Suspended from work! Don't know why

Amber07

This site has been invaluable to me during my OH's tribunal process:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/ResolvingWorkplaceDisputes/Disciplinaryprocedures/DG_10028115

If your employer is considering disciplinary action or dismissal, their first step should generally be to write to you, setting out the problem.
The letter should contain information about your alleged misconduct or poor performance and its possible consequences. It should give you enough information to allow you to prepare a reply or an explanation before the meeting.

woody01

rexx wrote: »

quick note, he did join a union independently - I know he has been in touch and they have sent him form to fill out. The only thing is he joined it about a week or so before this happened so I'm not sure how much help they can provide as he might not have been a member long enough.

Olly - thank you so very much.

There are serious flaws in this tale.
The main one being, you dad has been an employee there for 4 years right? He is 64 yrs old, so less than a year from retirement.

SO.....why decide to join a union when he has less than 1 year of service left?
Couple this with the fact that he joined the union only 1 week before these allegations have arisen (must be allegations of misconduct or he wouldnt have been suspended).
Allegations in places like this are VERY serious.

I may be cynical, but it looks to me from what you have said, that your dad has realised he has fouled up a few weeks back, and joined the union to cover his !!!! as he knew this disciplinary was coming.

gerryscot wrote: »

Reading you post brought tears to my eyes, what a shame for you poor dad he must be devastated. It sounds as though his manager is a true bully. Sorry I can give you any advice apart from suggesting contacting Acas.

Cant understand what managers reasons are for stating in notes that he had met with all members of staff asking the same questions, he doesn’t appear to be very knowledgeable with regards to employment law.

The one good thing going in your dads favour just now is having you a caring daughter at his side, supporting him and doing everything possible to help him. Cant be easy for you either though, I know if someone did this to my wee dad I would be like a wild women.

Wish you both the very best and hope you get the bully sorted.

Gerry x x x :smileyhea

Astonishing.
You managed to deduce all that with hearing few facts and only one side of the story.
Did it actually occur to you that the care home may have acted correctly?
Did it actually occur to you, particularly with the stoiry already given, the the Op's dad may have actually done something rather than being 'bullied'.

viktory

gerryscot wrote: »

Reading you post brought tears to my eyes

Did it really? How strange!

rexx

woody01 wrote: »

There are serious flaws in this tale.
The main one being, you dad has been an employee there for 4 years right? He is 64 yrs old, so less than a year from retirement.

SO.....why decide to join a union when he has less than 1 year of service left?
Couple this with the fact that he joined the union only 1 week before these allegations have arisen (must be allegations of misconduct or he wouldnt have been suspended).
Allegations in places like this are VERY serious.

I may be cynical, but it looks to me from what you have said, that your dad has realised he has fouled up a few weeks back, and joined the union to cover his !!!! as he knew this disciplinary was coming.

Astonishing.
You managed to deduce all that with hearing few facts and only one side of the story.
Did it actually occur to you that the care home may have acted correctly?
Did it actually occur to you, particularly with the stoiry already given, the the Op's dad may have actually done something rather than being 'bullied'.

Excuse me my friend, now that is my Dad you’re talking about and although I appreciate they are only your comments, you do not have the advantage of knowing my dad BUT he did not foul up!!

The flaws in my tail, as you so nicely put it, are possibly due to the fact that I have left important aspects of this situation out of the post because I don't think it will do him any favours if I post the whole story for the world to see!!!

And yes he joined the union for a reason, and not, as you also say, because he realised he had fouled, but to protect himself because HE KNEW (see my above comment) that it was heading this way.

And, yes I now know the company are taking the correct action, and yes I know, NOW, that they are in their rights to not tell him at this stage what these "Serious Allegations" are.

And I am also VERY AWARE that allegations like this ARE VERY SERIOUS hence the reason I came here for advice and not to put my dad on trial. HE HAS DONE NOTHING WRONG!!!!! But all that matters is I know that and the rest of my family know that so you can think what you want - however if you want to give me helpful advice on the question I asked then that will be gratefully received however I would prefer you not make judgement on somebody/something you do not have the full details on.

Thanks

Willsnarf1983

rexx wrote: »

Excuse me my friend, now that is my Dad you’re talking about and although I appreciate they are only your comments, you do not have the advantage of knowing my dad BUT he did not foul up!!

The flaws in my tail, as you so nicely put it, are possibly due to the fact that I have left important aspects of this situation out of the post because I don't think it will do him any favours if I post the whole story for the world to see!!!

And yes he joined the union for a reason, and not, as you also say, because he realised he had fouled, but to protect himself because HE KNEW (see my above comment) that it was heading this way.

