Gross Misconduct

volvo1

My husband has been asked to attend a disciplinary hearing for a breach of confidence as stated as gross misconduct.
The situation was that he asked for an earlier finish from work which still turned out to be a 12 hr working day as we were going on holiday and needed to be at the airport that evening. He also stated that we were flying to America that evening eventhough we weren't until very early the next morning.
Can this be deemed as gross misconduct?
The manager in a statement has said that my husband argued and 'kicked off' in his words however the other two witness statements stated that he didn't which is the truth. The situation was very amicable and if help could be given then great and if not no problem.
His manager shouted and ranted at my husband in front of other staff about our holiday which annoyed me as the whole company now knew that we were going away for 2 weeks to America. I felt our security of home was at risk as a friend once had her house burgled when she told her work colleagues she was going on holiday.
This has been so upsetting. He has his union rep for support for his meeting on Monday.
Any advice would be most helpful as I am going out of my mind with worry and concern.
Thanks

daveys_2

volvo1 wrote: »

My husband has been asked to attend a disciplinary hearing for a breach of confidence as stated as gross misconduct.

Breach of confidence implies that he has been giving away confidential information, a far cry from asking to leave work early.

volvo1 wrote: »

He also stated that we were flying to America that evening eventhough we weren't until very early the next morning. Can this be deemed as gross misconduct?

This depends whether he was trying to gain some kind of advantage, or deceive his employer in some way. However you state that you had to be at the airport that night, so regardless of when the flight took off, he had to be there, and as a responsible husband take a degree of responsibility for both of your safe arrivals.

volvo1 wrote: »

The manager in a statement has said that my husband argued and 'kicked off' in his words however the other two witness statements stated that he didn't which is the truth. The situation was very amicable and if help could be given then great and if not no problem.

The term ‘kicked off’ can easily be interpreted by an impartial observer as your husband being physically violent towards his employer. The witness statements demonstrate that this is not the case, and I would be using this (and anything else that can be latched onto) as a lever to demonstrate that the employer is exaggerating his claims. Once one part of the allegation can disproved, it then casts doubt onto the rest of the allegations.

volvo1 wrote: »

His manager shouted and ranted at my husband in front of other staff about our holiday which annoyed me as the whole company now knew that we were going away for 2 weeks to America. I felt our security of home was at risk as a friend once had her house burgled when she told her work colleagues she was going on holiday.

Again demonstrates that the manager is unreasonable (at best) and unprofessional, once again casting doubt into the rest of the allegations.

volvo1 wrote: »

This has been so upsetting. He has his union rep for support for his meeting on Monday.

I’m not surprised. However the union rep should be doing more than support, but representing him and pointing these facts out at the hearing. Out of interest which union is it?

volvo1 wrote: »

Any advice would be most helpful as I am going out of my mind with worry and concern.

I know it is worrying, and unfair to have this hanging over you over the weekend. I assume that your husband received his summons to the hearing today. If so it could be agued that a reasonable employer would do all that they can to resolve this matter without it dragging out over the weekend. If they knew it couldn’t be resolved today, then delay notifying him until Monday, with a Tuesday hearing.

volvo1 wrote: »

Thanks

You’re welcome

Hammyman

So did he leave when he was supposed to finish or did he walk out early?

And you need to get a grip about the burglary thing...

Jarndyce

He needs to get advice from his union rep who knows all the facts and has read the witness statements, not from people who only know half the story.

The bottom line is that your husband lied to his manager about his need to get away from work, so yes that is certainly a potential disciplinary offence - whether it is gross misconduct depends on the detailed facts of the case, the context etc etc.

volvo1

Thank you so much for your feedback. The union is Unite.
With regards walking out early my husband is contracted to work 10hrs per day as he is a driver however he ended up working a 12 hour day due to delays so in the end we didn't gain anything from the employer. We made it to the airport by 10pm however your comment about safe transportation is valuable.
The reason I mentioned burglary was because I feel that our personal plans shouldn't be shouted and disclosed to everyone without our permission. Also this wasn't the right start to our holiday as my husband stated that he felt embarrassed at being shouted at in the office and also had not anticipated this happening at all. We did still have a great holiday however some days were spent talking about this to which helped him de-stress.

daveys_2

Jarndyce wrote: »

The bottom line is that your husband lied to his manager about his need to get away from work, so yes that is certainly a potential disciplinary offence

The point is that there was a 'need' for him to get away from work. The worst he has done (and what I would point out if I were representing with these facts), is that he communicated this poorly to his boss. In light of the boss being shouty and argumentative, it is not surprising that things were 'misinterpreted'

However *this* is the bottom line:

Jarndyce wrote: »

He needs to get advice from his union rep who knows all the facts and has read the witness statements, not from people who only know half the story.

