Suspended from work

[Redfoo1900]

Hi,

Last Wednesday, 23rd March I came into work, was shuffled upstairs and told I was being suspended pending an investigation due to an allegation made against me. I was told I would be contacted the next day regarding this and not to contact anyone at work.

The next day I received a letter via email saying I had been suspended due to allegations of grosse misconduct, inappropriate behaviour and misuse of company equipment.

Since then I have not been contacted at all to advise what is happening, offered any support or even told what the allegations are. I have rang them numerous times and when I have spoken to someone they said someone will be in contact soon. I have had messages from work colleagues saying there are rumours going around that I have been racist and threatening to kill someone. My mental health is suffering, I can’t sleep, eat and feel like I have been abandoned with no support. I can’t defend myself because I don’t even know what I am supposed to have done.

Does anyone have any advice please?

[atticus]

If your employer is following a proper procedure, at this stage they are investigating things. If they consider that this should lead to a disciplinary process, then they should inform of the complaints and the evidence against you.

You may find it helpful to read the guides on the ACAS site: https://www.acas.org.uk/disciplinary...nce-procedures

[ULA]

Sorry to hear about your situation, being put on suspension can be very stressful as often the company is not able to communicate much whilst they are carrying out the investigation.

For some explanation which may help you understand the processs, 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/s first and from which a decision will then be made as to whether to carry out any disciplinary action. In your case they have given you a brief explanation of what those allegations are.

As part of the process you may be asked to attend a meeting for which you should be provided notice and time to prepare given that you should have already been informed of the reasons for the suspension. The purpose of this is for you to answer any questions that the investigator may have and respond to the allegations that have been made. This quite often happens towards the end of the investigation once for example other interviews with work relevant work colleagues have taken place or any documentation related to the allegations have been reviewed. You may even be asked to attend more than one interview.

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 have been suspended that includes:

• 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

It should also be 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 this provides some advice on the process but please come back to this thread if you have any further questions or need some guidance as things progress.