Help - pregnant and suspended for possible gross misconduct

[teaboy2]

Re: Help - pregnant and suspended for possible gross misconduct

Can you email copies of what they've sent you up on here? or email Katie and she ill forward to me kati@legalbeagles.info

Shes nice like that, arn't you [MENTION=49370]Kati[/MENTION]

P.S may be friday before i get another look in, but you got time on your side so don't worry.

[teaboy2]

Re: Help - pregnant and suspended for possible gross misconduct

Falls under Misuse of the Company’s facilities e.g. equipment, vehicles, internet, e-mail and computer facilities which according to your earlier post is deemed misconduct only. However as per my response, having or forming an opinion of someone and expressing it privately, whether by company Email or not - Thats a different matter - As your entitled to do so. As explained in earlier post of mine.

Hello

The handbook states the following under misconduct:

• Misuse of the Company’s facilities e.g. equipment, vehicles, internet, e-mail and computer facilities.

And the IT Policy:

• General Principles

• Information relating to the Company’s clients and its business operations is confidential. You must treat the Company’s paper-based and electronic information with utmost care.
• When using e-mail, all expressions of fact, intention and opinion may legally bind employee and / or the Company. The same principles apply to information exchanged in this way as those under the terms of contracts of employment regarding other means of communication. For example, sending defamatory, sexist or racist jokes or other material are grounds for an action for defamation, harassment or incitement to racial hatred in the same way as making defamatory, sexist or racist comments to a colleague.
• You should be aware that storing personal details on a computer file is subject to the Data Protection Act. Employees storing such information must inform their Manager to ensure that there is a record of this with the Data Protection Registrar.
• You must not use the Internet or e-mail for any purposes that would be subject to disciplinary or legal action. If you are in doubt about a course of action, take advice from your Manager.
• You must exercise due care when collecting, processing or disclosing any personal data and only process personal data on behalf of the Company where it is necessary to undertake your duties.
• On-line Internet or e-mail accounts created for business purposes that require usernames and associated passwords must be disclosed to the Company upon request.
• Material that is intended to be loaded onto any Company system via any attached peripheral equipment (e.g. portable hard drive, memory stick, floppy drive, CD-ROM, zip drive etc) must be virus checked. Virus protection software installed on company laptops and PCs must not be disabled; nor should any installed firewall be disabled.
• You should take reasonable steps to ensure the security and safe keeping of all company equipment when working at its premises, its clients’ premises or working remotely.
• It is your responsibility to keep confidential your personal password(s).
• In as far as it is possible, you should ensure that computers issued to you remain clean from unauthorised URLs, cookies or downloaded images.
• Rules for Use of Computers

Most guidelines for the use of computers are common sense, but nonetheless, the following rules regarding the use of IT must be observed:

• The Company provides computers for the purpose of conducting business. If you are provided with access to computer systems and confidential information, care must be taken with regard to the systems use and protection of passwords etc.
• Monitors should be switched off at night.
• Attempting to gain, or gaining access to systems, or areas of systems which you have not been authorised or knowingly seeking to access data which you reasonably know to be confidential but have no legitimate reason to access will be considered an act of gross misconduct.
• Copying of copyrighted material for which you have no licence or authority to copy onto the Company’s equipment (e.g. music files from CDs, memory sticks and portable hard drives) is strictly prohibited.
• Software must not be loaded onto a machine without receiving appropriate permission from the IT Department.
• If you use software downloaded from the Internet (irrespective of its source) in work, you must ensure such use is permitted. Use of such third party software poses a threat to the Company including licence and intellectual property infringements.
• Never agree to any licence online without checking with the IT Department first.

Up to date virus checking software provided by the Company must be installed and active on all computers. The threat of attack from computer viruses is always present; it is essential that all diskettes, archives, e-mail attachments, downloads etc. are viruses scanned before installing them.

• Use of E-Mail

You should take care when using email because email messages are perceived to be less formal than paper-based communication and there is a tendency to be less careful about the content. Bear in mind that all expressions of fact, intention or opinion via email can be held against you and/or the company in the same way as verbal or written expressions.

Formal methods of email distribution (e.g. distribution lists) must not be used for sending emails that are not relevant to our business.

