Disciplinary Meeting Advice

bride2be2012

Hi, sorry, this is a long post!

About a month ago I started this thread, and received some good advice

At the end of that week, my OH had an investigatory meeting with HR - basically it was his word against his supervisor - Supervisor saying OH walked out half way through his shift, OH says he was asked to leave. This meeting was on 1 Nov. OH gave HR a letter at the meeting outlining his version of events, and also added he wasn't happy about his supervisor telling other members of staff he had been suspended. OH has heard nothing all month about this meeting, has been back at work as normal, cleared the air with his supervisor and they now have an OK working relationship.

Yesterday, OH receives a letter from HR saying he has to attend a disciplinary meeting this Friday, regarding 'an incident of disruptive behaviour between OH and Supervisor'. Also with the letter was a copy of the notes taken from the investigatory meetings with OH and supervisor on 01/11/11, along with a copy of the letter OH gave HR. There also appears to have been a second meeting between HR and Supervisor on 14/11/11, and we have a copy of notes from that too.

The main issue OH has with the notes is a lot of information is incorrect. The dates are all totally inconsistent (the covering letter detailing why he is facing disciplinary action says the disruptive behaviour only happened on Friday, OH was on a day off on Friday!), OH's name is spelt wrongly half a dozen times, and just general nonsense from the Supervisor (things like OH doesn't answer his calls in the evenings or his days off - it's his own time, both of us keep our phones on silent in the evenings as we don't like to be pestered - and this makes him unreliable)

OH is seriously stressing over this, he thought the lack of communication and the fact he and his supervisor were getting on OK now were a sign that everything was fine. We really don't need this just before Christmas!!!

Any advice on how to proceed from here?? Have told OH he is to ask for a copy of the disciplinary procedure today, as he hasn't got a copy.

macalacka

It does bother me when disciplinary letters have typo's!

Have they listed the evidence as to why they have decided to proceed to a disciplinary?

Has OH signed the notes after his investigation meeting to confirm they were an accurate record of the meeting?

I would suggest he goes to the meeting with a written statement highlighting the inaccuracies and ask them to correct them before proceeding.

also get OH to highlight that he has been working fine with the supervisor and did not hear any further. I would also suggest to the disciplinary hearing that the amount of time since the investigation isn't entirely reasonable, what was the delay? If they say "further investigation". Ask them what they were investigating.

What does the invite letter say about the disruptive behaviour? What is their evidence that shows that OH is to blame?

bride2be2012

No they haven't listed evidence really. All there was were notes from the investigatory meetings - one with OH, one with Supervisor, second one with Supervisor, and copy of letter OH gave to HR.

OH hasn't signed any of the notes, the copy he was sent yesterday was first time he has seen them, and hasn't been asked to sign anything.

Invite letter doesn't say anything else about the disruptive behaviour. The notes from both meetings do make reference to the fact that the argument (when OH was asked to leave) got heated, and there was shouting and swearing from both sides (OH doesn't dispute this, but this happens on a daily basis in his workplace, I've met his colleagues and the supervisor many times and I don't think one of them can make a sentence without it containing the F-Word..(rolling eyes smiley)...but as this is an almost every day occurence, and that OH and Supervisor have now apologised to each other, it seems strange that they are now bringing this up at a disciplinary meeting...It's almost as if they have started investigating one thing, didn't get anywhere but found something else to start digging at...

macalacka

Does the Supervisor admit fault for this incident as well?

I would say that as OH hasn't signed notes he is within his rights to say that these are not accurate or a true record and that he has not signed them so they cannot be used as evidence.

I would also get OH to call the HR department and explain that it is unclear what evidence is being used to make the decision to refer to a disciplinary hearing. If they are vague it's likely they haven't fully considered it! A usual ploy is to say the "evidence is detailed in the notes" however, see above point.

bride2be2012

oh this all gets better! OH just text to say they are having the meeting NOW!! Despite him just getting the letter yesterday and it clearly states FRIDAY! He's not had a chance to read through everything properly or prepare or anything...AGH!!

Carl31

bride2be2012 wrote: »

oh this all gets better! OH just text to say they are having the meeting NOW!! Despite him just getting the letter yesterday and it clearly states FRIDAY! He's not had a chance to read through everything properly or prepare or anything...AGH!!

That doesnt sound good

Is this a gross misconduct hearing?

bride2be2012

thanks for the helpful advice, however I think it's all too late now (see above post).

I don't know if his supervisor has admitted fault as well. Judging by the notes from the meeting, I'd say not as he makes allegations that OH is unreliable, and that he has threatened to walk out before. This is untrue, but it's my OH's word against the supervisor really.

bride2be2012

it's not gross misconduct, not as far as we know. there was nothing in the letter to say so, and as yet OH hasn't received a copy of the grievance/disciplinary procedure.

Carl31

It seems very odd they have brought it forward, and at the end of the day? My experience of that hasnt been good

saintjammyswine

Can he not ask to postpone to allow him to arrange representation as it is a disciplinary?

SarEl

A bit late if it's happening now. The good news is that if they dismiss then you will have a field day in a tribunal. If not, of course, there is not a damned thing that can be done about it. We shall have to wait and see what happens.