Disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct

[dan_1207]

Re: Disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct

What were the comments that you made?

[stevemLS]

Re: Disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct

What were the comments that you made?

Maybe best if they are not repeated in another public forum?

Appreciate that OP is anonymous, but these techie people have ways and means!

[well68]

Re: Disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct

Maybe best if they are not repeated in another public forum?

Appreciate that OP is anonymous, but these techie people have ways and means!

Well I attended the hearing and had typed up a response outlining what had happened and offered my resignation which after discussing with HR they agreed to accept "without prejudice" - but I have no clue what this means for me? Can anyone shed any light please. Thanks

[dan_1207]

Re: Disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct

It means that accepting your resignation has no bearing on their rights against you.

[well68]

Re: Disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct

Thanks. Would that mean rather than dismiss me they accept my resignation instead?

[dan_1207]

Re: Disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct

Yep.

[well68]

Re: Disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct

Thanks for a prompt response. I am just waiting to see if they are going to take this any further but at least I can now place resigned on an application form for future jobs which may place me in a better situation. Thanks.

[sean5302]

Re: Disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct

This is dreadful practice and opens up the prospect of wrongful dismissal.
Either you resigned or they held a disciplinary enquiry and dismissed you. They shouldn't do it both ways.
Are they accepting your resignation pending the enquiry?

[well68]

Re: Disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct

I think that they could see how anxious I was at the meeting, I've been having chest pain since this happened as for the first week or so they wouldn't even tell me why I'd been suspended. Anyway, all I really wanted was to move on and not have dismissal on a reference. I'm not one for being dishonest and as long as I can say I resigned I will feel okay about applying for other jobs. I am happy to draw a line under all this. Thanks for responding, I appreciate it.

[leclerc]

Re: Disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct

I'd add it probably taught you a lesson that there is no such thing as a closed facebook work page .

And because the company were restructuring then you have a clear way of explaining why you left which is a win win situation.

[well68]

Re: Disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct

Absolutely! Never again! They did confirm it was the colleague who removed their own comments who had given them the info though. Life lesson learnt I think and any future rants will remain in my head!

[sean5302]

Re: Disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct

In no way do I ever sympathise with some being disloyal to an employer.
As I wrote before, the employee's duty of loyalty is paramount.
I'm surprised at the acceptance of your resignation by HR. Has that woman (presumably) no qualifications in HR? I can therefore see why people are disgruntled if that's how they treat staff.
Bottom line is you only worked there 5 months and, as leclerc says, if they're restructuring you've good reason to go.
You need to select your next employer carefully, though.
Anyone can make a mistake, but another could be painful.
Personally, I think you're well shot of this lot. Good luck to you in future.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct

I'd add it probably taught you a lesson that there is no such thing as a closed facebook work page .

And because the company were restructuring then you have a clear way of explaining why you left which is a win win situation.

I'd just like to add my two cents here based on my own experience going back more than 10 years, before FB/social media, etc. as these issues are becoming so common!

• Whenever you have a group of people discussing something, whether on a private forum thread, a closed FB page, a group chat on FB or any other media or an email chain, there's a good chance of there being a leak. :spy:
• Anything you post online will be saved for posterity by someone, somewhere. hoto: You may edit/delete/remove your posts or comments, someone will have saved them by doing a screenshot, a PDF, copying and pasting into Word, printing them, etc. If and when the occasion arises, anything you said can and will be used against you.
• Employers have back up systems. If you delete your emails, they can be easily restored. A friend of mine found this out the hard way nearly 12 years ago, when he deleted all my emails after I told him I'd been suspended, they were all restored. He didn't even work for the same company as me, yet he got sacked and it had nothing to do with my emails to him but that was what prompted the investigation and they found a couple of other things on there.
• Companies back up all files on the network so if you temporarily save something, then delete it, it will be stored somewhere on a searchable system.
• There are data recovery programs to restore data deleted from your computer.
• If you ever access your personal emails or any other remote data storage system from work, so can your employers. Passwords get saved on your computer.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct

In no way do I ever sympathise with some being disloyal to an employer.
As I wrote before, the employee's duty of loyalty is paramount.
I'm surprised at the acceptance of your resignation by HR. Has that woman (presumably) no qualifications in HR? I can therefore see why people are disgruntled if that's how they treat staff.
Bottom line is you only worked there 5 months and, as leclerc says, if they're restructuring you've good reason to go.
You need to select your next employer carefully, though.
Anyone can make a mistake, but another could be painful.
Personally, I think you're well shot of this lot. Good luck to you in future.

Uh?
Employers have no sense of loyalty, they use people and discard them when they no longer have a need for them. That's why you often see people getting away with things that are clearly gross misconduct or against the T&Cs of employment if taken by the book, whilst others get the boot over nothing. In fact, the same person can 'get away with murder' for years, then one day gets sacked for a relatively minor thing. This is because at that point, they no longer have a need for their services as such, they've found someone younger/sillier/newer/keener/better looking or a way to outsource those tasks or duties.

It's not a matter of loyalty, it's a matter of common sense, being careful and not always trusting fellow co-workers.

[sean5302]

Re: Disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct

Uh?
Employers have no sense of loyalty, they use people and discard them when they no longer have a need for them. That's why you often see people getting away with things that are clearly gross misconduct or against the T&Cs of employment if taken by the book, whilst others get the boot over nothing. In fact, the same person can 'get away with murder' for years, then one day gets sacked for a relatively minor thing. This is because at that point, they no longer have a need for their services as such, they've found someone younger/sillier/newer/keener/better looking or a way to outsource those tasks or duties.

It's not a matter of loyalty, it's a matter of common sense, being careful and not always trusting fellow co-workers.

If people act in a professional manner, always mindful that their outbursts could be viewed in the cold light of day to be disloyal, they could avoid the situation the OP instigated.
I employ just over 500 people.
If one of them posted defamatory comments I'd want a full investigation.
The start point would be dismissal, mitigated by the particular circumstances of the case.
If the employee went to Tribunal and agreed to what the OP has done, I've never known a Tribunal to disagree with a company dismissing such an employee.
People are human and, guess what, companies are made up of humans so they can make mistakes, treat some people more fairly than others etcetera.
My concern is for what the OP and similar people have done or might do in future.
Once the master / servant relationship is breached, that employee should be shown the door. Who wants to pay for disloyalty?