Tweet
I will try to keep to the main points. I was employed until recently by the same Department for 38 years with an impeccable work history. I have been fortunate to have never taken any time off work sick, I have always achieved my targets and have never had any cause for concern, I have never had any complaints made against me by the public and I have always treated everyone with whom I had dealings with respect and fairly.
in December 2013 I was taking 4 weeks holiday and was travelling out of the country. Two days prior to my leave I was advised that I was to be relocated, along with three other members of my team of in excess of 30 staff this was without consultation and was discriminatory because we had simply been selected with no particular criteria being considered. I attempted to resolve the matter with my manager at the time but he would not discuss. I had no alternative but to put in a grievance. On my return the TU had been involved the matter had escalated through the others affected and the relocation had been put on hold.
Whilst I was away and out of the country my manager had decided to put a malicious allegation to the internal investigation team relating to me. ( that part of the investigation, that he had made was unproven ) however as is normal in all referrals of this matter all aspects of your duties are looked at and I was subsequently interviewed formally in April 2014. At the interview it was originally suggested that I had fabricated visits, falsely claimed expenses, inflated mileage and not carried out instructions to stop customers money if they had failed to attend interview or had had not made themselves available.
My manager had also been formally interviewed in March 2014. I had asked for a colleague to accompany me to the interview but was declined and advised that I could take a TUrep. I was aware that I had been claiming expenses in accordance with a business case that had been put forward and agreed at a Senior Team meeting and held emails to confirm this so I was not too perturbed about attending the meeting ( my role in the Department had been in the past to investigate staff matters ) I attended the meeting by myself.
The lead investigator was bullying me and dismissive of my evidence in fact refusing to take it from me. I was not asked about the fabricated visits however I was asked about the expenses that had been claimed which I was able to explain and support with the emails that I held. It was put to me that I had inflated mileage ( an issue that I took up on this forum prior to my Appeal ) and that I had not suspended customers benefit. I pointed out to the investigators that the legislation changed during the period that they were looking at and that some of the cases that I had been dealing were in excess of two years old.
I was told not to discuss the matter with anyone within the Department ( my wife is also employed in the same Department) other than a TU rep. my colleague was moved to another office and unknown to me was also interviewed in July.
In September I was called to a Disciplinary meeting regarding the fabrication of visits, not following guidance ( not stopping benefit) not deducting a home to office deduction when making expenses applications, inflating mileage .All of the visits that I was not supposed to have completed were completely redacted I complete about 200 plus visits a month and was presented with three months cases.
I approached the Decision Maker and asked her to make available the computer at the Disciplinary Hearing in order that I could prove that I had completed all of the said visits. She told me that it would need to be in a hard copy so gave me time to find the evidence that I needed and rearrange a new meeting. I suppose that because of this I focussed all of my time on the alleged fabricated visits and felt that the evidence that I had in relation to the other areas I was ok. I took my TU rep to this meeting and he felt that there was no way that I would be dismissed. He went on leave, then I found out that the other colleague had been dismissed by the same Decision Maker on the day that I had my disciplinary meeting.
Prior to her even hearing my case. The following week by chance I heard that my colleague had been dismissed and knew that I would be following. The stress became unbearable and I was still unable to discuss the matter with my wife as that in itself is a gross misconduct matter. ( I believe that it contravenes Article 8 of the Human Rights Act. The right to family life without interference from the state).
I contemplated suicide as my head was complete mush and I had no one to talk to. I have since got my head together and obviously discussed the matter with my wife who has since this broke out in April been bullied by her managers. I appealed the decision and lost however the only aspect that the Appeal manager found that I had breached was the fact that I had failed to make a deduction for home to office mileage when applying for expenses.
The original expense matter was that I had falsely claimed the expenses however it must have been accepted that a business case had been provided and agreed at a senior team meeting because the original expense claim was changed to that of the home to office deduction not being made.
Expenses were submitted on a weekly basis supported by a visiting diary detailing the whole of the journey, for expenses to be approved and authorised by my manager. My previous manager was approached by email and said that she could not recall any discussions but then detailed that she knew what she should have done. Both me and a colleague completed the expenses as she instructed and ultimately been dismissed.
We are both taking the matter to an employment Tribunal as the Department are unwilling to negotiate, in the meantime I have raised complaints as to the standard and unprofessionalism of the investigation. He made 42 points in his referral to the Decison maker of which there were numerous inaccuracies recorded, no evidence obtained and his opinion was biased in his favour in order that he would get a result.( performance based results) . It has been accepted that there are aspects of the investigation that fall short of the professional standards accepted but as the case has proceeded through the internal channels there is nothing that can be done. There is lots of evidence that we have requested in this matter and the Department have failed to provide it
I have taken the matter up with the Joint committee Human RIghts for them to consider the affect of the guidance with dealing with civil servants as Article 8 could be breached in similar situations and I would not want any other civil servant having to experience what We have been through as a family.
i believe that this matter arose because I put a grievance in about how I was treated in relation to the proposed move and have been treated unfavourably. I have been applying for jobs whilst going through the ET process and have been having to tell prospective employers that I have been dismissed for gross misconduct, being over 50 with limited skills( I have been attending a computer skills course) obviously reduces my employability skills and my earnings power.
