Suspended from work....

bank_of_slate

billyjones wrote: »

I have worked there for 10 years and have had no problems up until now.

Up until 12 months ago my time-keeping was very good.

Use this to your advantage! Mention this in the disciplinary meeting - more than once if necessary.
I think that you have a good chance of being able to demonstrate that your change in time keeping correlates to the situation at home.

Hopefully this will result in a verbal or written warning rather than dismissal.
...Linda xx

Errata

A good employer will understand Billy's difficulties in trying to work, support an ill wife and then an ill baby. What they're going to have difficulty in understanding is why Billy hasn't himself spoken to them about his not working his contracted hours, and they might well wonder how much longer this would have continued if the whistle hadn't been blown.

GT60

If you have a family member or a close friend who is a member of an union. You can Get advice/legal from that union who the family member / friend is a member of.

bumblebee23

I don't understand how you didn't realise each month for 12 months that you were being paid for a full months work when you weren't doing a full months work?! And I'm amazed that more of your colleagues didn't report you as surely it must have annoyed the hell out of them to see you leaving 30 minutes early each day?!

I think that the only thing you can do is to hold your hands up and apologise... if you are lucky you will get a written warning and be able to still work there but to be honest it is classed as gross misconduct and the fact that it continued for so long would imply that you were taking your employers for a ride and they may be less inclined to keep you on. I wouldn't advise you to claim ignorance as I think your company will have more respect for you if you admit you were wrong and outline the reasons you felt you had to leave early.

I would also start having a look for a new job now, just in case, it can't hurt to have something else lined up in the event that the worst happens...

billyjones

Liz3yy wrote: »

One thing I dont understand in all of this: If you clock in and out every day, it would surely, show up your timekeeping record and your company would pay you accordingly, and not let this drag on for so long. You should have said something at the time, but on the flipside, why did your manager pay you full pay then he surely could see your clocking in cards show differently?

That's part of the problem - even though my manager is supposed to take my clock card from me each week, he hasn't done. Therefore, there are no checks made as to my hours.

My company just paid me for the full-time hours, there is no requirement for them to check any clock cards or time sheets.

billyjones

bumblebee23 wrote: »

I don't understand how you didn't realise each month for 12 months that you were being paid for a full months work when you weren't doing a full months work?! And I'm amazed that more of your colleagues didn't report you as surely it must have annoyed the hell out of them to see you leaving 30 minutes early each day?!

I think that the only thing you can do is to hold your hands up and apologise... if you are lucky you will get a written warning and be able to still work there but to be honest it is classed as gross misconduct and the fact that it continued for so long would imply that you were taking your employers for a ride and they may be less inclined to keep you on. I wouldn't advise you to claim ignorance as I think your company will have more respect for you if you admit you were wrong and outline the reasons you felt you had to leave early.

I would also start having a look for a new job now, just in case, it can't hurt to have something else lined up in the event that the worst happens...

The nature of my department's work means that I'm the only one that is supposed to do Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm - everyone else's job means that they work evenings and sometimes weekends, so their working patterns are erratic and it wasn't obvious to any of them what I was doing - I suppose that's why I did it for so long.

Errata

Billy, don't be surprised if your employer thinks you did it for so long because you knew you could get away with it.
Why didn't you talk to your manager about a reduction in your hours / compassionate leave / taking days of annual leave at the start of all this ? Did you ask for paternity leave?

provista_2

200 hours is 5 weeks on a 40 hour week:eek:
Sorry it just seems a long time.

Liz_the_Whizz

Billly,

The point about gross misconduct is whether your action (the "breach") goes to the root of the contract, ie can your company trust you again.

You were in a position of trust - you were afforded a position where your manager did not check-up on you because he felt he could rely on your honesty. You have abused that trust.

So you now have to convince them that they can still trust you, and that this was a one-off (albeit over an extended period) caused by exceptional duress in your personal circumstances.

But remember, one of your co-workers has dobbed you in anonymously - the company has to deal with this in such a way that they can maintain equity and fairness within the workplace as a whole. If you are seen to be getting away with this, it could have wider repercussions.

The better you can demonstrate your understanding of their position, the more likely you are to win their sympathy. It may be worth offering to forego in part the usual confidentialilty around the disciplinary process so that your co-workers can understand the problems which led to what you did, and also how you are going to make amends (eg paying back what you owe).

Good luck and BW,

LtW x

flea72

Liz3yy wrote: »

One thing I dont understand in all of this: If you clock in and out every day, it would surely, show up your timekeeping record and your company would pay you accordingly, and not let this drag on for so long. You should have said something at the time, but on the flipside, why did your manager pay you full pay then he surely could see your clocking in cards show differently?

because not all companys use the time cards to keep track of hours worked. Its also for health and safety, so they know who is on the premises at that given time

Flea