As a user of our e-mail systems you are responsible for respecting the following company standards and guidelines:

• format of e-mails in respect of usage of disclaimers, email signatures and presentation (use of graphics, fonts and message formats)
• management of your mailboxes to minimise mailbox size whilst complying with requirements for email retention and archiving
• avoidance of sending excessively large emails or those with unnecessary attachments.

Inappropriate Use

You should exercise due care when writing an email to avoid being rude and ensure that your message meets professional standards. You must not make any statements on your own or the company’s behalf that do or may defame, libel or damage the reputation of any person.
You must not engage in email related activity that is illegal or distasteful. You must not use, retain, send, distribute or disseminate any text, images, materials or software which:

• are or might be considered to be indecent, obscene, pornographic or illegal
• are or might be offensive or abusive in that its context is or could be considered to be a personal attack, rude or personally critical, sexist, racist or generally distasteful
• encourage or promote activities which make unproductive use of the company’s resources
• involve activities outside the scope of your responsibilities e.g. unauthorised selling of good and services
• might affect or have the potential to affect adversely the performance of, damage or overload our system, network and/or external communications in any way
• might be defamatory or incur liability on the part of the company or adversely impact on our image
• would be a breach of copyright or licence provision with respect to both programs and data

• you cannot or are not prepared to account for.

If you consider that an email received by you contains material, which should be referred to the police, the material may be printed and passed to the Managing Partner, who will be responsible for notifying the police that such an email has been received. In any other circumstances, any emails that contain indecent, obscene, pornographic, sexist, racist or otherwise illegal material should not be printed, but should be deleted immediately.

The following activities are expressly forbidden:

• the deliberate introduction of any form of computer virus
• seeking to gain access to restricted areas of the email systems or other hacking activities
• forgery or attempts to read other users mail without express permission.

• Use of E-Mail

All the Company's resources, including computers and access to the internet are provided solely for business purposes.

The purpose of this Policy is to ensure that you understand the way in which access to the internet should be used within the company, to comply with legal and business requirements. This includes the extent to which you may use the computer(s) owned by the company for the private use.

This Policy applies to all employees of the Company and failure to comply may lead to disciplinary action in line with the Disciplinary Procedures. In addition, if your conduct is unlawful or illegal you may be personally liable.I also found this section

SECTION 4 - HR POLICIES & PROCEDURES

The Company’s Human Resource Policies and Procedures are provided in this Section which:

• Provide detailed information to employees on the Company’s employment arrangements, some of which are referred to in your terms and conditions of employment.
• Provide information relating to employment rights as provided by legislation; these procedures provide a summary of employment rights and entitlements and also contain details of the administration processes associated with exercising such rights where applicable. Copies of all referenced administration forms are provided on the HR Database.

It should be noted that the Policies and Procedures contained in this Section do not form part of employees’ contracts of employment; as a result, the Company reserves the right to amend the Policies and Procedures at any time to reflect changes in legislation and to vary their operation according to its requirements. Is this relevant?? Nope not unless myself farting in the wind is relevant to your contractual terms ( if it is, i charge £50 per fart)! Which is, unfortunately unlikely for myself as no one listens to my breaking wing - Treat such term as the same! I.e "notice of variation" would be required,with your consent to change said policies (since mentioned in your contract). Without either, not worth shit!

In my contract it says:

1. Use of the Employer’s Computers & Telephones

As a condition of your employment, you will understand and agree that:

1. Use of the Employer’s telephones, facsimiles and the Internet is generally restricted to business use and the Employer reserves its right to record and monitor incoming and outgoing phone calls, facsimiles, e-mail transmissions and internet usage. Misuse or abuse of these facilities is likely to result in disciplinary action being taken against you.
2. The Employer maintains its right to inspect any and all files stored in private and or common access areas of its network, on individual computer hard drives as well as all removable peripheral equipment (e.g. memory sticks, portable hard drives, CD-Rom discs, zip discs, floppy discs, etc.).
3. All data on your computer, the network or retained in any electronic format should be kept in the strictest of confidence. Copy of data should not be taken other than for client management purposes. You should take all reasonable precautions to ensure that any electronic data howsoever held and that printouts of your data are secure from theft or copying.
4. The Employer reserves the right to access and monitor all messages created, sent, received or stored on the Employer’s systems. These messages are not the private property of employees and as such there should be no expectation of privacy in any circumstances. The content of e-mail messages may be disclosed to other employees and to third parties without your further permission and at the discretion of the Employer. E-mails and the Internet should not be used to create, send receive or store any material which is offensive, libellous, defamatory, discriminatory, and disruptive or infringes copyright. Access to the Network is provided for legitimate business purposes on behalf of the Employer.
5. You will be required to adhere to the Employer’s IT Policy and are warned that failure to do so may result in disciplinary action being taken against you.

