Disciplinary Hearing with no Evidence or idea what is going on

[Guest]

I have been in my job for approximately 4 months and work in a call centre in the financial sector.
I am a permanent staff member however I am still on probation as probation is a 6 month period.

I received a letter a few days ago which took me by surprise and the letter was inviting me to a disciplinary hearing. The letter stated I had committed gross misconduct and allegations had been finalised against me. The letter also stated that copies of evidence and a management report is included and enclosed with the letter, which it was not.

I asked my manager if I can please have these enclosed documents, so that I can understand what gross misconduct I have caused. The manager refused and said they were not going to disclose any information to me. I asked again and mentioned that the letter says that the documents should have been enclosed. The manager promised to print them out, but then returned to me later to say that I was denied any information about the hearing and that I will know on the day of the hearing.

The letter was given to me on Friday, I worked on Friday and Saturday and was off on Sunday, I now have to work on Monday and Tuesday and the meeting is on Tuesday.
I've contacted various people including ACAS that told me that it is illegal for the manager to deny me the evidence that is being used against me before the hearing.
I've contacted HR to ask them to ask the manager to send me the documents, HR then agreed to contact the manager, the manager then again refused a second time the next day and stated that the letter was wrong.


I noticed problems with the Disciplinary Hearing Letter also: The letter is not signed. The letter has spelt my name wrong, the letter states I have committed consistent gross misconduct yet they are still allowing me to work, placed me to work on Bank holiday and also throughout the weekend and this is in a financial institution, on top of being denied any information whatsoever about what the entire hearing is about!

I've been suffering from a lot of stress from this but trying my hardest to deal with it. I've never been absent, I was told my work was excellent recently and this is completely contradictory to anything that has been told to me previously.

Not knowing what this is, is making me anxious about working and confused with what action to take.
I have never ever had a disciplinary in my life and I've never been absent in this job, I am still in training and I've had no feedback or any clue to what I have done wrong

Please could someone help me or shed some light on the best action to take?

Many thanks

[dogtired]

Re: Disciplinary Hearing with no Evidence or idea what is going on

Hello, and welcome, hopefully someone with knowledge will be along to help you.

[Guest]

Re: Disciplinary Hearing with no Evidence or idea what is going on

Hi dogtired,

Nice to meet you, thanks for the welcoming post :beagle2222:

[Johnboy007]

Re: Disciplinary Hearing with no Evidence or idea what is going on

Hi,
If this is a genuine letter from your company, then they are not carrying out any recognised disciplinary procedure.
If it is decided that there is a disciplinary case to answer, the employee should be notified of this in writing. This notification should contain sufficient information about the alleged misconduct or poor performance and its possible consequences to enable the employee to prepare to answer the case at a disciplinary meeting. It would normally be appropriate to provide copies of any written evidence, which may include any witness statements, with the notification.
The notification should also give details of the time and venue for the disciplinary meeting and advise the employee of their right to be accompanied at the meeting.

You should now put in a grievance to the manager concerned........
I have drafted a letter below which you can copy and paste into word, filling in the required details.

FAO: (name of manager) (name of company)
(date)
I am in receipt of what is apparently, an unsigned company letter, inviting me to a disciplinary meeting.
The meeting is to discuss allegations of consistent gross misconduct, made against me.
Despite several requests to you for clarification of the allegations, nothing has been forthcoming.
In refusing my requests, the company are acting outside of the ACAS code of practice on disciplinary procedures.
While the company are not bound by legislation to follow the code, an employment tribunal will take this into consideration, if the company fails to do so.
The .gov.uk web site states,
Your employer should put their disciplinary procedure in writing, and make it easily available to all staff.
It should say what performance and behaviour might lead to disciplinary action and what action your employer might take.
It should also include the name of someone you can speak to if you don’t agree with your employer’s disciplinary decision.

The letter I received does not cover any of these issues.
I understand that gross misconduct is a dismissal offence in almost all circumstances in a company.
As the company have not given me the requested details, I am therefore unable to prepare a defence, which is my right.
Could you now, as a matter of urgency, please forward the required details as requested previously.
Signed (your name)

I think that the letter you received is someone's sick idea of a joke, or it may have more sinister motives.
Maybe to coerce you (to force to act or think in a certain way by use of pressure, threats, or intimidation) into doing something that you wouldn't normally do.
It would also explain why you are still being allowed to work, and why you have not received any details of allegations.
Is there any chance you could post the letter on here (deleting personal details)Or you could send me a private message.
It may be necessary to show this letter to a higher manager or even the CEO himself.
Keep a copy of all letters. Keep the original letter that you received.
One question....... Did you get this letter in the post, or was it handed to you, and by who?

[Guest]

Re: Disciplinary Hearing with no Evidence or idea what is going on

Hi Johnboy007,

Thank you for your response, PM has been sent with the letter enclosed. I was given the letter in person by my manager in an envelope on Friday in the afternoon just after I started my shift.
I wish she had given it to me after my shift as I found it difficult to work after that from stress.

The manager's name on the letter is not my manager however, it is another.
My family think I should still attend the hearing to find out what it is that I have done, or do you think I should take another avenue to this situation?
I'm really worried about going to work today
I don't even think I should be working, I'm not sure if I will keep doing something wrong. Makes me nervous thinking I could be making things worse.
I asked my manager if I should even be at work or suspended, but she said that I have to work and I need to pull myself together.

[Johnboy007]

Re: Disciplinary Hearing with no Evidence or idea what is going on

Hi Johnboy007,

Thank you for your response, PM has been sent with the letter enclosed. I was given the letter in person by my manager in an envelope on Friday in the afternoon just after I started my shift.
I wish she had given it to me after my shift as I found it difficult to work after that from stress.

The manager's name on the letter is not my manager however, it is another.
My family think I should still attend the hearing to find out what it is that I have done, or do you think I should take another avenue to this situation?
I'm really worried about going to work today
I don't even think I should be working, I'm not sure if I will keep doing something wrong. Makes me nervous thinking I could be making things worse.
I asked my manager if I should even be at work or suspended, but she said that I have to work and I need to pull myself together.

Hi,
I have answered your PM.
Just give the letter to the manager who is conducting the meeting.
Try to do this before the meeting.
Out of interest, did you have an induction, before starting work for this company?
Were you also given any training?

[Guest]

Re: Disciplinary Hearing with no Evidence or idea what is going on

Hello,
I was given an induction and 3 weeks of training before starting work, then moved onto in-work training which is where I am now. I was told recently that I'm doing very well in my work which completely contradicts the letter, I keep trying to think what I could have done wrong, under 'gross misconduct' I have not even been warned beforehand (for example first warning or spoken warning) just immediately gross misconduct. It also states in the employee handbook that any disciplinary hearings must notify members of staff with any information of the allegations.
It does seem very out of character. I feel like someone is playing a joke on me as you mentioned. When I cried in work the managers just told me to get on with it.

[Johnboy007]

Re: Disciplinary Hearing with no Evidence or idea what is going on

This is all very strange really........
So who is this other manager?
And if it states in the company handbook, any disciplinary hearings must notify members of staff with any information of the allegations.
Then the company have acted outside of their own procedure and you should point that out to them.
Acting outside of a procedure should be automatic dismissal of the allegations.
At least it would be if I was defending you.
One thing I will warn you about is the fact that the company may just dismiss you anyway.
You have to be working for a company for two years or more to be able to go to a tribunal in most cases.

[Kati]

Re: Disciplinary Hearing with no Evidence or idea what is going on

I agree with Johnboy007 ... it sound like the company have not followed protocol at all. To formulate a defence/response to a charge of gross misconduct you need to have all the 'facts' in front of you beforehand.
Have you been told when the meeting is??
Were you informed of any 'problems' before you got the letter??

I think a formal complaint due to the fact you have had no information regarding your upcoming disciplinary. You have no idea what you have done wrong (if anything). You have not been given any details at all.

