Suspension and disciplinary from work

[Guest]

Hi,

I'm looking for advice I'm devastated.

I work as an advocate for a company where management are sociopaths and treat lower down staff like dirt. I have been in the Job only 8 months but have been applying for other companies doing the same job as I love the work and making a difference to peoples lives but I cannot stay with this company because of the way management treat employees.

I had to follow my companies safeguarding process last week following an allegation from a young person and I followed the policy and I phoned my manager and asked her advice straight after the visit and followed her instruction. This was last thing on a Friday following a bank Holiday weekend. The safeguarding lead did not seem to pick this up until the following Tuesday at 4pm when she emailed me questions and said she will do a LADO referral and cc'd me in to correspondence with the young persons residence safeguarding lead where she states she is unhappy with how they have dealt with it. She asked me to get more info from them for this referral which I did.

Roll on to yesterday and I get a call from the safeguarding lead at my work (I work remotely my works office is 40 miles from me) telling me I am being suspended and disciplinary action is being taken against me. She told me to cancel my appointments for the day and email me next weeks diary commitments then turn off my laptop and phone and wait till Monday when a 'support person' from my company (another manager) will call me. I asked what on earth for and she said she is not going to tell me.

I emailed from my personal email after and asked for this in writing plus reasons and she did not reply. At 6.30pm Friday evening she emailed all staff with asking them to urgently read and confirm reading of the 'updated' allegations policy and instructions on what to do if you hear an allegation and that there are NO EXCEPTIONS.

She told me I have a meeting on Wednesday and that is all she has told me.
I'm absolutely devastated I love my job and work so hard for the young people and feel I reported the safeguarding concern as I was trained to do and also my manager Confirmed this was what I was to do.

Can they dismiss me for this? To me it feels they are using me as a scapegoat for their own mess up. I am so angry. I'm so scared I will lose my job and how I will find another job if they sack me, without a reference, and I am confused where I stand legally on this.

I would be so grateful for any advice. Thankyou in advance.

[Retromau5]

Who was the alligation that triggered the whole process made against?

[Guest]

A staff member at the young persons residence

[Retromau5]

I feel there are a few issues with this. How can they state disciplinary action will be taken against you if there has been no investigation? Already the process is unfair. Plus if your suspended you're supposed to be given a letter/email explaining it, and that it's not being used as a form of punishment. I'd also be very wary of the 'support person' too. If they're asking you questions about an incident, that's an investigation, and again they're supposed to inform you by letter/email beforehand, which should state the nature of the alleged misconduct.

Someone is trying to cover a failing up by what you have said. You need to write down everything you did. Who you called, when you called them, what was said, how you responded. I'd also obtain copies of the email conversations you had too.

[Guest]

Thanks for this. Yes it feels very suspicious and highly unprofessional. On my company's disciplinary policy it states suspension is only used for gross misconduct when it is deemed unsafe for the person to continue their work? I am going to tell the 'support person' respectfully I do not wish to have support from my company and will source my own via Unison.
I am also going to get my GP to sign me off tomorrow with stress and mental health distress they have caused me as I have not slept barely since and am going out of my mind.

Would you think I would already have a legal case against them? Obviously I will have to wait until the meeting on Wednesday but no matter the outcome surely I have a case?

Also what can i do if they are refusing to put it in writing to me? Can I refuse to attend the meeting on Wednesday?

Many thanks for your help you have no idea how much it helps.

[Retromau5]

Why would you refuse the meeting on Wednesday? You haven't done anything wrong and it would be a good time to ask your own questions to find out what is going on. Be direct, ask why the allegations policy was updated as this is highly suspicious. If its a one to one meeting (with no note taker) then I would politely decline any questions about the incedent ("I'm sorry, but as I've been told this is a disciplinary matter, I don't think it would be appropriate to discuss this") remember if you discuss things with someone outside of any investigation, that person has the potential to be a witness.

As for the potential for a legal case against them you'd need to speak to someone more qualified than myself for that. My experience comes through workplace disciplinary processes as management (lower, I might add), but I can definitely see issues with this process so far. Just take one step at a time. You may be cleared of any misconduct with a decision of 'no further action needed', but an organisation has a duty to investigation and allegations of misconduct. Whether they get the whole process right is down to them, and if they don't it'll definitely work to your advantage at some point.

[ULA]

With regard to the process for suspension your employer should follow-up as quickly as possible after the suspension, either fact-to-face, by phone or video call to answer any immediate questions regarding the suspension. Ideally this should be followed up in writing but it is not a legal requirement. Any written correspondence should set out that you are suspended but not for disciplinary reasons and the suspension does not mean a decision has been made that you have done something wrong. It should detail the circumstances surrounding the suspension, and why they believe suspension is necessary. Information should be given about your rights during suspension (such as entitlement to usual pay and benefits). The correspondence should detail how long the suspension is scheduled to last and what the next steps are. Details may also be provided regarding when there will be the opportunity to meet with whoever is conducting the investigation, which from your post has been set for Wednesday.

I would certainly add that from my perspective you should attend and that you should be open and honest when answering any questions but do go prepared with anything that you may want to raise to understand better what is going on.

The reference to the support person is likely to be the individual who you can contact whilst you are suspended.