help. Xmas do... suspected of doing DRUGS!!!!!!

u264047

Thanks for the above Directdebacle... once again you've come up with some great advice.

And those of you who are berating me for not going to visit a Lawyer and pay for advice. My wife is unemployed, which means the savings we have are at around zero....

There is a reason I started visiting this website in the first place.

Joelleski

I've been following this thread since the start, but not actually posted, as I have nothing useful to add unfortunately. I just wanted to wish you luck u264047, I think you have been treated appallingly.

DirectDebacle

u264047 wrote: »

And those of you who are berating me for not going to visit a Lawyer and pay for advice. My wife is unemployed, which means the savings we have are at around zero....

If you are dismissed then you are certainly going to need legal advice as it will be vital to your future employment prospects that you clear your name. Your financial circumstances will have changed and you may well be entitled to full legal aid or legal aid with a contribution.

Where the employee did not know of any rule that such misconduct would lead to dismissal that is a different matter. Thus in one case, the rule that the dismissal was the appropriate sanction had not been communicated to the employee and his dismissal was unfair.

I think this may be relevant to your case. It depends on what your company rules are on drugs and if you were made aware of them prior to the incident. If you were not given a copy of them or otherwise made aware before the Christmas incident then you may have a claim for unfair dismissal. Points like these are going to require a lawyer to advise you.

I am not predicting you will be dismissed but as you are aware it could come to that.

Good luck.

u264047

Just had the meeting with Occ. Health.

Interestingly, HR had sent her an email, which she read out to me, asking her for an assessment of me and in her opinion, would I be able to attend a disciplinary.

Spent an hour and a bit talking to her, giving her the ins and outs of my AD usage, and she has decided to inform HR that she recommends no hearing should take place until she has reviewed me on jan 28th.

She said usually HR listen to her, but they may decide to hold the Disciplinary meeting without me present, she said it was clear from the tone of the email that HR want this sorted pronto...

Anihilator

u264047 wrote: »

Just had the meeting with Occ. Health.

Interestingly, HR had sent her an email, which she read out to me, asking her for an assessment of me and in her opinion, would I be able to attend a disciplinary.

Spent an hour and a bit talking to her, giving her the ins and outs of my AD usage, and she has decided to inform HR that she recommends no hearing should take place until she has reviewed me on jan 28th.

She said usually HR listen to her, but they may decide to hold the Disciplinary meeting without me present, she said it was clear from the tone of the email that HR want this sorted pronto...

Which is reasonable

At the moment they are down on staff and still paying you.

DirectDebacle

u264047 wrote: »

Spent an hour and a bit talking to her, giving her the ins and outs of my AD usage, and she has decided to inform HR that she recommends no hearing should take place until she has reviewed me on jan 28th.

Well you now have 2 more weeks to prepare your defence.

Did you request a copy of the notes/report that the nurse will send to HR. If not request one. Under the Data Protection Act you are entitled to see all the medical records your company holds on you. Request them.

Here is another site that may be useful to you.

http://www.netlawman.co.uk/nlm/article_details.php?jury_id=3072bd2fbf&tbl_category_article_id=356570bb3d

There is much useful info on the net but it is no substitute for personal professional advice. I understand you are short of money but £200 spent on an hours hard and objective advice from an employment law specialist could be money very well spent.

bitemebankers

u264047 wrote: »

Thanks for the above Directdebacle... once again you've come up with some great advice.

And those of you who are berating me for not going to visit a Lawyer and pay for advice. My wife is unemployed, which means the savings we have are at around zero....

There is a reason I started visiting this website in the first place.

Very wise. And in between the usual sniping and trolling, there's been some cracking advice on this thread - you could have spent a lot of money obtaining the same by other means. Speaking of my own experience, I was stunned by how quickly my legal bill got into four figures. Worth it though in the end though, but as Directdebacle says, only in the endgame. At that point, find the best employment specialist you can't afford and give them both barrels. Worked for me

Zazen999

u264047 wrote: »

Just had the meeting with Occ. Health.

Interestingly, HR had sent her an email, which she read out to me, asking her for an assessment of me and in her opinion, would I be able to attend a disciplinary.

Spent an hour and a bit talking to her, giving her the ins and outs of my AD usage, and she has decided to inform HR that she recommends no hearing should take place until she has reviewed me on jan 28th.

She said usually HR listen to her, but they may decide to hold the Disciplinary meeting without me present, she said it was clear from the tone of the email that HR want this sorted pronto...

Was there any hint that HR were fishing to see whether you were actually on drugs, or just able to attend a disciplinary. I'm not asking what the email said, more about what questions were being asked.

If not, HR have missed a trick or haven't fully understood the situation [IMHO]

u264047

Zazen999 wrote: »

Was there any hint that HR were fishing to see whether you were actually on drugs, or just able to attend a disciplinary. I'm not asking what the email said, more about what questions were being asked.

If not, HR have missed a trick or haven't fully understood the situation [IMHO]

She was just fishing and trying to talk me into attending by saying, don't you think its better to just get it over with etc. As much as I would have loved to say yeah, lets go up there now... I really don't feel up to it at the moment.

I reiterated til I was boring myself that I am not a drug user, and she wrote up a personal history of me regarding the AD's and what has ailed me in the past psychologically... whatever.

Got a 2 week break to just try and chill out and get it all together. Still on the payroll for the time being too.... could be worse :rolleyes:

Still unsure if HR will make the decision to press on with it without me.

bristol_pilot

DirectDebacle wrote: »

There is much useful info on the net but it is no substitute for personal professional advice. I understand you are short of money but £200 spent on an hours hard and objective advice from an employment law specialist could be money very well spent.

Spot on DirectDebacle. I appreciate OP that you are not keen on spending money on lawyers - this is a MoneySaving site after all - but you are not embarking upon Jarndyce v Jarndyce. You still have one wage coming in, maybe you have a credit card or can borrow from a friend or whatever. But a couple of hundred pounds to mitigate a potential loss of future earnings of hundreds of thousands would seem to be a wise investment. Fewer boozy nights out with sales managers in the future and you will soon save enough to replenish your savings.