Facing Gross misconduct

living_nightmare

thanks for all your replies what happens if one of the main complainants as left the authority and do you have to have more than one person make a complaint.

LittleMonkeyPops

Hi LN,

I really feel for you, this is a horrid situation to be in.

You only need one complaint made against you and if your employer believes there is weight to the complaint it won't matter if that person has since left. It sounds as if others are still complaining though?

Are you clear on what the disciplinary process is? It doesn't seem that you are. Public services like councils should have this type of process detailed very clearly in your terms and conditions of employment. Often these days this will be detailed on your employer's website somewhere. You absolutely must have a copy of this and you must read and fully understand it. It will set out your rights and your employers' rights in dealing with such a complaint/the disciplinary process.

It should also detail the different levels of disciplinary. I recently dealt with a situation where the manager and HR representative were unable to confirm to the member of staff in the first meeting whether in fact they were following the misconduct or gross misconduct process. We quite reasonably demanded that the meeting be adjourned until such time as they can be clear with the member of staff what process they are following as it is wholly unreasonable to behave otherwise. You cannot be expected to defend yourself appropriately unless you are clear about this.

I advise you to speak to a union representative and join the union if you are not already a member. I also advise you to do a bit of Googling and look for similar cases and research a little into constructive dismissal as it may give you some ideas about counter arguments in respect of the agreement you had with your previous manager that you could telephone your sick husband twice a day. Also, look on ACAS' website, they're also worth a call.

Ewarwoowar2

living_nightmare wrote: »

thanks for all your replies what happens if one of the main complainants as left the authority and do you have to have more than one person make a complaint.

It's all about fairness; there are no hard and fast rules.

If the main complainant has left, the employer is still free to take the complaint forward. If that person is not willing to give evidence at the disciplinary hearing, then the evidence should be taken with a pinch of sale, as they have not been asked any questions by you or your representative.

pearl123

Your 24 years service should count for something!
I want to wish you all the best.

MissSarah1972

pearl123 wrote: »

Your 24 years service should count for something!
I want to wish you all the best.

gross miscondcut is just that no matter how long you have been in the job sorry to say.

miduck

Ewarwoowar2 wrote: »

It's all about fairness; there are no hard and fast rules.

If the main complainant has left, the employer is still free to take the complaint forward. If that person is not willing to give evidence at the disciplinary hearing, then the evidence should be taken with a pinch of sale, as they have not been asked any questions by you or your representative.

I agree with your comments, however from what the OP has said the complaint seems to be one that can be proven (or not) by usage records, so evidence from an individual is not relevant?

I would recommend that the OP asks to see logs of her usage, which she can then use to explain what she was doing at the relevant time. I would also recommend that she seeks support from her GP, her feeling that everyone hates/ bullies her sounds like an exacerbation of her condition.

FBaby

What is the compromise that HR is suggesting?

ohreally

FBaby wrote: »

What is the compromise that HR is suggesting?

Take some money and a reference from us and go away, don't return with an ET1 claiming unfair dismissal.

LittleMonkeyPops

ohreally wrote: »

Take some money and a reference from us and go away, don't return with an ET1 claiming unfair dismissal.

Question: if they truly believe you have committed gross misconduct, why are they offering you money and a compromise agreement?

Does anyone know if this is normal practice? I would have thought they would either (a) straight discipline you (written stage 2 warning or something similar) or (b) terminate your employment in line with your contracted terms and conditions (give you your notice or ask you to leave immediately depending upon the seriousness of the situation) without offering you money and asking you not to take them to court for unfair dismissal.

It seems to me they're not sure of their position if they're doing that, they want you to just go 'quietly'..?..?

Demand the usage reports, demand a reasonable amount of time to review those reports before you are prepared to discuss the situation further. Also, make sure that on any usage reports that they are clear that it is your login credentials that have accessed those websites and that you were at your desk at the time of any phone calls (check your timesheet if you have one).

living_nightmare

thank you for your help everyone - I have now had my investigative meeting. On the original letter saying I was to be investigated for gross misconduct it said - excessive mobile phone usage - this was my own mobile phone they were referring to - this allegation disappeared when the next letter came in saying it was now personal emails and personal computer use. I did a bit of a quick search on my computer and found 6 emails to my home address over a 4 year period - not excessive and the same number of documents. When I went to my investigative meeting neither of these were mentioned!! I had to explain my job and was then accused of using the computer for personal use - they gave me a copy of the web usage - I can see 3 websites that I looked at in one of the months which totaled 15 minutes for the whole month - the sites were to do with my anxiety, my husband being diagnosed with narcolepsy and a football club my son wanted to join. Many of the sites that were listed were adverts on the sites I had genuinely been on. In total over a 5 month period I have averaged one and a half days on the web - my job is to undertake research - so hardly excessive. The telephone calls I explained were to check on my husband who is very ill and i had had permission off my previous manager and my colleague could verify that.

my two work colleagues have now been called in to give evidence. The one thinks it is a witch hunt and does not want to get involved. The other which has surprised me has agreed to go - they want to look at his internet usage to benchmark against me and check what sites - we do the same job but research different areas so our websites will not be the same. they want to print out his websites but he is not to worry they will not use this against him - just me - not sure I would trust them! they have also asked him to comment on my behaviour in the office - isnt that subjective. I think this is because I have been suffering with anxiety and depression and have said I have had no support - is he qualified to judge my behaviour!! Sorry needed to get this off my chest again. I had my meeting last Friday and was told I would get a copy of my minutes by Tuesday this week - I am still waiting.