Meeting prior to a disciplinary

[seanzshow]

Hi

A friend of mine at work has got into trouble for posting something on a social network, and may face disciplinary action. He has been told he must attend a meeting to discuss potential disciplinary procedures.

The problem is he has been told that he is not allowed a witness, not allowed to record the meeting or take notes and also not allowed to ask any questions or ask for any clarification regarding the "facts" that they are presenting.

Also that a record of the meeting will be kept on his file regardless of the outcome.

This seems pretty unfair to us all especially as none of this is outlined in our employee handbook, but was wondering what the legal rights are regarding this sort of meeting?

Many thanks

[Harmonica]

Re: Meeting prior to a disciplinary

They need to clarify whether or not this is an informal meeting or not. If it is informal then the employer does not need to allow the employee to be accompanied. If it is formal then the refusal to allow him to be accompanied puts the employer on shaky ground.

Despite the employer saying the meeting cannot be recorded, I would record it covertly anyway. It could still be admissible at an employment tribunal despite the employer having forbidden it. It's better to have the meeting recorded and not need it than to need it but not to have it .

[leclerc]

Re: Meeting prior to a disciplinary

Hi

A friend of mine at work has got into trouble for posting something on a social network, and may face disciplinary action. He has been told he must attend a meeting to discuss potential disciplinary procedures.
Surprisingly, I've kinda been there. Ensure that the post is deleted off the social media site if it is something that is NOT in the public domain. Remember that if something is in the public domain then they have a defence in law. However, if they did write something then they need to come into any meeting by stating that they deleted it, it was a moment of frustration and that they were unaware of any offence. Depends on situation btw.
The problem is he has been told that he is not allowed a witness, not allowed to record the meeting or take notes and also not allowed to ask any questions or ask for any clarification regarding the "facts" that they are presenting.


Also that a record of the meeting will be kept on his file regardless of the outcome.
Legally he has a right to a copy of any meeting notes including correcting anything that is inaccurate.
This seems pretty unfair to us all especially as none of this is outlined in our employee handbook, but was wondering what the legal rights are regarding this sort of meeting?

Many thanks

This might just be an investigating meeting. I would suggest that whatever they have written on social media should be deleted immediately and perhaps playing the dumb card might be in order, ie not aware of such and such. I would add that your friend needs to remember that anything work related should NEVER be on facebook unless it's positive. If you have a bad day at work, simply state, "thank god it's the weekend!" or simply say nothing and keep off social media.
Social media is used by some people to vent at the world and can be a tool that will get you sacked. I rarely use social media to comment on work unless it is very generic in nature.

[seanzshow]

Re: Meeting prior to a disciplinary

Yea its not particularly bad stuff he's put on FB and he's admitted it etc. The issue that...

he has been refused the right to ask questions

he's been told 5 people have complained about it - but not who they are or whether they are actually making a formal complaint or why they complained

Hes been told that he has none of these rights because the meeting is outside of disciplinary procedure - even though this type of meeting is described in the disciplinary procedure section of our staff handbook as the first step towards potential disciplinary action.

Neither of these things are procedures that have been highlighted in our handbook or raised with any member of staff before is a bit worrying to us all.

Do we have a right to have the full disciplinary procedure laid out for every member of staff to see. And if changes are made to this, is the company obligated to let us know. It seems like the moral stance is obviously they should, but not sure legally where we stand.

Cheers

[leclerc]

Re: Meeting prior to a disciplinary

Yea its not particularly bad stuff he's put on FB and he's admitted it etc. The issue that...

he has been refused the right to ask questions

he's been told 5 people have complained about it - but not who they are or whether they are actually making a formal complaint or why they complained
Remind him that that means that 5 people he has friended on facebook are not his friends. In my case, I knew who did it because I am very picky who I get on facebook. He has one of two choices, either claim moment of madness which he regrets. Having a bad day, etc, etc,. What I posted myself was that part of a supervisor's job was BS. The rest of it was pretty bad but was all in the public domain(because I knew I had a defence to that part ).

Hes been told that he has none of these rights because the meeting is outside of disciplinary procedure - even though this type of meeting is described in the disciplinary procedure section of our staff handbook as the first step towards potential disciplinary action.
It sounds like an investigation meeting, and if any notes are taken he should ask for a copy of them but I think he needs to go into it on the basis that he made a mistake(I hope he has never done this before and that what he wrote did not breach confidentiality either).

Neither of these things are procedures that have been highlighted in our handbook or raised with any member of staff before is a bit worrying to us all.

Do we have a right to have the full disciplinary procedure laid out for every member of staff to see. And if changes are made to this, is the company obligated to let us know. It seems like the moral stance is obviously they should, but not sure legally where we stand.

Cheers

Full disciplinary processes should be in the contract and/or staff handbook. Worth checking if he has the up to date one. Has he been suspended from work?

[seanzshow]

Re: Meeting prior to a disciplinary

Yes we got them to send the most up to date handbook out to the staff - all but 3 have never seen it before and it contains nothing about these disciplinary procedures.

No not suspended, nothing confidential. It happened because our CEO sent an email saying he was giving everyone on minimum wage a payrise, but it was actually that minimum wage went up. Ten people complained about the letter! The post was saying Thanks for following the law!

Does anybody know of anywhere the basics of employees legal rights in a disciplinary situation are set out?

Cheers

[leclerc]

Re: Meeting prior to a disciplinary

Yes we got them to send the most up to date handbook out to the staff - all but 3 have never seen it before and it contains nothing about these disciplinary procedures.

No not suspended, nothing confidential. It happened because our CEO sent an email saying he was giving everyone on minimum wage a payrise, but it was actually that minimum wage went up. Ten people complained about the letter! The post was saying Thanks for following the law!

Does anybody know of anywhere the basics of employees legal rights in a disciplinary situation are set out?

Cheers

What exactly did he say? Take out names btw.....