invited to disaplanary when on garden leave! urgent help needed

singingrep

Hi

Well this is going to be a long story but I have had what you could class as a very bad year!

I have been employed with my current employer a recruitment agency for 4 years now and in that time I have worked very hard and been very success having gone from a trainee consultant to a corporate account manager winning awards and company insentives along the way. Great I hear you say well it was until the end of last year.

I was employed as the midlands corporate account manager in september of 2008 and set about following my directors instructions to build a portfolio of potencail business and try to convert them by arranging appiontment and developingstaffing proposals.

This was all going well and I had a good looking pipeline, then the resscio n hit and it all terned a bit sour but thing went from bad to worse on new years day I was admitted to hospital with extreme pain in my abdomin, fo 5 weeks the doctors could not settle on a diognosis and through out this time I was in agorny. they finnaly called in a specialist who knew what was wrong instantly and had me transfered to his hospital and then in theater within two hours! I had open surgery and it terned out to be two internal hernias and two sections of twisted bowel. (i would not wish the pain on my worst enemy).

I was them off work for 2 further months to recover during this time no concirn for my welfare was made apart from being asked regulay when I was going back to work!

I must add at this piont that I was paid for sick leave which was not in my new contract as sick leave has also been the discresion of you manager.

I returned to work at the begining of April and was told that I should not take up or continue with my previous duties due to the down turn in the industry and the additional stress it would involve as I had already informed them that my mental state was not great after the ordeal.

So to apparently make my life essier they told me to sort out the Milton Keynes branch that was under threat of closer due to bad performance this branch is 75mile from where I live and the local branch is 200 yards from my frount door. But needing my job and the money to support my family I went and worked from 8am until 5pm so leaving my house at 6-7am and ariving home 6-7pm. I manager to make contact with a substancial business prospect but on mentioning this to my director this prospect was taken away from me since then they have made enough money through this prospect to support the branch and keep its doors open.

After two months of the traveling I had to say somthing so I mentioned to the regional manager that I wa starting to have problems with the traveling and it was getting to much for me. She told me that she would speak with the director as she was having a meating with her soon in person and would discuss this on my behalf.

That friday I was invited to meet with the director who told me I was under threat of redundancy and that they where sorry about the timing!

This was all to much for me and on the following Monday I started to get pain in my adomin I knew this pain now and knew somthing was seriusly wrong so I went strate back to the specialists hospital and was admited again. I was them operated on again two days latter as the previous operational repairs made had come undone and the internal stiches had not held.

I then needed a further two months off to mend, I was told by the director that my redundancy process would not continue until I was back at work but they would not be paying me any sick pay this time so ssp for me! after 7 weeks I had to get back to work other wise we would have lost our house having missed mortgage payments. So upon returning to work I was also made to travel to milton keynes untill I told them again this was not going to work and that they had 3 branchs that where considerable closer to me that I could work from so they told me to work out of Coventry part time which I keeped to and did everything they asked me to.

I was then invited back to see the HR manager this time as the directort was to busy to see me and was informed that I was indeed to be made redudant and was told I could work my notice or take garden leave. Well I had already arranged to help out the Coventry branch manager for the next few days as he was under staffed so I keeped my promise and helped him until that friday and them requested to take the rest as garden leave.

I was sent a letter and minets of the meating we had and also that I was still an employee of the company until the 18th of this month and was not to work for any other company in this time unless permission had been given by them.

So the job hunting started, I managed to speka with an old friend who told me he was setting up a new advertisment business and he might have a job for me to do but I would need to prove myself first that I was fit enough to do the job and had the right skills. He set me the task of speaking to a lead that had come into his company and picking anouther one from his database to speak with and see if I could get them interested in his product and also he wanted to know what ways I would approach this in a proffesional manor as this was a senior job I was going for.

I contacted the lead and discussed the product and sent out a couple of emails via the webmail email address I had requested set up to look professional.

No business was done and the contact has not been back this was done over two days in my spair time at home.

And then I waited to hear what next.

Then out of the blue I got a call from the HR manager asking me to come into the head office which is 80 miles away and bring with me the company car that I was to leave with them.

So thinking maybe they had a new job for me I shot up to the office the next day all excited, I then find out that this lead that contact the company I interviewed with had actually been in contact with my employer and they wanted to know why I was working on my garden leave and they where in every right to sack me!

I explained I was not working but this was part of an interview to gain anouther job but they have now invited me back this friday for a formal disaplainary.

I cannot believe this is happening and need some advice about what can be done can they get away with sacking me and not paying any redundancy? I know its not a fortune but with twin 18month old girls to support I need to get a job and this monet was put aside to get a car asap.

I have contacted Alex to talk to him about this and find out wheather he had anything to do with it and he is flabergasted as the lead he gave me was given to him two days before I went for the interview and they rang in and was the first inquiry they had had as they have not advertised there services yet?

Can someone please help is there anything I can do and I have been told that I can take a trade union member with me to support or an employee on Friday but I dont have any collogues that would stick there neck out as they to might meet the same fate and I am not a member of any trade union so cannot ask anyone from there. so any solicitors knowing the legal aspect of this or any trade union reps that could help please can you get in contact asap you could save our christmasand my sanity!

rach29

Singingrep, may I suggest you remove the name of your employer from the Original Post and your e-mail from post #3

This is a public forum and anyone (including your employer) could be
reading this site.

Please also check out Growler's credentials, he/she could be anyone (sorry Growler but I'm sure you understand):o

dmg24

rach29 wrote: »

Singingrep, may I suggest you remove the name of your employer from the Original Post and your e-mail from post #3

This is a public forum and anyone (including your employer) could be
reading this site.

Please also check out Growler's credentials, he/she could be anyone (sorry Growler but I'm sure you understand):o

Agreed on both points, and I would be very dubious of a so called barrister that has to tout on the internet for business!

DVardysShadow

rach29 wrote: »

... Please also check out Growler's credentials, he/she could be anyone (sorry Growler but I'm sure you understand):o

Looking at his/her other posts here is a good start. Of 5 in total, 2 on this matter and the others on perfume and discount codes? Barrister? Looks unlikely.

patman99

Are barristers not allowed to post in irrelavent forum threads then?

If the op is on notice of redundantcy, then he is legally entitled to job-hunt during work time, and if required, take-part in any trial required as part of the interview proccess.

Anihilator

They can disclipline you and probably dismiss you whilst on gardening leave.

Tbh you have two approaches

1) Say nothing and see what evidence they actually have. Remember it has to be based on the probabilities and not beyond all doubt

2) Admit it but say it was an interview.

What exactly does your contract say about working for others and business leads etc. If it says you cant tap up clients your in trouble.

juliescot

I would have thought a professional person offering help may have sent a pm to the OP.

Or just given some advice on the open forum.

singingrep

thank you for the replys so far I am very angry today I suppose it was stuipid to put on the companies name can any tell me how to remove it as I cannot find an edit button on here thank you

singingrep

found it now, wasnot looking properly.

singingrep

with regards to my contract what it says is,

you may not without prior permissiion of the company contact or atempt to contact any client, customer, agent, proffesional advisor, broker or banker of the company or any associated company or any employee of the company or any associated company

Am I able to state that this business which I spoke with I have had no contact with prior and was not aware of any relationship they had with my employer previously and also surly there must be somthing in there that can be siad about this business contacting my potencial furture empler first?

singingrep

would there be any grounds for my potencial future employer to sue for deliberate industrial espianage as this is a new business comparied with the one I am currently employed by which is supposadly one of the UKs largest?