Is this classed as Gross Misconduct ??

Jarndyce

Uncertain wrote: »

I agree but, as I stated above, there is also the issue of how much of a principled stance the company will take or if they will look for a easy settlement of a forceful claim.

What is 'a forceful claim'? Isn't it just 'a claim'?

If an employer is going to dismiss for this then they are going to know that they are on solid ground. Of course there is always room for a commercial settlement, but in the case of a 'national IT company' I would expect their HR people to be clued up enough to stand their ground all the way to court if necessary.

Uncertain

Jarndyce wrote: »

What is 'a forceful claim'? Isn't it just 'a claim'?

No! Not at all..........

Of course there is always room for a commercial settlement

Exactly.....

sho_me_da_money

If there is no social networking policy, then this will come down to whether the board (should it go to Trib) find the comment bad enough to warrant a dismissal.

And I do not believe saying this does:

"I think it's sh.. that Microsoft are making people redundant"

Bollox.x.x

Jarndyce

sho_me_da_money wrote: »

If there is no social networking policy, then this will come down to whether the board (should it go to Trib) find the comment bad enough to warrant a dismissal.

And I do not believe saying this does:

"I think it's sh.. that Microsoft are making people redundant"

Bollox.x.x

If by 'board' you mean tribunal, then that(whether it is "bad enogh to warrant dismisal") is not what they will consider. They will merely apply the 'range of reasonable responses' test that I mentioned earlier.

Bobl

What is not considered here is what stage the potential redundancies are at, if it is only in the consulting stage the company would not want it to be broadcast, it could have a damaging impact on the stock price. So, given the damage it can do to a company I believe the action they took is perfectly reasonable.

Take heed people, do not discuss work on Social Networking Sites.

sho_me_da_money

Agree with the last poster. It totally depends on how sensitive the redundancy information was and the severity of it had it have been made public.

The remark/comment alone does not justify dismissal.

Jarndyce

sho_me_da_money wrote: »

Agree with the last poster. It totally depends on how sensitive the redundancy information was and the severity of it had it have been made public.

The remark/comment alone does not justify dismissal.

You're wrong, but I'm not going to argue any more.

WPN

redlooney wrote: »

My neice has been employed for 4 years with a well known national IT company.Recently, she foolishly posted a comment on Facebook to the effect of "Its !!!! that **** is making people redundant just before Christmas..."
I'm led to believe that is the worst she posted but someone alerted her bosses and she was dragged into the office, all her work gear was taken from her and she was sent home, having been told to return on Monday for a decision on how she was to be disciplined.
She was in a meeting for less that 30 mins and summarily dismissed on the spot, with 5 days to appeal to the department boss
I'm not an employment expert but wonder, is this sufficient to describe it as Gross Misconduct and does she have any redress in law for unfair dismissal ??
Can I ask that only those who "know" the answer reply or if anyone knows where else we can look on the Internet (not wanting to approach a solicitor yet)
Thanks for any help

If she was actually dragged to the office then you should call the police (not 999) to report it.

So many people are weighing up whether:

a) this could be Gross Misconduct,
b) how severe it is, and
c) whats the fair punishment for it

There is NO law protecting her in this instance and its company policy whether they are to discipline her. No court of tribunal, if the dismissal was lawful, can debate whether the punishment was too harsh.

I think it was unreasonable for dismissal.. but its my opinion. The company has every right to do this. I hope she has learnt her lesson especially being in IT knowing that how many people are losing their jobs for comments on facebook, twitter... ironically, if the comments were posted on a less popular website then she would have probably got away with it.

Also, we dont know the full picture... she might have been disliked in the workplace, have previous warnings, or been a poor at her work... probably none of them is accurate in this case but its other factors whether silly actions are taken severely or not.. they might want to have got rid of her for all sort of reasons... perhaps there is enough staff to cover her workload, perhaps she will be replaced by work placements or an apprentice (cheaper) or replaced by someone paid less like on NMW. Or more than likely, they didn't want the bad publicity about them letting go of their staff before xmas.

What date was she sent to the office and told to return Monday?

serious_saver

Get her to contact acas. As useful as some of the posts on this forum are, she would do better to get proper advice.

http://www.acas.org.uk/
Helpline numbers

Monday-Friday, 8am-8pm and Saturday, 9am-1pm: 08457 47 47 47.


There are so many things that they might consider
- The terms of her contract
- Did the person who reported her have evidence of what she had posted - i.e are the company just taking the colleagues word about it
- Would she be potentially affected by the redundancies - i.e. has the company sacked her to avoid making a redundancy payout.

Given how little we know about the run up to this it would be difficult for anyone on this forum to say whether the punishment was correct. My initial thought is that it "could be" gross misconduct but that is by no means clear.

Jarndyce

WPN wrote: »

No court of tribunal, if the dismissal was lawful, can debate whether the punishment was too harsh.

Eh? It is ONLY a court or tribunal that can DECIDE whether or not a dismissal was lawful.