed. This role is counselling so it involves taking notes which are uploaded onto the patient's medical file and I have to re-read notes before the next session to refresh my memory. It can be labour intensive as referrals etc. mean reading through the patient's notes to find certain bits of information. Quite often it means spending a lot of time researching the patient's condition and therapies or reading their medical notes. Basically it can be majority paperwork and not much actual phone call sometimes.
I felt victimised and became very distressed, The manager asked if I would provide them with a copy of my personal phone bill. I explain that I don't get one (sim only with giff gaff) but that I would try. He said this would "clear it up".
Manager said he isn't disputing that I did the work - he says he thinks I did it during my normal working hours, so basically he is saying I am claiming for 6-10pm but finished all my work before 6pm. (Sorry if this is confusing. I work 10-6 in my normal job, I was doing extra hours around my normal job, so 6-10pm, or 9-10am as well, these are the hours claiming for). So in other words, it's fraud because I wasn't working extra hours just doing extra work in normal hours.
Since coming home, I have discovered that giff gaff do not do itemised billing. I have emailed them (they don't have call centres) to see what they advise. I have screenshots to prove they don't do itemised billing and that I have emailed them.
I am now very concerned I will lose my job and go to prison for fraud because I cannot prove I made the calls (even though the calls are not the only part of the job). I can prove that notes were made and referrals made. I can't prove any time I spent researching, re-reading notes or making notes. I suffer with anxiety and this has made it so bad.
I should also mention I have worked there just over 2 years and in that time no disciplinaries at all. In fact, I am the "yes" person who does everything, I go above and beyond and have a good reputation amongst my team and patients. I have done bank work across 5 teams and work incredibly hard.
I wonder if the problem is the working time directive - i regularly worked over 48 hours for the first 4 months, but they only asked me to sign it a few weeks ago, could this be why they are trying to negate my hours?
In theory they could call all of my patients and ask them what time they are called by me, how often and how long we speak - but is that reliable? Some of them have been discharged and others are new, some rarely answer the phone, sometimes calls had to be ended (eg., if they were out and about not at home, or kids in the background etc), likewise some went way over an hour, it all varies...
sorry for the long post
)
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