Thanks in advance for any comments

Also see in green

[eyh]

Re: Help - pregnant and suspended for possible gross misconduct

I don't have the emails electronically, they have only sent me paper copies.

[eyh]

Re: Help - pregnant and suspended for possible gross misconduct

It should be noted that the Policies and Procedures contained in this Section do not form part of employees’ contracts of employment; as a result, the Company reserves the right to amend the Policies and Procedures at any time to reflect changes in legislation and to vary their operation according to its requirements. Is this relevant?? Nope not unless myself farting in the wind is relevant to your contractual terms ( if it is, i charge £50 per fart)! Which is, unfortunately unlikely for myself as no one listens to my breaking wing - Treat such term as the same! I.e "notice of variation" would be required,with your consent to change said policies (since mentioned in your contract). Without either, not worth shit!

I'm not sure I understand...

I just wondered if it was relevant that they say the policies don't form part of my contract. I was never actually physically given the handbook/policies to read.

[Kati]

Re: Help - pregnant and suspended for possible gross misconduct

Can you email copies of what they've sent you up on here? or email Katie and she will forward to me kati@legalbeagles.info

Shes nice like that, arn't you @Kati

Of course I am :lol:
[MENTION=66743]eyh[/MENTION] ... feel free to email me the contract, I will make sure it is fully redacted before I post it up

K x

- - - Updated - - -

I don't have the emails electronically, they have only sent me paper copies.

If you can take a photo of them and email them to me, I'll post them up too

[martinhartman555]

Re: Help - pregnant and suspended for possible gross misconduct

Well you are in a deep trouble. As you already have been suspended for taht emails. Pregenancy is another thing. There are many laws which are protecting employer's preganancy discrimination. So you can contact your legal consultant regarding this. But first you must apologise for your emails regarding abusing your boss.

[eyh]

Re: Help - pregnant and suspended for possible gross misconduct

I have apologised for the emails - but is what I said really sackable?
[MENTION=49370]Kati[/MENTION] i'll email you now

[teaboy2]

Re: Help - pregnant and suspended for possible gross misconduct

I'm not sure I understand...

I just wondered if it was relevant that they say the policies don't form part of my contract. I was never actually physically given the handbook/policies to read.

No that statement is not relevant, as the policies are referred to in your contract and even below that statement it went on to say "As a condition of your employment, you will understand and agree that:" - Therefore it is a contractual term or condition of your employment! They can not change them willy nilly if it would effect your contractual terms and conditions. If you breach a company policy your in breach of your contract - So how can it not be a contractual term or condition?!

I have apologised for the emails - but is what I said really sackable?
@Kati i'll email you now

No they are not sackable as its only a misconduct matter not a gross misconduct matter. But at the same time they were not public conversations and your were merely airing your opinion of someone, which your entitled to have and to do. If all you said was you thought he was an "Idiot" or "I hate him" thats not defamatory that's simply your opinion of him. Its only embarrassing to him because he found out what your opinion of him was i.e. hurt feelings, but it wasn't abusive and airing your opinion of someone in an non abusive, non harassing or non defamatory way and/or even in private conversation verbal or written, is not a sackable or even punishable matter in my view. I think the manager has simply overreacted.

[Kati]

Re: Help - pregnant and suspended for possible gross misconduct

@Kati i'll email you now

I haven't received anything yet??

[eyh]

Re: Help - pregnant and suspended for possible gross misconduct

is your email kati@legalbeagles.info ?

[Kati]

Re: Help - pregnant and suspended for possible gross misconduct

is your email kati@legalbeagles.info ?

yep

[eyh]

Re: Help - pregnant and suspended for possible gross misconduct

Ok. i'll resend now - not sure why it hasn't gone through

[Kati]

Re: Help - pregnant and suspended for possible gross misconduct

Ok. i'll resend now - not sure why it hasn't gone through

got it ... I'll redact and post it up xx

[Kati]

Re: Help - pregnant and suspended for possible gross misconduct

....