Jarndyce

daveys wrote: »

Breach of confidence implies that he has been giving away confidential information, a far cry from asking to leave work early.

No it doesn't! It is indicative of the fact - admitted - that he lied to his employer and therefore his employer no longer has any trust and confidence in him as an employee.

This depends whether he was trying to gain some kind of advantage, or deceive his employer in some way.

He was trying to deceive his employer - that has been admitted.

However you state that you had to be at the airport that night, so regardless of when the flight took off, he had to be there, and as a responsible husband take a degree of responsibility for both of your safe arrivals.

Irrelevant and not his employer's problem.

The term ‘kicked off’ can easily be interpreted by an impartial observer as your husband being physically violent towards his employer. The witness statements demonstrate that this is not the case, and I would be using this (and anything else that can be latched onto) as a lever to demonstrate that the employer is exaggerating his claims. Once one part of the allegation can disproved, it then casts doubt onto the rest of the allegations.

Again demonstrates that the manager is unreasonable (at best) and unprofessional, once again casting doubt into the rest of the allegations.

Your one reasonable point - the reported behaviour of the manager is indeed suspect. But at the end of the day it does not excuse the fact that the OP lied to his manager.

I know it is worrying, and unfair to have this hanging over you over the weekend. I assume that your husband received his summons to the hearing today. If so it could be agued that a reasonable employer would do all that they can to resolve this matter without it dragging out over the weekend. If they knew it couldn’t be resolved today, then delay notifying him until Monday, with a Tuesday hearing.

It is not unfair. The employer is required to give reasonable notice of a hearing. 24 hours notice would be unfair - and a breach of the ACAS Code of Practice!

The OP has admitted a disciplinary offence and can only hope that the employer is lenient and takes the view that it was not serious in the scheme of things nor indicative of more deep-rooted behaviour. Otherwise, I suspect that based on what we know, a Tribunal would view a dismissal on these facts as fair and within the range of reasonable responses, albeit towards the less reasonable end of that range.

DVardysShadow

Jarndyce wrote: »

... The bottom line is that your husband lied to his manager about his need to get away from work, so yes that is certainly a potential disciplinary offence - whether it is gross misconduct depends on the detailed facts of the case, the context etc etc.

I don't see any substantive lie here. Obviously OP's plans involved getting to the airport in the evening. The actual scheduled time that the wheels of the plane left the ground is not all that important.

volvo1 wrote: »

.... The situation was that he asked for an earlier finish from work which still turned out to be a 12 hr working day as we were going on holiday and needed to be at the airport that evening. He also stated that we were flying to America that evening even though we weren't until very early the next morning.

volvo1 wrote: »

We made it to the airport by 10pm however your comment about safe transportation is valuable.

OP, it is worth taking a look at the hours he worked that week - if they are in excess of 48 hours and he has not signed an opt-out from the Working Time Directive, there may be some ammunition there.

volvo1

Again your advice is most appreciative. Just having someone to speak to helps me. One scenario is if you book a meal for your anniversary and asked your employer for an early finish and you decided when you got home to change the details of your evening perhaps due to your partner not feeling well etc. then this is gross misconduct. Or that your table was booked for 9pm however you said it was 8pm. isn't this just too detailed. I would expect that most employees will have told employers similiar things however another thought is what is this to do with the employer. Shouldn't it be just enough to ask for the early finish?

Jarndyce

DVardysShadow wrote: »

I don't see any substantive lie here. Obviously OP's plans involved getting to the airport in the evening. The actual scheduled time that the wheels of the plane left the ground is not all that important.

Fair point he could certainly play down the significance of it on that basis.

GotToChange

Not much useful to add but I hope it turns out well for you.

I simply cannot believe what the world is coming to... *shakes head*