Disciplinary Hearing Help??????

mrg22

This is sooooooo wrong!
The son who sneered is yes the son who was said to be conducting an appeal if we wish to!!
You see as such a small company I suppose there is no one else, certainly no one in higher rank than my OH's bosses. There is no way in hell the son will listen to my OH and everyone knows it. when he came round last night you could tell he was having to bite his tongue, if my partner went to an appeal it would be like throwing him to the wolves!!!
Ovbiously Monday he will be seeking further advice and I thank you all for your thoughts and ideas and totally understand that Daisy your comments are your personal opinion for which I am grateful.
What to do, what to do!!!!

mrg22

To OP - the penalty, even if it were imposed (which in my view is unlikely, although it is ONLY my view) is financial only. From what you say, if OH wins his case, there is a risk that the employer may not pay up anyway? - Posted by zzzlazydaisy.

I don't want to come acreoss thick but In your opinion are you suggesting not to persue this? What do you mean by penalty?

zzzLazyDaisy

Hi - When you take advice, make sure it is an employment law expert, and not someone who will just trot out the standard line 'you must appeal' (which in 99% of cases would be good advice).

ACAS is a good place to start.

Good luck and keep posting x

mrg22

I hear what you are saying however the clock is ticking so we need to be prepared in case he feels he wants to appeal,5 days from the desicion i believe in which case......
Can anyone give any tips on how an appeal letter should be set out, should he be matter of fact, should he give more detail, should he include evidence to back up his case, should he ask other people to provide witness statements to situations which occurred. Should he express that he felt it was unfairly conducted and that he felt intimidated and harrassed, Also should he include the behaviour which was displayed after the meeting.
As to be quite honest this behaviour is making him and his witness feel that they really don't want to have to see them again, surely aswell thatwould be deemed good enough grounds to by-pass an appeal?

ohreally

Inform the ex-employer of your intention to appeal the hearing outcome and your grounds for doing so, don't however go into great detail at this point, keep that for your statement.

Perhaps it would be beneficial to have a read through the acop for disciplinary hearings, in particular the role and importance of the companion - their presence is not simply to take notes and be a passive observer!

http://www.acas.org.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=1041

zzzLazyDaisy

mrg22 wrote: »

To OP - the penalty, even if it were imposed (which in my view is unlikely, although it is ONLY my view) is financial only. From what you say, if OH wins his case, there is a risk that the employer may not pay up anyway? - Posted by zzzlazydaisy.

I don't want to come acreoss thick but In your opinion are you suggesting not to persue this? What do you mean by penalty?

No, not at all, quite the opposite. Sorry not to make myself clear.

If OH does not appeal, it will not affect the tribunal's decision about whether he was unfairly dismissed or not. If anything it might give OH a better chance of succeeding, because the ONLY thing the tribunal can consider is what happened at the disciplinary hearing, and whether or not that was fair.

But if OH wins, and the tribunal work out how much compensation to award, they can then deduct 25% from the compensation because he didn't appeal. Note, 'they can' - they don't have to. If they agree that an appeal wouldn't make any difference because the boss's son is unlikely to over-rule his father and re-instate OH, then they won't make the deduction.

So the worst that can happen if OH doesn't appeal, is that he ends up with less money if he wins.

zzzLazyDaisy

ohreally wrote: »

Inform the ex-employer of your intention to appeal the hearing outcome and your grounds for doing so, don't however go into great detail at this point, keep that for your statement.

Perhaps it would be beneficial to have a read through the acop for disciplinary hearings, in particular the role and importance of the companion - their presence is not simply to take notes and be a passive observer!

http://www.acas.org.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=1041

I agree with this. If OH wishes to exercise his right of appeal he should stick to the brief facts - that he feels the decision was an unfair response to his mistake and the circumstances in which it arose. I certainly would not raise the procedural issues. The problem is that all the son has to do is to keep calm and hold the meeting in a professional manner, and then say he has come to the meeting with an open mind and has treated the appeal as a full rehearing of the facts, but on balance he agrees with the original decision. If the tribunal believe him (big IF considering he's the boss's son) then the procedural defects of the disciplinary meeting are wiped out.

However, I also think that a tribunal would accept OH's reasons for not pursuing an appeal, given the harassment and aggression displayed at the disciplinary hearing, including the chair leg episode, and also taking into account that the person hearing the appeal is the son of the boss who made the decision to dismiss.

Also, another big question. Think carefully. Never mind the law for a moment. In REAL LIFE - Does OH really want his job back? If this company have spoken to a solicitor and been advised that they made such a mess of it that they'd better take him back. What then? If all trust and confidence has broken down on both sides, is there really a way back?

I have known people to appeal, get their job back, but be unable to go through with returning to work because of all the upset and distress the disciplinary/dismissal has caused.

EDIT: just re-read this. It looks like I am trying to persuade OH not to appeal. That isn't my intention. He has the right to appeal and should exercise it if he feels there is something to be gained. If he doesn't appeal, he should do so in the understanding that an ET could reduce any compensation if he wins at tribunal.

mrg22

Although of course any money would be handy if it were to arise all be it in the far future, BUT...... thats not the biggest issue here - INJUSTICE is and his reputation and future employability, he has been in this job since leaving school, no qualifications 15 years experience which is now going to be overshadowed by this 'Gross Negligence' all down to a click of a button!!! So future job prospects are going to be extreamly limited. He does want to take this further as it is extreamly unfair and they have been unreasonable...........

zzzLazyDaisy

Okay. First things first.

He has 5 days to decide if he wishes to appeal.

He has a lot to think about and should not make a 'knee jerk reaction'.

If you want any help, just holler!

OP I have PM'd you

mrg22

Ok, this evening we went through the minutes of the hearing with his witness he took with him. They are very matter of fact, (which I expected), don't mention any of the snide comments and obviously don't depict the way in which the questions were asked, i.e my partner felt harrassed, intimidated etc and obviously NO mention of the behaviour once the tape was turned off!!!!! It does state that at one stage he felt like he was'nt able to talk, (that was on a few occasions). These b****y people are so clever.
Evaluating it all, I think they have followed the correct procedure however the actual hearing was a bit of a sham, certainly what happened at the end was inappropriate and my OH believes he was unable to state his case fairly.
Are the employers allowed to have who they like in a meeting?