Computer Use

Use of Computers, e-mail and internet facilities are governed by the Company’s IT Policy, copy of which is provided in Section 4. You must however note the following:

• PCs, laptops, the Internet and e-mail are provided as business tools to undertake the Company’s work, to communicate with clients and other employees and to conduct business related research. They are not provided or intended for personal use. There is also potential for significant harm to the Company and individuals if these facilities are misused.
• The Company provides computer systems for the purpose of conducting business. If you are provided with access to computer systems and confidential information, care must be taken with regard to the systems use and protection of passwords etc.
• Connection to the Internet offers significant benefits but it also exposes the Company to risks in respect of its data and systems if you do not follow appropriate security disciplines. You must conduct yourself honestly and appropriately on the Internet and respect the copyrights, software licensing rules, property rights, privacy and prerogatives of others as with any other business dealing.
• Only those employees or officials who are duly authorised to speak to the media, to analysts or in public gatherings on behalf of the company may speak / write in the name of the Company to any newsgroup or chat room.
• Employees releasing protected information via a newsgroup or chat, whether or not the release is inadvertent will be subject to the Company’s Disciplinary Procedures; you should refer to the Company’s IT Policy on personal use of “blogs” and social networking sites.
• The Company has software and systems in place that can monitor and record all Internet usage and you should note that the Company reserves its right to inspect any files stored in private areas of its network as well as files stored in private and or common access areas of its network, on individual computer hard drives as well as all peripheral equipment (e.g. memory sticks, portable hard drives, zip discs, floppy discs, CD-Roms etc.).
• The Company reserves its right to access and monitor all e-mail messages created, sent, received or stored on the its computer systems in order to assure compliance with its Policy.
• If you are in any doubt as to what constitutes legitimate or safe use of network and computing facilities, refer to the Company’s IT Policy or ask your Manager.
• Failure to observe the Company’s IT Policy may result in disciplinary action being taken against you.

Disciplinary Procedures

• The Company has established formal Disciplinary Procedures, copy of which is provided in Section 4.
• The Company reserves the right to suspend you from work pending investigation of any such circumstances that may give rise to disciplinary proceedings and in such circumstances, you would continue to be paid in full. Where suspension is considered necessary, such action is to be regarded as a neutral act and the Company is relieved from any obligation whatsoever to provide you with work to do during such periods.
• If it is determined that you are guilty of any gross or persistent misconduct or any act of dishonesty (whether or not in the course of your employment) or if you commit any wilful breach of the terms of your employment, your contract of employment may be terminated forthwith without notice or any payment in lieu of notice.
• You may appeal if you are dissatisfied with any disciplinary decision relating to you.

• Introduction

It is clearly in the interests of the Company and its employees that any individual grievance which may arise should be settled at the earliest opportunity by means of open discussion in a manner that is fair and consistent. Grievance proceedings will be kept confidential insofar as is reasonably possible to do so.

In the majority of cases, grievances may be dealt with informally by an employee’s Manager without resorting to the formal Grievance Procedure. However, where an employee is unable to resolve his or her grievance in an informal manner, the following procedure may be used.

This Procedure applies to all employees of the Company but does not form part of the terms and conditions of your employment. It should not be used to complain about dismissal or disciplinary action. In those instances, you should submit an appeal in accordance with the Disciplinary Procedures.

• Procedure

Stage 1 - Where an employee is unable to solve a grievance informally with his or her Manager, he or she may formally raise their grievance in writing with his or her Manager:

• The Manager will respond as soon as practically possible and invite the employee to a formal meeting to discuss the grievance.
• The employee may be accompanied at the meeting (refer to Section 3).
• The employee will be required to state his or her grievance at the meeting and the preferred outcome.
• The employee will be allowed to present evidence to support his or her grievance.
• The employee will be allowed to call witnesses to support his or her grievance.
• The Manager will respond in writing within a reasonable period of time usually within 5 working days of the meeting to advise the employee of his or her decision. Where a decision is delayed beyond 5 working days, the employee will be provided with an explanation for the delay and when he or she can expect a decision.