The letter, to me, sounds like it has not been sent properly. As Johnboy007 says,

"If it is decided that there is a disciplinary case to answer, the employee should be notified of this in writing. This notification should contain sufficient information about the alleged misconduct or poor performance and its possible consequences to enable the employee to prepare to answer the case at a disciplinary meeting. It would normally be appropriate to provide copies of any written evidence, which may include any witness statements, with the notification.
The notification should also give details of the time and venue for the disciplinary meeting and advise the employee of their right to be accompanied at the meeting."

[Guest]

Re: Disciplinary Hearing with no Evidence or idea what is going on

This is all very strange really........
So who is this other manager?
And if it states in the company handbook, any disciplinary hearings must notify members of staff with any information of the allegations.
Then the company have acted outside of their own procedure and you should point that out to them.
Acting outside of a procedure should be automatic dismissal of the allegations.
At least it would be if I was defending you.
One thing I will warn you about is the fact that the company may just dismiss you anyway.
You have to be working for a company for two years or more to be able to go to a tribunal in most cases.

The other manager is another that works in the same department but I've never had any association to him until this letter. I wonder if there is a connection or he is just helping to deal with it, but I'm not sure as I've been denied any information at all about what is going on. Completely in the dark about everything
I don't think I want to work with people who are treating me in this manner, maybe it will be a good thing as much as anything bad if I was dismissed. I am having a hard time coping with the stress whilst still attending work knowing this is hanging over me tomorrow. You are right, the sad fact is that I just haven't been there long enough to help myself, even if they are wrong.

[Guest]

Re: Disciplinary Hearing with no Evidence or idea what is going on

Hi Kati,

The meeting is tomorrow, if I was informed of any problems I would be in a much better state than I am now, but no, they've completely left me in the dark Kati, I have absolutely no idea what I've done.

I've asked repeatedly to my manager and even other managers what the problem is and they have all replied ''We are not to discuss this further, you will find out on Tuesday, just deal with it''
I can't believe this is even happening still. My family actually laughed about things when I first told them a how ridiculous and unprofessional they are treating me.
I've never had this before, this has come as a complete shock, more so at what seems the incompetence than the threat of allegations against me.
You're both right, something needs to be done about this, I've written a letter to get me started, this all feels very wrong. I need to know so 1) I can do my very best to put things right in my last time there and 2) they should do things properly if they want to get rid of me and treat me at least like a human being.

[Johnboy007]

Re: Disciplinary Hearing with no Evidence or idea what is going on

Just make sure you give a copy of that letter to the manager concerned, as soon as possible.
It should put them on the defensive, rather than the offensive.

[Kati]

Re: Disciplinary Hearing with no Evidence or idea what is going on

One problem I can see, is that if you are dismissed (or leave of your own accord) without another job to walk straight in to you will be unable to claim JSA for the first six weeks
You need to make sure you either record or write down everything that is said in the meeting tomorrow. Do you have someone you can take with you for support??

[Guest]

Re: Disciplinary Hearing with no Evidence or idea what is going on

Just make sure you give a copy of that letter to the manager concerned, as soon as possible.
It should put them on the defensive, rather than the offensive.

Our plan was just to wait and see what it is they are allegating me over tomorrow, or is that a bad idea?
Because if they are not giving me any information, maybe it is something completely silly?
I did get the names of the regional manager and 3 high supervisors though that I can distribute the letter to, but this will be something I'm going to save until later.
I just want to know what it is I've done.

[Guest]

Re: Disciplinary Hearing with no Evidence or idea what is going on

That is true Kati, it's ok though I will be fine if I am dismissed as they have not done this properly and I'm lucky I've got support behind me and was good with my savings.
It is so nasty though because what if I had kids or I was paying bills, think of how much this could harm someone, even I am suffering from a large amount of stress because of this but I cannot imagine what it would be like for someone relying on this job for their livings. I suppose it just matters that it seems like someone is playing a game or made a big mistake somewhere in the process.
I am thinking of just going into the meeting tomorrow and seeing what they throw at me. I'm confident enough that I've not done anything wrong or they would have highlighted it to me.