And, yes I now know the company are taking the correct action, and yes I know, NOW, that they are in their rights to not tell him at this stage what these "Serious Allegations" are.

And I am also VERY AWARE that allegations like this ARE VERY SERIOUS hence the reason I came here for advice and not to put my dad on trial. HE HAS DONE NOTHING WRONG!!!!! But all that matters is I know that and the rest of my family know that so you can think what you want - however if you want to give me helpful advice on the question I asked then that will be gratefully received however I would prefer you not make judgement on somebody/something you do not have the full details on.

Thanks

the guy is entitled to his views and if they don't match what you wanted to hear you can't blame him for airing them.

The guy pointed out he thought things had been left out and you now agree with him so how can you expect people not form an unbiased view without stating all the facts.

And if you only wanted the question answering why did you pad it out with any details at all?

I hope things go well for your father.

Will

rexx

Hi thank you for your response. Yes I agree, now that I have had chance to read upon the subject, that they have followed standard procedure. However, I would like to point out that the meeting he had was with the Op's manager and another member of staff

terra_ferma wrote: »

I may not be very popular here... but it seems to me that they have followed standard procedures (obviously they should have followed their own procedures correctly).

ACAS states:
Employers should inform employees of the basis of the problem and give them an opportunity to put their case in response before any decisions are made.

It does not state that they need to be told while the problem is being investigated (unless it's stated somewhere else I'm not aware of).

Procedures in these cases vary wildly from not suspending at all to suspending without giving any information. I am not saying it's right or wrong not to tell people why they are being investigated, I'm just giving you information that may be useful to your dad.

I can't see anything in what happened that it's not a standard procedure when serious allegations have been made.
Obviously without seeing the actual letter It's difficult to understand what the allegations actually are, but it sounds like it could be complaints under Protection of Vulnerable Adults (i.e. allegations of abuse). If they are interviewing so many people it must be serious, probably not just 'gossip'.

The actual manager of the home should be the one held responsible, if he/she was around when this happened. You don't mention them at the meeting, have they been suspended too?
The comment about your dad having it in for his manager is also extremely serious, if this is one of the allegations.

Hope it ends well.

The meeting wasn't a investigatory meeting or any sort of disciplinary meeting (because if it had been then they would have been following the wrong procedure) it was, as my dad was told, a Question and Answers meeting that had apparently been carried out with all members of staff.

I have read through the notes my dad was given that were taken at the meeting and the introduction indicates that the questions he was being asked were the same questions each member of staff had been asked. However, this can not be true because the questions were too specific to my dad and could not have possibly been asked to anybody else in this exact context.

The comment about my dad having it for is Manger was related to a response he had given where he said he felt his manager did not act upon issues quickly enough and the person interviewing said that this was not true and that it was a case of my dad having it in for his manager.

After this question and answer meeting - he was told that he was being suspended and was not given a reason at this stage. The next morning he received a letter stating that the suspension was because of serious allegations. And that is it - there is nothing else.

So my question was - does my dad have a right at this stage to know what these serious allegations are? Apparently from the research I have done, he does not have the right to know. So that's that question answered.

And for now, there is nothing he can do until the business makes a move either issuing him a letter to a disciplinary hearing - where at this stage I know they have to give the reason so he can defend himself or they will say they have completed investigations and he can return to work.

rexx

Willsnarf1983 wrote: »

the guy is entitled to his views and if they don't match what you wanted to hear you can't blame him for airing them.

The guy pointed out he thought things had been left out and you now agree with him so how can you expect people not form an unbiased view without stating all the facts.

And if you only wanted the question answering why did you pad it out with any details at all?

I hope things go well for your father.

Will

Ok fair point - I accept that. But it is obviously personal and upsetting for me to see my dad in this position. I thought I gave enough information without being too specific and possibly adding problems to an alread ****y situation.

If anybody wants to know more on the basis that they can offer me more specific advice then please pm me.

The fella who first responded has already given me some great advice which I really appreciate.

Thanks

Zazen999

Has he had a copy of the disciplinary procedure [so that you can see if they are following it?].

Suspension on full pay - they can suspend without telling the person the issues and sometimes this can work in their favour as they then can't try and contact anyone involved. So try to get him to look at it that way. Unfortunately, they don't actually have to have proof that he ever DID anything, just a reasonable suspicion. Lets hope they clear his name during the investigation.
Good luck to you and your dad.

rexx

Thank you, yes he has copies of the procedure. It was just the suspending without giving a reason I was confused on.

It's difficult, as I am sure anybody who has been or is in this situation will know, to accept something when you don't know why you are being suspended.

Zazen999

Usually they give you some inkling; like 'someone has made an allegation and we are suspending until we have investigated; if you have done nothing wrong then don't worry'......something like that.