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

firesidemaid

hello.
glad its all over for today. IMHO it would be foolish for HR to have the meeting without you - any outcome then other than total exoneration (?spelling) without you present would look terrible for them. imagine them going ahead without you, without you being able to state your case and then disciplining you?!

mind wrrring here..... UNLESS... that is how they are thinking? not trying to get your hopes up, but what do others think? the only reason that are happy to go ahead without you is because they know the outcome already, which is 'everything goes back to normal'.

Other than that they could be either stupid or arrogant and therefore either 'not get it' or don't care.

anyway, thought i'd offer the above for you to peruse;)

bristol_pilot

Googled a bit and found this re. hair-based drug testing. Not as expensive as I might have thought and it seems it would cover the time period relevant to the present case:

http://www.trimegalabs.co.uk/questions/hair-drug-testing-explained.php

with independent scientifc evidence to prove that you have never taken Class A drugs, HR would be hard pushed to show that they had a genuine belief that the allegations were true, IMO.

robredz

Anihilator wrote: »

Which is reasonable

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

They had better be careful, if they hold a meeting without you and decide to dismiss without giving you the opportunity to defend yourself and present your evidence, they may then be in breach of ACAS guidelines on procedural fairness.

Chill out until the 28th, and do ask for a copy of the medical report OH are sending to HR.

firesidemaid

bristol_pilot wrote: »

Googled a bit and found this re. hair-based drug testing. Not as expensive as I might have thought and it seems it would cover the time period relevant to the present case:

http://www.trimegalabs.co.uk/questions/hair-drug-testing-explained.php

with independent scientifc evidence to prove that you have never taken Class A drugs, HR would be hard pushed to show that they had a genuine belief that the allegations were true, IMO.

this is definitely worth considering (or making HR pay for IF they were considering disciplinary action). i was wondering what kind of company this was, but they are UKAS accredited which is excellent.

WELL DONE bristolpilot:j

BligBlag

From what you've told us OP, it sounds like the OH nurse remained impartial and wasn't purely acting on the say so of HR, who probably wouldn't be best pleased to know she read out their e-mail - So the appointment (for HR) was purely to try and force you into a Disciplinary before your sick note runs out... and here was I thinking they were worried for your health...

I think her asking you if you thought it best to get this over with was in your interests. She'll be aware, especially working in OH, that the longer something goes on, the harder it can become to face it.

But I can't see HR kicking up a fuss and carrying out a Disciplinary Hearing without you over a 2 week delay. I think they'd be pretty stupid to ignore a GP's note and recommendation from OH to delay the Disciplinary.

Try and relax over the next couple of weeks

Pete111

If I were you OP I would be very much hoping HR held the meeting in your absence and dismissed you

Given the fact that they clearly want you out (and you need to start mentally and actively moving yourself towards a new job BTW) The combination of the laughable 'evidence' of drug taking, the Dr's note and their own Occ health saying you were not fit to attend, would mean at least you ended up walking away with a nice big cheque...

robredz

An exit strategy as a contingency plan, if they dismiss, in your absence, using all the evidence you can collate regarding their actions and conduct of the DP, and their action (or inaction) on your grievance would be a good move imho

DirectDebacle

I do not disagree with advice that you should try to relax, difficult as that will be, but IMO you need to be busy preparing as robust a defence as you can to the allegations made against you. You do not have the luxury of time.

I feel that in the medium and long term that at this stage it is your best course of action. If you are dimissed on the grounds of drug mis-use and threatening behaviour then the aspersions cast upon your character may follow you around for years and seriously affect your earnings potential.

Therefore you will need to challenge such a decision at tribunal and the time to start preparing for that is now, not after the discipline hearing.

If there is a hidden agenda to 'out you' do not waste time speculating on this. You can only contest the evidence against you, which on the face of it appears to consist of a huge assumption backed up with innuendo and conjecture. The truth never really influences a decision to dismiss if that is what a company wants.

If they sack you and you can show the evidence they based this decision on to be virtually worthless, this is going to assist you greatly at tribunal.

You have given brief details of the contents of the statements that are to be used at the discipline. More detail would be helpful.

I assume it was HR who investigated the matter and took those statements. On the whole they are negative. You need to find out :

1. Who they interviewed during their investigation (It is likely it was more than those they took statements from),

and

2. Did they take any other statements that they are not going to use as evidence. If so request copies of them. HR investigation should have been unbiased but have probably focused on obtaining evidence to substantiate the allegation and ignored or supressed any witnesses or statements in your favour. They may have spoken to others who would have backed you up or were not prepared to go along with or go against the sales manager. After all, were there not 20 or so people present when you were accused of being a 'smack-head'.

Request from HR all the evidence they have, whether or not they intend to use it. If they state there is no other evidence or refuse to provide it if there is, this will be to your advantage at a tribunal.

It may do no harm to ask HR what they are prepared to do to facilitate the preparation of your defence. You have been prohibited from going to the workplace or talking to your colleagues. You cannot afford a representative to do this for you. HR probably won't come up with any suggestions or may not even respond. No matter, a tribunal may take this into consideration when they consider the fairness of a dismissal. So ask the questions and make the requests.

If you make contact with HR by email then I suggest that you confirm them in writing.

You need to give HR every opportunity to show that they are conducting this matter in a most biased and unfair way as possible. So far they are not doing too bad in this respect.

It will help your case at tribunal if you can show that the investigation was biased and the evidence was one sided.

The allegations against you are very serious indeed. HR are not capable of investigating serious criminal offences but nevertheless they can and should investigate the discipline aspect of such allegations.

In that respect they should conduct a thorough investigation and from what you say this appears to have been far from it. It is not a case of 'my boss keeps looking at me in a funny way and I don't like it'.

Such a lack of professionalism will do your case no harm at tribunal.

Get cracking.

clearing_out_my_pockets

Probably a bit late for this suggestion, but the pub you were in when this happened - does it have CCTV? Could help clear up whether or not you were aggressive.

robredz

clearing_out_my_pockets wrote: »

Probably a bit late for this suggestion, but the pub you were in when this happened - does it have CCTV? Could help clear up whether or not you were aggressive.

Only problem there is I believe it was in the toilet