Suspended

mymatebob

RubyRue wrote: »

Hi again

I'm still waiting for contact from HR about the next stages however in the mean time I've got a interview next week for a new role which is much closer to where I've moved to and much more suited to what I want to do so my question is do I mention about what is currently going on at work? I'm thinking honestly is always the best policy so any advice on how I go about it?

I think this is an odd one as you don't honestly know what is going on at work?

The new people may ask why you wish to move and you can honestly say that it is closer to home and more suited to you.

I would not offer anything up I didn't have to at this stage.

Your current employers are certainly dragging their heels - I am sure there is a time limit on all this that they should be adhering to.

Darth_Marty

hell yes, at the end of the day you are suspended on full pay (you are, arent you?!) so its in their interests to get it done quickly. Sounds like a pretty bad company based upon this thread and id definitely want out, but not with a dismissal hanging over me, so make sure you fight tooth & nail if you are in fact innocent. Even quitting now would not save you the hardship of dismissal because they can do that even if you are no longer an employee, however maybe they want you to quit as they are definitely dragging it out. Still, sitting back and taking their money whilst looking for another job is not such a bad thing, even if the timing could be better!
Please let us know what happens next.

^!£$&

Any Updates Ruby Rue just wondering how ur doing??

RubyRue

snowbrow wrote: »

Any Updates Ruby Rue just wondering how ur doing??

Hi Snowbrow well in terms of work I still haven't had anything from them, I was told HR will be in touch and as of yet haven't recieved any further correspondance, its getting ridiculous now. I'm going to go to the CAB tomorrow aswell to get some of their advice and in preperation for any disciplinary that might happen so at the moment I'm in limbo.

Had my interview last week, it seemed to go well but you can never tell with these things, I'm waiting to hear whether I'll be called to a second interview and I have another interview on Wednesday for another role so that's a plus considering how difficult the job market is right now.

RubyRue

Well I've finally had a response from work today saying the investigation has ended and I'm being summoned to a disciplinary meeting on the 2nd March. I knew that it was coming as they mentioned a hearing last month while they were still investigating. The allegation they have put forward is that I've been claiming that I've been working from home when I haven't and that I haven't filled my time sheet out correctly. As far as working from home allegation its rubbish, every time I've claimed I was working from home that is exactly what I was doing. As far as the time sheets go I filled them out the way I was shown to fill them out, have filled them out the same way for a long time with no problems highlighted and other members of the team fill them out the same way. They are trying to imply that I'm pushing the blame of not filling it out correctly elsewhere which is so not the case if I haven't filled it out correctly then I accept that but if thats the way I was shown to fill it out and haven't had any problems highlighted or told I'm not doing it the correct way then I would assume that I'm doing it correctly or is that just stupid?

I'm pretty sure they are fixing to get rid of me, from reading the investigation report they have sent I don't think they believe anything I've said and the report keeps referring back to the original investigation minutes that I refused to sign as they are inaccurate and incomplete.

I've got an appointment at the CAB on Thurs but I'm hoping on some advice of what to do next or how to approach this hearing, I've never been in this position before so don't know where to start.

MrsB2100

Hi RubyRue. I cant offer any advice, other than to definitley have someone you trust with you at the meeting taking notes, especially considering the way your employers have behaved.

I'm just wondering whether you've kept any notes from when you were shown how to complete your timesheets? Could be helpful in a defense. Plus, how long have you completed these time sheets in this manner? Surely something should have been brought up previously.

My husband is going through a very similar situation, so I can sympathise with the knock-on effect all the stress has on you.

I wish you all the very best and again - DEFINITELY have someone in on the meeting on your side, to take notes.

Good luck.

mymatebob

RubyRue wrote: »

Well I've finally had a response from work today saying the investigation has ended and I'm being summoned to a disciplinary meeting on the 2nd March. I knew that it was coming as they mentioned a hearing last month while they were still investigating. The allegation they have put forward is that I've been claiming that I've been working from home when I haven't and that I haven't filled my time sheet out correctly. As far as working from home allegation its rubbish, every time I've claimed I was working from home that is exactly what I was doing. As far as the time sheets go I filled them out the way I was shown to fill them out, have filled them out the same way for a long time with no problems highlighted and other members of the team fill them out the same way. They are trying to imply that I'm pushing the blame of not filling it out correctly elsewhere which is so not the case if I haven't filled it out correctly then I accept that but if thats the way I was shown to fill it out and haven't had any problems highlighted or told I'm not doing it the correct way then I would assume that I'm doing it correctly or is that just stupid?

I'm pretty sure they are fixing to get rid of me, from reading the investigation report they have sent I don't think they believe anything I've said and the report keeps referring back to the original investigation minutes that I refused to sign as they are inaccurate and incomplete.

I've got an appointment at the CAB on Thurs but I'm hoping on some advice of what to do next or how to approach this hearing, I've never been in this position before so don't know where to start.

