Disiplinary Hearing

[Wendy1985]

Good morning all,

I'm looking for some advice for my father. He is going through a disiplinery hearing at work this Friday that could lead to his dismisal over an incident and to be honest i don't think the company is following proper employment law procedures. I just wanted to get some opinions on the matter.

Last month my father was assaulted by someone (nothing too serious, he was pushed to the ground, bruised and rather embarresed it happened). The attack was un provoked and the police were called, who have CCTV footage showing it wasn't my dads fault. This happened while he was working. He left his works vehcile to pop into a nearby building where they had public toilets. He asked if he could use them but because of the attack, never got too.

Last week he was called into the office for an investigateive meeting about the incident. He was not writtern to, to advise that this meeting was being minuted and he wasn't given the oppertunity to have a union member present. He was told it was an inform chat. The meeting was held by the area manager and the minutes were done my a lady who works in payroll/admin rather than a member of HR. The are of very poor quality and quite hard to read. Over the weekend he recieved another letter advising him that he was being summoned to a displinery meeting this Friday because he left the keys in the ignition of the vehile he was using for about 15 minutes while the incident took place.

What the area manager hasnt acertained is that the vehile wasn't abandoned for 15 minutes. It took about 4 minutes from the time he left it to when the attack happened. He then got up and left the building as the attacker was still inside and sat back in the machine untill the police arrived. As he was cold (partly from shock) he kept the ignition on so the heater was working while he spoke to the police).

The said company have tracking devices in all their machines which are meant to be used if they are stolen, broken down or in the event of a serious accident. however the company are currently using the devices to track employees movements such as how long they remain stationary, when machines are switched on and off etc... and how long they remain idle. Is this against any particular employee rights?

The company are currently saying that the attack wasn't work related (despite him being in work uniform, being in the middle of his work day and considering they they paid him for a week off sick to recover) and they don't seem to want to take responsibility for the general care of there workers. They also failed to check he was okay after the assualt (despite paramedics attending and later in the week a trip to hospital). He was make to drive his vehicle back to work, despite being in pain.

Are there any time scales which should be adhered to regarding these types of procedures? The incident occured on the 7th May and his hearing is on the 20th June.... thats over 6 weeks.

Any advice would be welcomed. Thanks inadvance.

Kind regards

Wendy

[stowsettler]

Re: Disiplinary Hearing

Big disclaimer - I am no expert and there are many on this site who are. But, this is my take on things:-

If the meeting your dad was called to was an informal one then I don't think they can move straight to a disciplinary hearing. First they will need to conduct a formal investigation and possibly even have a formal investigatory meeting with your father. Does he have a copy of their disciplinary procedure? He needs to ask for a copy.

I'm not clear - did your dad leave the keys in the van for any time at all? Because if he did, IMHO, that would be gross misconduct. I used to work for a delivery company and we had so many vehicles stolen because drivers did this.

On the face of it, it's ludicrous of the company to suggest that your dad's attack was not work-related. On what grounds are they saying this?

I'm afraid I'm not sure about the checking up thing, although I doubt there would be any laws against companies making sure remote-working employees are doing their jobs.

I'm sorry your dad had such a nasty experience - hope he's on the road to recovery now.

[Wendy1985]

Re: Disiplinary Hearing

Hi Thanks for taking the time to reply.

The meeting in which he appeared for and was told was a quick chat was an offical investigation meeting. He wasn't aware this was taking place he literally got asked to pop into the office at the end of a normal working shift via a phone call that afternoon to find that it was being minuted and that the area manager was there, but there was no member of HR and he wasn't given time to prepare of to provide support in the form of a union rep or a work collegue.

Yes the keys were left in the ignition for about 4 minutes.... this wouldn't have happened if the attack hadn't taken place. As he was literally popping his head in the door to see if he could use their toilet, he was then going to go turn the machine off but never got that far. The vehcile was parked within eye sight the entire time (about 4 meters away if that). I realise that he can't get out of that, as i agree it was a silly thing to do. But it feels like the area manager is victimising him. The underlying tone of the meeting minutes from the investigation meeting is terrible. The area manager comes across as very abrupt rather condesending. (I realise i am bias but even i would have expected a more profssional tone/conduct).

