Suspended on 0 contract yet do 30+ per week??

[Boxa83]

Hello, don't know where to start! I got suspended on the 22/12 from my job that I've been in for 5.2 years...same company, always been praised because I puck up hours left right and center..help them out when they're desperate usually to the detriment of my own family life. So 2 weeks before xmas one of our on call team contacted me (I'm in supported living assistance care in the community) and they said you were meant to have a call on patient x this am and didn't show...my stomach dropped, I checked my diary and yes, I was meant to be there. I immediately contacted senior management and put my hands in the air, I hadn't checked my diary I'm so so sorry (been seeing this particular client for 5 years and there is no way I would have forgotten him voluntary) At the time he was bed bound and there was no human handover so therefore nobody had called to say he hadn't been seen until his 1500 handover.
This was the Sunday. I had no correspondence until the Wednesday when I had an email from the office saying can I pop in for a chat on the Friday...I replied of course...not really knowing what it was regarding since nothing was stated in said email (have proof of all this) As it would happen, I was training in the office on the Thursday, I subsequently bumped into the individual who had sent the email saying 'we had to have a chat' when I approached him I said 'am I in trouble ' it was almost a jest situation, he turned to me and said 'nah mate, it's just a formality'. So nothing more thought of it. I continued to meet with that person on the day requested (no letter, email or text message) It was a very informal affair, at no point was I informed that it was a verbal, written or important situation... He simply said I need to ask you a couple of questions (he also added that he knows they sound stupid but he's got to do it) wrote a couple of bits down on paper, asked If I could sign it and that..was that! I didn't even think to ask about what I was signing for as I'd not been told what I was doing there in the first place! Being told it's just a 'formality' to me does not equal...you could lose your job! Feel like I'm going on...seriously if anyone is interested in the next bit let me know cos I feel like I'm boring potentially no-one!
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[transit]

Re: Suspended on 0 contract yet do 30+ per week??

Have they got a disciplinary policy? If they do, does it detail what constitutes misconduct, gross or serious?
It sounds like they did an investigation, the results of which you won't find out till they call you back in.
DId they suspend you after the investigation? Because usually, you'll be suspended before it, then the investigation will take place etc, but it all depends on what their policy says.

[Sangie595]

Re: Suspended on 0 contract yet do 30+ per week??

Hello, don't know where to start! I got suspended on the 22/12 from my job that I've been in for 5.2 years...same company, always been praised because I puck up hours left right and center..help them out when they're desperate usually to the detriment of my own family life. So 2 weeks before xmas one of our on call team contacted me (I'm in supported living assistance care in the community) and they said you were meant to have a call on patient x this am and didn't show...my stomach dropped, I checked my diary and yes, I was meant to be there. I immediately contacted senior management and put my hands in the air, I hadn't checked my diary I'm so so sorry (been seeing this particular client for 5 years and there is no way I would have forgotten him voluntary) At the time he was bed bound and there was no human handover so therefore nobody had called to say he hadn't been seen until his 1500 handover.
This was the Sunday. I had no correspondence until the Wednesday when I had an email from the office saying can I pop in for a chat on the Friday...I replied of course...not really knowing what it was regarding since nothing was stated in said email (have proof of all this) As it would happen, I was training in the office on the Thursday, I subsequently bumped into the individual who had sent the email saying 'we had to have a chat' when I approached him I said 'am I in trouble ' it was almost a jest situation, he turned to me and said 'nah mate, it's just a formality'. So nothing more thought of it. I continued to meet with that person on the day requested (no letter, email or text message) It was a very informal affair, at no point was I informed that it was a verbal, written or important situation... He simply said I need to ask you a couple of questions (he also added that he knows they sound stupid but he's got to do it) wrote a couple of bits down on paper, asked If I could sign it and that..was that! I didn't even think to ask about what I was signing for as I'd not been told what I was doing there in the first place! Being told it's just a 'formality' to me does not equal...you could lose your job! Feel like I'm going on...seriously if anyone is interested in the next bit let me know cos I feel like I'm boring potentially no-one!
.

I'm not entirely sure what the question is, since you haven't actually asked one!

I think it may be a question about payment when suspended - the title suggests that, but then the text doesn't mention it at all. If so, if you are a zero hours worker (and there is an if in that sentence) then when suspended it doesn't matter how many hours you normally work, you are only entitled to payment when working.

The if in the sentence was because I cannot see, in legal terms, how you can be a zero hours worker, albeit it may be possible. Do you have the right to refuse work? The way you have described your role suggests not, because the employer controls where you go and when - but perhaps you do have the right to refuse work and someone else covers the work. Can you please clarify this?

As suggested by the previous poster, this appears to have been an investigatory meetings, for which the employer is not obliged to inform you of it, and you are not entitled to be accompanied.

All of that said, the matter certainly must, at the very least, be investigated. This is a serious breach of care for a vulnerable adult; and since you accept that you did forget, I cannot see any way in which you can escape some form of disciplinary outcome. If you are indeed a zero hours worker though, they cannot dismiss you - they simply refuse to provide you with any further hours. What is of greater concern is that this is a matter which might have to be reported to the DBS. Employers are obliged to report any incident which may have resulted in harm to a vulnerable person, whether or not it did. This may result in being barred from further employment in any role which requires DBS clearance. At the very least, it may show as a concern on any DBS check made.

It isn't clear from your post - what exactly has the employer said to you about this matter? Have they indicated how they will proceed?