Been sacked due to allegedly accused of stealing at work. Help :(

HO87

Having been dismissed you should have been advised that you have a right to appeal (to your employer) and this should have been confirmed in writing. Did this occur and did you follow it? If you haven't then you should consider doing so without delay. This may mean asking for your employer to consider an out-of-time appeal because the time within which you must lodge such an appeal is usually limited (sometimes this is as short as 5 days whilst in others I have known it to be s long as 14 days).

You also explained that when you attended the disciplinary meeting you were told what had been said. Were you shown - or better still provided with - any written statements of the people who were involved?

Whilst your employer (in this sense your manager) need only have formed a reasonable belief that you had stolen the co-codamol for your dismissal to be fair, on the basis of your account one wonders how she was able to form a reasonable belief that the tablets had been stolen in the first place, as opposed to being simply misplaced?

Is the home about to be inspected? How has it fared in previous inspections?

DVardysShadow

twilighter946 wrote: »

I will be taking it futher and getting legal advice.

However i have been told i need to attend my 'appeal meeting' before i can take it to a employment tribunal.

Who told you that? Your employer?

As I understand it, you have 3 months from dismissal to make an ET claim, regardless of employer's appeals process. It is not unknown for employers to mislead the dismissed that the ET clock starts after the appeal and then to spin out the appeal.

custardy

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Who told you that? Your employer?

As I understand it, you have 3 months from dismissal to make an ET claim, regardless of employer's appeals process. It is not unknown for employers to mislead the dismissed that the ET clock starts after the appeal and then to spin out the appeal.

yup,you can lodge your ET anytime you like
however it will look better at your ET if you go along with the companies procedures but dont wait to lodge your ET
you can withdraw your ET very easily (even by email) so get it in to be safe

SarEl

Yes. You have three months less a day to make a tribunal claim no matter what. If you have appealed you can say this even if the appeal has not been heard. But I am going to reiterate what I have already said. This is a very serious matter and it could blight you entire career. That is not to say that it will - but it may. And you are not equipped to deal with this. You must get a lawyer and you must get one now. There may be a law centre or something similar nearby, or speak to CAB - but you need to get legal representation to make sure that you make no mistakes.

Sambucus_Nigra

I personally would do nothing more until I had a lawyer - your next move needs to be 100% in your favour and you need to make sure that whatever you do, you do it right. I can't believe you've not done it already.

This has happened because of their slackness, not the old lady - if their procedures were tight then there wouldn't have BEEN missing tablets for her to mistake you putting in your pocket. You are up against more than the word of an old lady I am afraid.

NickyBat

i certainly don't have the answers for you but i think i would Get in touch with a solicitor - preferably one that specialises in employment law. most will give you the first half hour so free for advice and they will be able to tell you if you have a case and where to go from here - you may even qualify for legal aid.
i wish you the best of luck.

wrightk

i feel for you here. Myself and partner have worked in care for years and years in the community, hospitals and emi homes etc and i know from experience how easy it is to be blamed for something.

a few points i would make if i was you

-why is the drugs trolley not being locked away it contains not only prescribed medications and creams but can also hold controlled drugs like morphine, if thats not bad practice i dont know what is!

-how can you possibly be blamed for stealing medication when it isnt even kept in a secure place

-As you may know,medication recording in care homes can be very dodgy,if a drugs count is done properly then there will be no probs, but some 'carers' just minus whatever they took and then record it on the mar sheet without even checking physically!

-even co-codamol at medium strength can be bought over the counter (8mg co codamol- 500 mg paracetemol) why would you possibly want to steal something that can be bought over the counter?!

The only other thing i would say is dont feel sorry for anyone else. Care homes have a reputation of being '!!!!!y' and a lot of arguments and back stabbing, i wouldnt be suprised if someone blamed you to save their own skin

good luck and dont worry the truth will always out

adouglasmhor

Get a solicitor, they protect the innocent as well as the guilty. You are foolish to think the prosecution service won't have thier own solicitors picking holes in things.

Really get a sollicitor, you will get legal aid.
And get a sollicitor.

twilighter946

** UPDATE **

Once again thank you for all the replies. Much appreciated

I went for a consultation with a Employment solicitor today.

Gave me some great advice, the solicitor who i seen also had previously a career in nursing so he was fully aware of allegations that can be made within a carer/nursing environment and said I would have a VERY strong case for unfair dismissal.

HOWEVER, i was told because I only worked for my employer for 8months (contracted) .... I did do my training there since November 2009 for my NVQ (so i worked 2 days a week for free for my course).... I cant take my employer to a tribrunal for unfair dismissal as the UK law states that you have to be working for a employer for 12months plus.

With less than 12 months service I have very few employment rights. All I can expect from my employer now is :
a) pay for the hours that ive worked
b) pay in lieu of notice
c) pay for accrued holiday

Im now some what confused. Ive been told that some solicitors will act on your behalf even if it is less then 12 month service with your ex employer.
So i will be contacting any Employment Law firm to see what they say.

Can someone please clarify this for me?

Googlewhacker

As far as I am aware if it is under 12 months then you can only go to a tribunal on discriminatory reasons such as gender, sex, race etc