Help! Falsely accused of gross misconduct!

[Tomking]

Hello,

i hope you can help me with something which I causing me a great deal of stress and anxiety.

i am currently suspend from work and face charges of bully (gross misconduct) which I deny. 2 members of my team have provided statements to say that I have carried out subtle forms of bullying. They say this has been constant and they have witnesses to prove it. How ever they have given very few examples, a stare is the worst, but used phrases like 'made my life a living hell' 'invisible cloud of controling' 'I don't want to come into work' etc. witnesses have been called and have stated than the nah vent seen anything, the person I question has sat on yeh same bank of desks for as us for over 8 months day I day out.

Interestingly, it wasn't the 2 people who raised the query first, they were asked to go to hr and give statements randomly. Which I don't understand. They were also asked to do this together, ie in the same room not individually.

als when I was interviewed by hr, just me and the hr person, they were very rude sarcastic and intimedating. Their behaviour brought me to tears in fact.


The the tort does run a little deeper, but I will leave that for now.


I suspect foul play, what do you think?

[Harmonica]

Re: Help! Falsely accused of gross misconduct!

They were also asked to do this together, ie in the same room not individually.

Can you prove this? If so it would be a start of a defence. This would not be proper procedure. You could infer that they were being 'coached' by HR/Management.

[Tomking]

Re: Help! Falsely accused of gross misconduct!

Yes, there is a copy of the investigation notes. In these notes it also shows that one of the people leads the other I.e reminds them of a situation.


I have have lots evidence to prove their allegations are false. I.e emails, texts etc. they have produced nothing, apart from a witness who being see anything. I also have recordings of the 2 meetings in which the Hr person used improper conduct. I have produced transcripts of both meets and provided them to the hr person and md who will be chairing the meeting. However they refuse to acknowledge them. I have sought advice from acas and ico who have confined that I was within my right to do this and the recording is admissible as evidence soho ups this matter go further. I plan to raise a grievance against the hr person.

at this stage the only thing they can accuse me of is maybe being a poor manager, however I have never asked to be a man manager i have been given staff. I have been promised training but it's never happened.


because of my inexperience I have always gone to hr for advice to ensure I do thing by the book. I am now being pulled up by hr for the things they have told my to do. But, why would I obviously want todo things right, plus provide all the training, and then go a bully somebody?

[enquirer]

Re: Help! Falsely accused of gross misconduct!

As Harmonica points out, evidence of collusion could be fatal for them. Have you checked through their statements to see if they are too alike?

Attack is probably the best form of defence here, so go ahead and raise a greivance.

[Tomking]

Re: Help! Falsely accused of gross misconduct!

Thank you for your reply so far, it's really appreciated. I think, as you say, I will go on the atack.

I think its Deff going to get messy. My union rep does seem to worried about it all. However I haven't spoken to him in any great detail yet. He seems to think we'll discussed it half an hour before the hearing, is this normal? I must say though acas have been superb!

another note, I had to go into the office last week to print some emails I will be using to support my case. I was supervised the whole time, and I was made to sit in a open environment with lots of people walking past, inc one of the people who put in the complaint. Is this normal?

also, apologies for the poor gramer spelling etc. I IPhone has a habit of changing things

[enquirer]

Re: Help! Falsely accused of gross misconduct!

I think its Deff going to get messy. My union rep does seem to worried about it all. However I haven't spoken to him in any great detail yet. He seems to think we'll discussed it half an hour before the hearing, is this normal?

No - it's appallingly sloppy. Consider replacing them.

... I had to go into the office last week to print some emails I will be using to support my case. I was supervised the whole time, and I was made to sit in a open environment with lots of people walking past, inc one of the people who put in the complaint. Is this normal?

Not entirely appropriate, perhaps.

[Tomking]

Advice regarding settlement figure

So I have now had my disciplinary meeting for the alleged grips misconduct. The meeting ended with the organisation deciding there isn't a case to answer, however due to the way the investigation took place, the company believes that the relationship between me and them cannot be repaired. As such they are considering offering me a payment to leave the company which will include a flowing reference. The problem is I don't know how much would be acceptable. 6months pay, 12 months pay etc etc I just don't know. Any ideas?

[cupidstunt]

Re: Advice regarding settlement figure

I think it's worked out the same way as redundancy payments.

[SpringerSpaniel]

Re: Advice regarding settlement figure

In a similar situation, someone who asked me for advice got a year's salary.

You should think in terms of how long it is realistically likely to take to obtain new employment in your industry in the present market conditions. Aim if negotiating for an amount which will maintain your present/recent income for this period, plus perhaps something extra in respect of the process you've been through.

[Harmonica]

Re: Advice regarding settlement figure

Can an employer actually do this? Simply say that the relationship is beyond repair and pay someone to leave? What happens if the employee refuses to accept this payment stating that they simply want to remain in their job?

[seduraed]

Re: Advice regarding settlement figure

The most lkely result is that they will make your life hell and look for ways to get rid of you so you wont gwtthe severance pay.

[Tools]

Re: Help! Falsely accused of gross misconduct!

They are offering you what was previously known as a compromise agreement, now called a settlement agreement. This is legally binding and usually comes with strict conditions such as the inability to later raise an tribunal claim, confidentiality etc.

There are no hard and fast fomulae to calculate amounts but as a guide the following need to be taken into consideration.

• How long you have worked there
• Your notice period
• What outstanding holidays you have
• Your annual salary
• Your attendance and performance in the company
• Your age ( and likely employment prospects elsewhere )
• How much disruption it would cause should you bring a tribunal claim
• What company benefits you would lose, car, healthcare, any other benefits etc

Answer the above and we can make suggestions as to how much/what conditions you could request and anything else you can think of and suggestions can be made to help you calculate

[Tomking]

Re: Help! Falsely accused of gross misconduct!

This matter is almost resolved thanks to those which have responded, it's been really appreciated.

i do have a couple more queries. When employment is terminated in this fashion what date is used to calculate outstanding wages etc.

also, if I was to say that 'he demanded a lot from those he relied upon' in a reference how would you interpret that?