Fired for Gross Misconduct - Need advice

zenseeker

Last Tuesday I was called into the office and fired for Gross Misconduct. I'd rather not go into the in's and outs but suffice to say they had evidence that I had been naughty and fired me on the spot.

It's been a week since and so far I have heard nothing from them, but of more concern they also haven't paid me for working in April. I'm due 29 days pay but the usual pay day has been and gone and I have recieved nothing.

Is this normal? Will I get what I am due despite the misconduct? I have bills piling up and I'm beginning to freak out...I don't need this worry ontop of my baseline levels of stress and depression.

Thank you

123helpme123

Hello

Firstly, I want to start off by telling you that things will be OK. I was dismissed for falsifying a work document around 2 weeks ago after 3 1/3 years of unblemished service and I felt my career was over. I've managed to pick up some temp work and have had 4 interviews so far and I'm now waiting for the final offer so I can decide which one i want to take (I've got until Friday to choose!).

GM is a hurdle, but not one a determind person can't get over. I found it really helpful that I threw myself into the job hunt straight away, no break. It made me feel better knowing I was doing something and getting a problem sorted out. As long as your doing all you can, then nobody can ask for more!!

Firstly, lets get our priorities right.

Look at what money you have in savings / can raise by selling stuff ASAP and work out how long you can pay bills for with that (such as rent, Council tax, car insurance, electric etc). If money's tight, look at cancelling some of the 'luxurys' such as sky TV or insurance you. Oils do without for a bit.

How long do you have before you run out of being able to pay bills and survive?

Get yourself straight online on the job centre website and get a claim in for job seekers. Sometimes they sanction you for a few weeks if you have been sacked, although mines gone through fine!

Get yourself registered with as many agencies you can. I come from an admin background so found applying for jobs on reed.co.uk and the job centre plus website the best. I didn't have a single call about any job I applied for on monster.

Get your CV looking GREAT! If you want me to have a look at it for you I don't mind you can always take your personal details out. PM me if you do!

I've got a couple of very good covering letters for admin jobs which have resulted in a few interviews, so you can have these too if you think it's relevant to the roles you are applying for.

Then, you need to make sure that you are upfront and totally honest. At all times.

Now, this is how I've played it.

If an agency has called, I've explained my mistake the following way 'I want to be totally honest with you, I ended working with **company name** as I made a silly mistake and covered it up rather than admitting it. I've got a 3 1/2 year unblemished record prior to that and it's not something I have done or would do ever again, but felt you needed to know so that we can work open and honestly together'. Only one agency out of 7 said no to me, and then her colleague rang me back to have me on her books instead!

When it comes to any short temp work, if you aren't asked, don't say! Be clever about it. I'm doing some temp part time work to just bulk up my cash a bit (only about £120 a week - 15 hours a week). They didn't ask what happened, but wanted me to start the same day they called me. I took if and haven't / won't let them down. It's now a positive reference on my CV after my last place. And the more reliable you are, the more recruiters want to earn commission from you by giving you work.

Also - if a company calls to invite you to interview, do not discuss the sacking on the phone unless specifically asked. If asked, very open and upfront about it. But it is 100x easier to show remorse and that you want and need to move on in person rather than on paper.

Try and apply for temp part time stuff if you can. The hours I do allow me to have lots of interviews around the work time, so I'm not blocking my entire day from getting a perm full time job.

Your situation may be different, so if you have to take full time temp work, do it, but remember it can be over just as quick as it started.

I hope that's given you a bit of hope! After all I went through this forum was a total blessing and (most) people here really just want to help you.

If you could share with us what a reference from your previous employer would say, we might be able to help you explain that better in an interview too

Best of luck, life goes on!

ValHaller

zenseeker wrote: »

It's been a week since and so far I have heard nothing from them, but of more concern they also haven't paid me for working in April. I'm due 29 days pay but the usual pay day has been and gone and I have recieved nothing.

You are due your pay to last Tuesday, your notice pay plus holiday pay for the period to the end of your notice. Write a letter and ask them their plans to pay you.

BlueIsTheColour

Notice isn't payable following gross misconduct dismissals. You would be due your wages to your last day and any unused holiday pay accrued to that same date. Write them a polite letter asking when it will be paid and when you will receive your P45.

When you were dismissed, did they conduct an investigation? Did you have a formal meeting? Were you given the right to be accompanied? Have you appealed the decision? How long were you employed there?

zenseeker

Thanks the advice.

I was employed there for two years but I'm aware that I won't get my two weeks notice pay because of the gross misconduct. As for any investigation, I don't fully know what investigation was done prior to my dismissal, there was some and it was enough to sack me on the spot. I know they were continuing with some investugation afterwards but I have heard nothing from them since. I was basically marched into the office along with a witness, told why I was being fired and asked to leave. I was told I could appeal but they got me fair and square so I'm not going to appeal.

It was a stupid thing I did and my Doctor supports that stress and personal circumstancces clouded my judgement. I'm keen to put it behind me, learn from my stupidity and pick up the pieces.


Sorry for any dubious formatting, trying to type this out on a grumpy phone lol

zenseeker

An update.

I have been told that my final pay cheque is being witheld as they are still investigating the matter. I didn't even know the investigation was ongoing.

Question is, can they do this? Surely I'm still entitled to my wages despite the gross misconduct.

Ellie007

I guess it depends on if theoretically you owe them any money through whatever incident has occurred (e.g. if you had incorrectly claimed expenses, taken money that you were not entitled to etc.) that they may wish to withhold from your final pay? Don't know though if legally they can do this though once payday has been and gone without notifying you.

Otherwise, I see no reason that they can not pay you for time already worked.

(By the way, please don't think that I am in any way fishing as to the reason. Just a thought.)

zzzLazyDaisy

If there is a deductions clause in your contract, and you do in fact owe them money, then they can deduct the money you owe them from your final salary payment. Is it possible that you owe them money, but the final amount has not yet been calculated/cannot be calculated until the investigation has been concluded?

One final point - it appears from what you say, that your dismissal was procedurally unfair (ie they failed to follow correct procedures). If they did not want you on the premises, what they should have done is to suspend you on full pay until the investigation was completed; then they should have given you full details of the allegations and time to consider them, before then having a meeting with you to give you a fair opportunity to explain what happened from your point of view. Even, if you accept that they had a fair reason for dismissal, if the dismissal was technically unfair because they failed to follow proper procedures, you would almost certainly get a ruling of unfair dismissal if you went to an employment tribunal - although you may not get much/any compensation if the tribunal accepted that you would have been dismissed anyway.

maninthestreet

As you worked for your employer for 2 years, if you did not have a disciplinary hearing you were unfairly sacked. How can they still be 'investigating' the issue if they have sacked you ?

AP007

If its gross misconduct ILON is not normally paid and will say so in your contract

zenseeker

I'm aware that I forfeit ILON, but they are not paying me until they have completed their investigation...if at all. I'm still owed at least 15 days holiday too.

I did consider it strange that I should have been fired before the investigation is completed. I'm heading back to CAB tomorrow to see where I stand with all this.

All that happened was I was called into the office by my area manager. She asked the pharmacist in as well (I was given no choice about the witnes) I was presented with two allegations which I initially denied, but later admitted...after that I was told I was dismissed for gross misconduct and escorted from the building.

It was only today, over a week later, that I discovered they are investigation further evidence of other misconduct, and I only found this out because I phoned them to enquire about my pay

Thanks for all the advice so far.