Stage 2 - Failing settlement of a grievance, the employee may appeal in writing against the decision reached at Stage 1 of this Procedure without unreasonable delay:

• The employee may refer the matter to the Managing Partner who will respond as soon as practically possible.
• Wherever possible, appeals under Stage 2 of the Grievance Procedure will be held by the Managing Partner or a Director of COMPANY.
• The employee may be accompanied at the meeting (refer to Section 3).
• The employee will be required to state the reason for his or her continued grievance following completion of Stage 1 of the Grievance Procedure at the meeting and the preferred outcome.
• The employee will be allowed to present evidence to support his or her grievance.
• The employee will be allowed to call witnesses to support his or her grievance.
• The manager will respond in writing within a reasonable period of time after the meeting to advise the employee of his or her final decision. There will be no further appeal to this decision.




• Accompaniment

The employee may consult and be assisted at any stage in the Grievance Procedure, if he or she so wishes by a companion who may be a work colleague, or employee representative, hereafter referred to as an employee representative. The employee will not be allowed legal representation at any stage in the Grievance Procedure.

An employee acting as a representative is entitled to reasonable time off work with pay to attend hearings and to confer and prepare with the employee. An employee representative has the right to make opening and closing statements, to address the meeting when appropriate and to confer with the employee but he or she cannot answer questions on behalf of the employee.

It should be noted that an individual employee or employee representative can refuse to act as a representative to an employee.

• Meeting Arrangements

It is the intention that the Company and the employee concerned should agree a mutually convenient time and date for a grievance hearing. Where the employee is unable to attend the meeting due to unforeseen circumstances, the meeting will be re-arranged.

Where an employee representative is unable to attend the meeting on the proposed date, he or she may offer an alternative time and date so long as it is reasonable to do so and it is no more than 5 working days from the originally proposed date.

• Use of the Internet

All the Company’s resources, including computers, access to the internet and email are provided solely for business purposes.

The purpose of this Policy is to ensure that everyone understands the way in which email should be used within the company, to comply with legal and business requirements. This includes the extent to which you may use the computer(s) owned by the company for private use.

This Policy applies to all employees of COMPANY ealthcare LLP and failure to comply may lead to disciplinary action in line with the Disciplinary Procedures. In addition, if your conduct is unlawful or illegal you may be personally liable.

• General Principles

A computer and email access is provided to you to support the business’s activities. Emails sent or received on the company's email systems are not private property. They form part of the operational and administrative records of the Company.

Private use of computers and the email system is permitted, subject to the restrictions contained in this Policy. Any personal use of email is expected to be in the employee’s own time and not to interfere with the person’s job responsibilities. Private use of the email systems must not detrimentally affect the job responsibilities of other employees, disrupt the system or harm the company’s reputation.

• Use of E-Mail

You should take care when using email because email messages are perceived to be less formal than paper-based communication and there is a tendency to be less careful about the content. Bear in mind that all expressions of fact, intention or opinion via email can be held against you and/or the company in the same way as verbal or written expressions.

Formal methods of email distribution (e.g. distribution lists) must not be used for sending emails that are not relevant to our business.

As a user of our e-mail systems you are responsible for respecting the following company standards and guidelines:

• format of e-mails in respect of usage of disclaimers, email signatures and presentation (use of graphics, fonts and message formats)
• management of your mailboxes to minimise mailbox size whilst complying with requirements for email retention and archiving
• avoidance of sending excessively large emails or those with unnecessary attachments.

• Inappropriate Use

You should exercise due care when writing an email to avoid being rude and ensure that your message meets professional standards. You must not make any statements on your own or the company’s behalf that do or may defame, libel or damage the reputation of any person.

You must not engage in email related activity that is illegal or distasteful. You must not use, retain, send, distribute or disseminate any text, images, materials or software which:

• are or might be considered to be indecent, obscene, pornographic or illegal
• are or might be offensive or abusive in that its context is or could be considered to be a personal attack, rude or personally critical, sexist, racist or generally distasteful
• encourage or promote activities which make unproductive use of the company’s resources
• involve activities outside the scope of your responsibilities e.g. unauthorised selling of good and services
• might affect or have the potential to affect adversely the performance of, damage or overload our system, network and/or external communications in any way
• might be defamatory or incur liability on the part of the company or adversely impact on our image
• would be a breach of copyright or licence provision with respect to both programs and data
• you cannot or are not prepared to account for.

If you consider that an email received by you contains material, which should be referred to the police, the material may be printed and passed to the Managing Partner, who will be responsible for notifying the police that such an email has been received. In any other circumstances, any emails that contain indecent, obscene, pornographic, sexist, racist or otherwise illegal material should not be printed, but should be deleted immediately.

