Received a warning for something i didn't do!!!

flopper7uk

Hi all,

Just looking for some advice on a problem at work. Yesterday i received a 3 month verbal warning for not washing my hands. They alleged that i never washed my hands before entering my factory floor in the disciplinary letter, but i have several witnesses who saw me wash them including the manager who reported it. I pointed this out to them at the hearing and they agree i did wash my hands but that i had intended not to until i seen the manager in the wash room (he was hiding behind a wall). I am going to appeal this decision but it will more than likely fail as appeals never get overturned at my work as the managers all stick together. I am just wanting to know what my options are when the appeal fails as in essence they are giving me a warning for nothing plus they have not took into consideration the reporting managers previous instances of harassment and bullying towards staff.

Thanks
Flopper

Emmzi

how long have you worked there?

flopper7uk

Hi there,

Been there around 3 and a half years.

Flopper

bevanuk

Actually received a warning for something you did do.

Does it put your job at risk or anything? One verbal isn't really worth worrying about. But I see your fustration, not sure any of the routes you can go down to have this overturned will be worth the hasssle.

Evilm

What else has happened recently? Ruffle anyones feathers, report anything they wouldn't "want" to know about or had a pattern of illness?

mandragora_2

Get acknowledgement in writing that you DID wash your hands , if you haven't already done so. I really don't see how they can prove you didn't intend to do - or not do - anything. If you'd walked out onto the shop floor, and didn't, fair enough. That's the very reason store detectives wait until shoplifters leave the shop and pass the entrance - INTENT to steal isn't the same as stealing. It's not a crime in itself.


Having said that, if you want to let me know who you're working for, I'd appreciate the heads up.... so I can avoid buying food product from them, just in case there was anything in the first place which made them think they needed to snoop on their staff like this.

nightingalesgarden

But an employer only needs to act in a reasonable manner and impose a fair sanction, not have 100% proof. This means unlike store detectives an employer could dismiss someone if they have reasonable belief that someone is stealing, without catching them with the contents of the till.

If based on the process/policy, they believe that Flopper7uk was not going to wash his hands without prompting and that the sanction is only a verbal warning the decision seems reasonable (if a little odd).

But I agree - heads up on where you work.....

dickydonkin

It never ceases to amaze me in this day and age how some company's treat their staff.

Having worked in a foodgrade environment, I totally understand the need for sanitising your hands before entering a prodution area.

Unfortunately for many employers, they employ human beings who can have lapses and make errors. Wouldn't be an ideal world if we were all perfect? - just like the snooping manager who must feel so pleased with himself after his 'capture'!

I wonder if he has ever left his front door and remembered he has left his mobile behind and had to go back to get it.

OP - Frustrating that it is - I wouldn't bother progressing this as it seems that you are working for a very unreaonable employer and one who can apparently read minds as they have determined they knew that you were not going to wash your hands.

Making an issue of this may not help your cause in the future, so I would try to forget it.

I suspect that once this gets around the factory, employer/employee relations and trust will hardly be enhanced.

Print_Screen

The only problem for the OP would be if they are looking to get rid of him so this is the 1st warning, then they find something else, etc, until final warning and out.

It could also just be a one off with a manager who has been watching too much Minority Report and thinks he's a Precog.:eek: