Help with disciplinary procedure.

vet8

The union rep is a member of the staff and my OH asked around today and there does not seem to be anyone covering during his holiday.

He has told his line manager his version of events, but was told it was now going to a hearing and that is it. He has not spoken to ACAS, I will get him onto that.

Thanks.

medders2604

Just a quick thing but do you have itemised phone bill? You could use this to prove that you did call to explain. May help a little and good luck!

Tiddlywinks

What union is he in? Phone the union HQ and ask who's covering - it would be very unusual for there not to be a rep available somewhere else as cover. Larger unions sometimes have central helplines as well - is there a number on his membership card or online?

ohreally

vet8 wrote: »

He has told his line manager his version of events, but was told it was now going to a hearing and that is it.

It is not appropriate for him to be discussing the events with his line manager.

What is the purpose of Wednesdays meeting, is it an investigatory or disciplinary?

vet8

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

What union is he in? Phone the union HQ and ask who's covering - it would be very unusual for there not to be a rep available somewhere else as cover. Larger unions sometimes have central helplines as well - is there a number on his membership card or online?

This is getting worse:mad:.

He phoned USDAW today and not only is his workplace union rep on holiday, but the regional guy is also away, someone else is off sick and of the other two guys left who could help him, one is in Liverpool, the other end of the country and the other is snowed under.!! They have told him to write formally to the company requesting that the hearing is put back until he can speak to a union rep, which will not be before next Monday. He is doing that. I must say I am not very impressed with the union!

He has also complained that the letter did not contain the relevent documentation it was supposed to and in the letter there was a sentence which was apparently explaining his rights and it was not finished, obviously a line got lost somewhere so it made no sense. He has written complaining about all of these things.

vet8

ohreally wrote: »

What is the purpose of Wednesdays meeting, is it an investigatory or disciplinary?

I do not think the letter states which. I will read it when he comes home with it again.

vet8

medders2604 wrote: »

Just a quick thing but do you have itemised phone bill? You could use this to prove that you did call to explain. May help a little and good luck!

I have printed my itemised phone bill from the internet. It shows the times I called the store, which agrees with our version of events. But they are saying that I should have phoned this special sickness number, but not how they expected me to know what it was.

I must say that when my OH finally appeared and explained what had happened phoning his work was not desperately high on my list of priorites, but it was one of the first things I did. Apparently it was not good enough though.

jazzyman01

You have some good evidence though so keep hold of it.

If they have not enclosed the evidence then you can realistically ask for a delay whilst they provide this information to you and give you time to review it. It is highly unlikely, therefore, that he will have the information before Wednesday's proposed meeting.

He has a couple of alternatives - 1, ask for a postponement of the meeting until next Tuesday/Wednesday so that he can have a TU rep.
2, go to the meeting but open the meeting with the fact he has not received any of the "enclosed" documentation, that he brought this to the attention of x and he still has not received the documentation - therefore he wants time to go through the paperwork and prepare his defence. They should therefore set a new date and time - the error was theirs so it should give him extra time to get a union rep if he so wishes.

FYI - the Company is under no obligation to wait until his rep returns. They will just ask him to get someone else.

spaceytracey9

vet8 wrote: »

Well he recieved a formal letter this morning, saying he has the hearing on Wednesday.

It is all formal and serious, he can take a union rep with him or someone else if he likes. I still find it amazing that after they have been told the explanation they can still go through with this rubbish. He was clearly not just skiving he was ill.

I will let you know how he gets on. He is currently very stressed about it all.

Hi, I was a team manager in my previous job with disciplinary procedure's which sound very similar to your OH's company. My personal opinion would be not to worry too much, if a member of my team was AWOL for any reason, it was appropriate to escalate this matter directly to a hearing for gross misconduct, therefore missing out all of the other stages. All employee's who are awol are invited to this process to ensure consistency and fairness in the way staff are treated, however there should be no pre-judgements and the hearing is specifically to find out the details of why? not just a hanging out to dry parade, it just has to be carried out in a formal setting. After your OH has produced his evidence the panel should retire to make a decision, for an employee with a significantly reduced ability to contact work and reasons such as his the outcome should most definately be no further action. If for any reason that is not the case he should definately lodge a grievance using the company's procedure policy........ also, take a representative into the hearing for some moral support.

I hope he is fully recovered and this experience is not too stressful, it may seem crazy in some respects, but it is so that the company can protect themselves from other idiots who can't be bothered turning around and claiming unfair treatment because "Joe Bloggs" didn't have to have a hearing.

Good luck

vet8

Thanks spaceytracey, that is very reassuring.

He has given them the letter asking for a delay to the hearing and they have agreed to put it back until after he has spoken to the union.