The following activities are expressly forbidden:

• the deliberate introduction of any form of computer virus
• seeking to gain access to restricted areas of the email systems or other hacking activities
• forgery or attempts to read other users mail without express permission.

Email messages that have been deleted from the system can be traced. Therefore all persons having a part in or forwarding any offending email can be identified. Emails, both in hard copy and electronic form are admissible in a court of law.



• Monitoring

All the Company’s resources, including computers and email are provided solely for business purposes. At any time and without notice, we maintain the right and ability to examine any systems and inspect and review any and all data recorded in those systems. Any information stored on a computer, whether the information is contained on a hard drive, computer disk or in any other manner may be subject to scrutiny by the company. This examination helps ensure compliance with internal policies and the law. It supports the performance of internal investigations and assists the management of information systems.

In order to ensure compliance with this policy, the Company may employ monitoring software to check on the use and content of email to ensure that there are no serious breaches of this policy. We specifically reserve the right for authorised personnel to access, retrieve, read and delete any communication that is created on, received through or sent in the email systems, to ensure compliance with all our policies. Such monitoring will be used for legitimate purposes only.

• Use of E-Mail

All the Company's resources, including computers and access to the internet are provided solely for business purposes.

The purpose of this Policy is to ensure that you understand the way in which access to the internet should be used within the company, to comply with legal and business requirements. This includes the extent to which you may use the computer(s) owned by the company for the private use.

This Policy applies to all employees of the Company and failure to comply may lead to disciplinary action in line with the Disciplinary Procedures. In addition, if your conduct is unlawful or illegal you may be personally liable.

• General Principles

A computer and internet access is provided to you to support the Company’s activities.

Private use of computers and the internet is permitted, subject to the restrictions contained in this policy. Any private use of the internet is expected to be in the employee's own time and is not to interfere with the person's job responsibilities. Personal use of the internet must not disrupt our IT systems or harm the Company's reputation.

You should exercise caution in any use of the internet and should never rely on information received or downloaded without appropriate confirmation of the source.

• Inappropriate Use

The internet is a valuable source of resources to our business but if used inappropriately may result in severe consequences to both you and the company. The nature of the Internet makes it impossible to define all inappropriate use, however you are expected to ensure that your use of the internet meets the general requirements of professionalism.

Specifically, during any use of the internet, you must not:

• visit internet sites or download any files that contain indecent, obscene, pornographic, hateful or other objectionable materials
• make or post indecent, obscene, pornographic, hateful or otherwise objectionable remarks, proposals or materials on the internet
• use social networking inappropriately both in and outside of the workplace to make defamatory remarks about the company, employees or clients or may in any way bring the company into disrepute
• upload, download or otherwise transmit commercial software or any copyrighted materials belonging to the company or other third parties
• reveal or publicise confidential or proprietary information about the company, our employees, clients and business contacts
• download and use any software that has not been explicitly approved for use by the company
• download any software or electronic files without using virus protection measures approved by the Company.

The following activities are expressly forbidden:

• the deliberate introduction of any form of computer virus
• seeking to gain access via the internet to restricted areas of the Company’s computer system or another organisation’s or person’s computer systems or data without authorisation or other hacking activities

• Monitoring

All the Company’s resources, including computers and email are provided solely for business purposes. At any time and without notice, we maintain the right and ability to examine any systems and inspect and review any and all data recorded in those systems. Any information stored on a computer, whether the information is contained on a hard drive, computer disk or in any other manner may be subject to scrutiny by the Company. This examination helps ensure compliance with internal policies and the law. It supports the performance of internal investigations and assists the management of information systems.

In order to ensure compliance with this policy, the company may employ monitoring software to check on the use of the internet and block access to specific websites to ensure that there are no serious breaches of the policy. We specifically reserve the right for authorised personnel to access, retrieve, read and delete any information that is created by, received or sent as a result of using the internet, to assure compliance with all our policies. Such monitoring will be used for legitimate purposes only.

[teaboy2]

Re: Help - pregnant and suspended for possible gross misconduct

Ok so again it confirms Misuse of email is merely classed as Misconduct and not gross misconduct - So its not a sackable matter (unless your on final warning already - i Assume your not?).