They have a tendency as a company to ignore regular HR policies. My dad is part of a union and they have already said they are currently fighting three other cases against the firm for similuar things where they have said that an accident or injury are not work related when they were done in works time or on works equipmet. Anyway I digress, he has been told that there will be a disiplinery meeting on Friday but the letter that he was issued says it between him, the lady who minuted last time and the main manager. Am i correct in thinking that an official member of HR should be there to vitness/record this hearing? The lady doing the minutes is not a manager or anything to do with HR, therefore she should be there as it should be private and confidential between my father, HR and his direct line manager?

Thank you, he was very shaken up and in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Police wanted to arrest the man in question but as he was a first time offender and there were no visible marks at the time. They said that he would get away with a warning. The hospital later advise that dad had internal bruising and would suffer more discomfort as he has COPD and enlarged lungs.

[Wendy1985]

Re: Disiplinary Hearing

Hi Thanks for taking the time to reply.

The meeting in which he appeared for and was told was a quick chat was an offical investigation meeting. He wasn't aware this was taking place he literally got asked to pop into the office at the end of a normal working shift via a phone call that afternoon to find that it was being minuted and that the area manager was there, but there was no member of HR and he wasn't given time to prepare of to provide support in the form of a union rep or a work collegue.

Yes the keys were left in the ignition for about 4 minutes.... this wouldn't have happened if the attack hadn't taken place. As he was literally popping his head in the door to see if he could use their toilet, he was then going to go turn the machine off but never got that far. The vehcile was parked within eye sight the entire time (about 4 meters away if that). I realise that he can't get out of that, as i agree it was a silly thing to do. But it feels like the area manager is victimising him. The underlying tone of the meeting minutes from the investigation meeting is terrible. The area manager comes across as very abrupt rather condesending. (I realise i am bias but even i would have expected a more profssional tone/conduct).

They have a tendency as a company to ignore regular HR policies. My dad is part of a union and they have already said they are currently fighting three other cases against the firm for similuar things where they have said that an accident or injury are not work related when they were done in works time or on works equipmet. Anyway I digress, he has been told that there will be a disiplinery meeting on Friday but the letter that he was issued says it between him, the lady who minuted last time and the main manager. Am i correct in thinking that an official member of HR should be there to vitness/record this hearing? The lady doing the minutes is not a manager or anything to do with HR, therefore she shouldn't be there as it should be private and confidential between my father, HR and his direct line manager?

Thank you, he was very shaken up and in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Police wanted to arrest the man in question but as he was a first time offender and there were no visible marks at the time. They said that he would get away with a warning. The hospital later advise that dad had internal bruising and would suffer more discomfort as he has COPD and enlarged lungs.

[stowsettler]

Re: Disiplinary Hearing

OK, first thing - he needs a copy of the disciplinary policy. They definitely haven't followed best practice; but whether they are in breach of any policy depends on the actual policy.

What should happen is something like this:

If the initial meeting was informal and the policy states that an investigation process will happen first, there are usually set procedures within that process which must be followed:
- a person who is as neutral as possible (but is obviously hardly ever going to be completely neutral) should be appointed to carry out an investigation.

- they must carry out that investigation, which may include interviewing your dad.

- they should then compile a report, a copy of which your dad is entitled to.

- if the report decides that there are grounds for disciplinary proceedings your dad should get a letter informing him of this, giving him at least 5 days' notice. The letter should clearly state his right to be accompanied at the meeting.

The very fact that the first meeting was minuted suggests to me that they are not following appropriate procedure. That said, it would be perfectly correct to have a record of the meeting, and what was said, on file.

You say your dad is in a union; it sounds like they know only too well what this company is like. Ultimately, if they do not follow their own disciplinary procedure then your dad does have, on the face of it, a case for unfair dismissal (if it comes to that, and he's been an employee for more than 2 years).

[stowsettler]

Re: Disiplinary Hearing

Just realised you said the first meeting was in fact an investigation meeting - he should have been informed of that in advance.

Incidentally, after any disciplinary hearing, and assuming it doesn't go your dad's way, he does have the right to appeal any decision. His appeal should be heard by a different person from within the organisation. If he is still dismissed (if that is the decision) it is then that he considers claiming for unfair dismissal. the key thing from your dad's point of view is that he follows procedure to the letter and tries every internal avenue to resolve the situation.

I must confess however - the keys thing is a big problem, regardless of how long they were left for, or where your dad was.