Are they suggesting that the incorrect (as they see it) filling in of timesheets is linked with their claim of you not working when you say you are?

How long have you been filling in timesheets for?
I take it no-one has ever raised the issue of incorrectly filled in timesheets before?

They have to prove that you were not working from home when you said they were?
What evidence do they have that you were not?

I think they are on a very sticky wicket here from what you have posted previously.

You go along to the meeting and listen to what they have to say.
You can ask for an adjournment at any time.

You have no agreed minutes of any previous meeting so I would be interested to know how they will be able to use anything that was said before.

At the meeting, the employer should explain the complaint against
the employee and go through the evidence that has been gathered.
The employee should be allowed to set out their case and answer any
allegations that have been made. The employee should also be allowed to ask questions, present evidence, call witnesses and be given an opportunity to raise points about any information provided by witnesses.

The above is from here http://www.acas.org.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=272&p=0

You will be able to challenge any evidence used by your employer.

RubyRue

mymatebob wrote: »

Are they suggesting that the incorrect (as they see it) filling in of timesheets is linked with their claim of you not working when you say you are? - yes part of it is they are saying that I'm claiming hours that I haven't done which I'm definitely not, any hours I've put down I've worked and that I hadn't filled out it out correctly say for example when I've had a doctors appointment, I haven't written on it I had a doctors appointment and adjusted the time correctly however I have adjusted it the way I was shown to adjust it and I wasn't told that I needed to state appointments on the timesheets etc, although they are saying that this explanation is just me trying the pass the blame onto someone else.

How long have you been filling in timesheets for? - I've filled these particular sheets out for well over a year and a half, the thing that kills me about this is that the person who will be hearing the case used to be my manager for a short time, he was brought in as a contractor and is now full time, and when I asked him if it was ok to take a flexi day and if he wanted to see my time sheets to make sure I had enough hours his response was he didn't give a sh*t about timesheets and wasn't interested in seeing them.

I take it no-one has ever raised the issue of incorrectly filled in timesheets before? - no never

They have to prove that you were not working from home when you said they were?
What evidence do they have that you were not? - They have the login logs and there are a couple of days that show I wasn't logged into the system however to do my job I don't need to be logged into the system, and they know that, and was legitimately doing work which was completed and given to the appropriate people I was doing it for, there hasn't ever been any specific instructions laid down saying what you must do when working from home.

I think they are on a very sticky wicket here from what you have posted previously.

You go along to the meeting and listen to what they have to say.
You can ask for an adjournment at any time.

You have no agreed minutes of any previous meeting so I would be interested to know how they will be able to use anything that was said before. - so would I, they have put my comments in as an appendix however the investigation report doesn't refer to them, only the disputed minutes.

At the meeting, the employer should explain the complaint against
the employee and go through the evidence that has been gathered.
The employee should be allowed to set out their case and answer any
allegations that have been made. The employee should also be allowed to ask questions, present evidence, call witnesses and be given an opportunity to raise points about any information provided by witnesses.

The above is from here http://www.acas.org.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=272&p=0

You will be able to challenge any evidence used by your employer.

I'm not entirely sure they have given me all the evidence either as during my investigation interview they gave me some and said they would send the rest as they didn't have copies, the report and evidence I recieved today seems to be the same as what they already gave me so I'm going back to check to see if there is anything missing.

Kez1983

Hi Rubyrue,

I only have experience of disciplinaries from the employers perspective but I second what everyone else has said about your own notetaker in the meeting.

Also were you ever officially trained on how to fill in the timesheets? It would be up to your employer to prove that you knew you were filling them in wrongly, and without documentation to show training and having been doing it for a long time with no one raising this with you, their argument is shaky to say the least.

Secondly only evidence that you have had time to read/look at can be discussed at your disciplinary meeting (depending on the complexity this can be anything from a couple of hours upwards, I would always allow at least 24 hours for a disciplinary I was conducting, but your employer may not be as considerate!) If anything else is brought up ask for an adjournment so you have time to look at it carefully before commenting on it.

Good Luck

RubyRue

Hi all

Thought I'd give you a bit of an update, I had an interview yesterday and they called me back yesterday evening offering me the job. So now I'm trying to work out my exit strategy from work. I want to make it clear to them I'm not resigning because of the disciplinary, this new role is much more suited to what I want to do and it is in a better location so I'm trying to figure out what to write in my resignation letter. Any thoughts? I'm required to give a months notice so I'd imagine the disciplinary will continue while I'm serving my notice.

Also I'm worried about how to approach the new place with regard to references. I'm not sure if the new place have asked for references already and if not I'm worried what my currently employers will put on them because of the allegations. I'd hate for the job offer to be withdrawn because they thought I was trying to hide something.

I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who has posted and offered brilliant advice and support, it has really helped!