The company has failed to pay me my annual leave , flexi and I fact told me that my final day of employment was 02/10/2014 when in fact I was asked to attend an appointment with the manager who made the allegation about me on 03/10/2014. When he handed me the letter. What else can I do in relation to the upset, hurt and distress that the employer has caused me and my family. I understand that I will be entitled to limited compensation, but am wondering where else that I am able to go for the upset and hurt caused through this sorry situation. Any help would be appreciated
in December 2013 I was taking 4 weeks holiday and was travelling out of the country. Two days prior to my leave I was advised that I was to be relocated, along with three other members of my team of in excess of 30 staff this was without consultation and was discriminatory because we had simply been selected with no particular criteria being considered. I attempted to resolve the matter with my manager at the time but he would not discuss. I had no alternative but to put in a grievance. On my return the TU had been involved the matter had escalated through the others affected and the relocation had been put on hold.
Whilst I was away and out of the country my manager had decided to put a malicious allegation to the internal investigation team relating to me. ( that part of the investigation, that he had made was unproven ) however as is normal in all referrals of this matter all aspects of your duties are looked at and I was subsequently interviewed formally in April 2014. At the interview it was originally suggested that I had fabricated visits, falsely claimed expenses, inflated mileage and not carried out instructions to stop customers money if they had failed to attend interview or had had not made themselves available.
My manager had also been formally interviewed in March 2014. I had asked for a colleague to accompany me to the interview but was declined and advised that I could take a TUrep. I was aware that I had been claiming expenses in accordance with a business case that had been put forward and agreed at a Senior Team meeting and held emails to confirm this so I was not too perturbed about attending the meeting ( my role in the Department had been in the past to investigate staff matters ) I attended the meeting by myself.
The lead investigator was bullying me and dismissive of my evidence in fact refusing to take it from me. I was not asked about the fabricated visits however I was asked about the expenses that had been claimed which I was able to explain and support with the emails that I held. It was put to me that I had inflated mileage ( an issue that I took up on this forum prior to my Appeal ) and that I had not suspended customers benefit. I pointed out to the investigators that the legislation changed during the period that they were looking at and that some of the cases that I had been dealing were in excess of two years old.
I was told not to discuss the matter with anyone within the Department ( my wife is also employed in the same Department) other than a TU rep. my colleague was moved to another office and unknown to me was also interviewed in July.
In September I was called to a Disciplinary meeting regarding the fabrication of visits, not following guidance ( not stopping benefit) not deducting a home to office deduction when making expenses applications, inflating mileage .All of the visits that I was not supposed to have completed were completely redacted I complete about 200 plus visits a month and was presented with three months cases.
I approached the Decision Maker and asked her to make available the computer at the Disciplinary Hearing in order that I could prove that I had completed all of the said visits. She told me that it would need to be in a hard copy so gave me time to find the evidence that I needed and rearrange a new meeting. I suppose that because of this I focussed all of my time on the alleged fabricated visits and felt that the evidence that I had in relation to the other areas I was ok. I took my TU rep to this meeting and he felt that there was no way that I would be dismissed. He went on leave, then I found out that the other colleague had been dismissed by the same Decision Maker on the day that I had my disciplinary meeting.
Prior to her even hearing my case. The following week by chance I heard that my colleague had been dismissed and knew that I would be following. The stress became unbearable and I was still unable to discuss the matter with my wife as that in itself is a gross misconduct matter. ( I believe that it contravenes Article 8 of the Human Rights Act. The right to family life without interference from the state).
I contemplated suicide as my head was complete mush and I had no one to talk to. I have since got my head together and obviously discussed the matter with my wife who has since this broke out in April been bullied by her managers. I appealed the decision and lost however the only aspect that the Appeal manager found that I had breached was the fact that I had failed to make a deduction for home to office mileage when applying for expenses.
The original expense matter was that I had falsely claimed the expenses however it must have been accepted that a business case had been provided and agreed at a senior team meeting because the original expense claim was changed to that of the home to office deduction not being made.
Expenses were submitted on a weekly basis supported by a visiting diary detailing the whole of the journey, for expenses to be approved and authorised by my manager. My previous manager was approached by email and said that she could not recall any discussions but then detailed that she knew what she should have done. Both me and a colleague completed the expenses as she instructed and ultimately been dismissed.
We are both taking the matter to an employment Tribunal as the Department are unwilling to negotiate, in the meantime I have raised complaints as to the standard and unprofessionalism of the investigation. He made 42 points in his referral to the Decison maker of which there were numerous inaccuracies recorded, no evidence obtained and his opinion was biased in his favour in order that he would get a result.( performance based results) . It has been accepted that there are aspects of the investigation that fall short of the professional standards accepted but as the case has proceeded through the internal channels there is nothing that can be done. There is lots of evidence that we have requested in this matter and the Department have failed to provide it
I have taken the matter up with the Joint committee Human RIghts for them to consider the affect of the guidance with dealing with civil servants as Article 8 could be breached in similar situations and I would not want any other civil servant having to experience what We have been through as a family.
i believe that this matter arose because I put a grievance in about how I was treated in relation to the proposed move and have been treated unfavourably. I have been applying for jobs whilst going through the ET process and have been having to tell prospective employers that I have been dismissed for gross misconduct, being over 50 with limited skills( I have been attending a computer skills course) obviously reduces my employability skills and my earnings power.
The company has failed to pay me my annual leave , flexi and I fact told me that my final day of employment was 02/10/2014 when in fact I was asked to attend an appointment with the manager who made the allegation about me on 03/10/2014. When he handed me the letter. What else can I do in relation to the upset, hurt and distress that the employer has caused me and my family. I understand that I will be entitled to limited compensation, but am wondering where else that I am able to go for the upset and hurt caused through this sorry situation. Any help would be appreciated
Comment