Disciplinary Over Absence

Plew

My girlfriend has just received a letter from her employer informing her she must attend a disciplinary hearing, and is in need of some advice.

She has been absent from work five times in the rolling 12 month period, hitting one of the company's trigger points. She has been a little unfortunate with regards to illness in this period, but each case has been genuine. In fact, she has been in hospital on the first occasion and on another, she had to be taken from work by ambulance after falling ill when on shift. I suspect this is not something that will be taken into account however.

The current scenario and reason for the disciplinary, is time she took off work when her uncle died recently. She felt it necessary to be there for her father, who would have been unable to cope with the scenario without her. She had three days off in total, one when her uncle had a stroke, another when he actually died and another for the funeral.

What does not seem right, is that she actually never asked for this time off specifically. She went into work on the first two occasions and asked a manager if it were possible for her shift to be covered so she could be with her father and uncle, on both the manager said this was no problem. She would have been willing (although disappointed) to remain at work had she been requested to. For the funeral, she had run this date past her manager in advance who had agreed to cover her shift that day in order for her to attend.

Is it also normal for this to be considered as three separate incidences of absence, all three realistically being for the same reason.

The company has given her 48 hours notice of the meeting and the letter seems to cover most legal bases. No investigation meeting has been held however and additionally, she asked her manager just two weeks ago whether she would receive a disciplinary over the matter and was told categorically that she would not.

It seems horribly unfair to discipline and possibly give a written warning to her over this, but realistically is there anything she can do? Has the company acted incorrectly at all?

Many thanks.

AP007

she went sick when then uncle died?

Cutzee

Is it a large employer as there can be such a thing as compassionate leave with regard to taking time off for her uncle/to support her father. That isn't sickness absence so surely they cannot count it as such? Or is absence all lumped together? If she has not already done so, I would also make comprehensive notes about what was agreed, when and by whom (for example her manager stating categorically she would not face any sort of disciplinary and all the agreements made when she took the time off to support her father). Can she retrospectively offer to take the time off as leave or make up the hours or take it as unpaid leave?

I'm not sure what her employer's procedure is regarding absence, but where I worked, illnesses that resulted in hospital admission were looked upon with a little more sympathy (and therefore a less harsh line taken in terms of next steps) but I still had to go through the official procedure - and was treated the same as someone who just takes random sickies. I assume she has a copy of the company's attendance management policy to refer to and to ensure they are following their own policy? For example, my employer had to give me seven days written notice of a formal meeting and I was allowed to take a representive - check the policy on this.

If it were me I would seek advice from ACAS (having the policy and my notes to hand) to see if they are doing anything wrong.

martinthebandit

Are you sure it's a disciplinary hearing and not à disciplinary interview?

I would be very surprised if any company would be daft enough to hold a hearing without doing an investigation first, and without telling someone they were under investigation.

AP007

Not many if any would give compassionate leave for an uncle dying however.

zzzLazyDaisy

She has hit the trigger point for a disciplinary. The final three absences do count as separate incidents. This does not necessarily mean that she WILL receive a warning, it just means that the employer is following its procedures. There is no requirement for a prior investigation. At the meeting she will (should) be given an opportunity to explain things from her point of view, and to bring any matters to the manager's attention that she wishes them to take into account. So this is the time to explain that the final three absences were all related to her uncle's illness and death, and that her manager authorised her absence and assured her that she would not be disciplined for it. I am assuming that she has been informed of her right to be accompanied?

It may well be that when she explains the issues, and if she has previously had a good attendance record, she may not get a warning on this occasion.

If she is given a warning, it will only be a first stage warning. This gives her a chance to improve and ensure that it does not go any further. But she does need to realise that, no matter how genuine the reason for absence, if she is unable to carry out her duties under her contract to the employers satisfaction owing to persistent absences, then eventually she will be dismissed. Of course if she has a disability, then this advice may be different but you have not suggested that to be the case.

Cutzee

AP007 wrote: »

Not many if any would give compassionate leave for an uncle dying however.

Yes, you are right, it is normally for immediate family but some larger employers may bend the rules slightly if you were close to the relative in question. Surely it can't be recorded as sick leave? I suppose it depends on the employer's attendance management policy...?

AP007

Cutzee wrote: »

Yes, you are right, it is normally for immediate family but some larger employers may bend the rules slightly if you were close to the relative in question. Surely it can't be recorded as sick leave? I suppose it depends on the employer's attendance management policy...?

It could be? I have known people to take holiday when their father died

pinkshoes

Plew wrote: »

The current scenario and reason for the disciplinary, is time she took off work when her uncle died recently. She felt it necessary to be there for her father, who would have been unable to cope with the scenario without her. She had three days off in total, one when her uncle had a stroke, another when he actually died and another for the funeral.

If she took these off as sick days, then yes, they will count as three separate counts of time off.

Also, as she wasn't sick, she needs to be careful with how she plays this, as she could potentially get in trouble.

Usually, if it's a close family member (sibling, parent or grandparent), you would get a day of compassionate leave (often unpaid - it's up to the company), or you can take a day of holiday.

In this case, your GF should have taken the three days as holiday or asked for unpaid leave.

She should point out in the meeting she's only had 2 cases of illness, and ask for 3 days of holiday to be deducted.

Plew

Thank you all for the replies.

I was wondering if anyone could help with the updated scenario.

The disciplinary meeting was held and my girlfriend has received a written warning for her absence. This is somewhat of a surprise, as she has confirmation in writing from her manager that the absence over her uncles death would NOT result in disciplinary action. It is stated in writing on a return to work form that the manager has consulted with the regional manager, and that no disciplinary action would be forthcoming. But there's more...

My girlfriend has been the victim of workplace bullying for the past few weeks. She has raised the issue with her supervisors and managers, and all have rubbished her claims. The managers conducting her disciplinary are implicit in the bullying taking place. The disciplinary meeting she attended resulted in her being reduced to tears twice (and believe me, she's a strong girl). She is now suffering problems with her skin as a result of the stress, cannot sleep properly and her confidence has been completely shattered. She raised the issues she is facing at her disciplinary, when asked what the company could do to help her maintain satisfactory attendance. Her answer was that the bullying needed to stop and she needed to feel comfortable at work. (believe me, she is not exaggerating with the bullying, I find the behaviour of other staff towards her absolutely shocking).

Her managers have told her she is "imagining it" and that she is "looking for trouble". She is not - I see how upset she is at the end of the day. She has been completely destroyed as a person by this.

Where on earth can she go from here?

Cutzee

Oh God, I've been in a situation where my bullying claims were rubbished and when I tried to raise them I got nowhere. I had relocated for the company and been working for them for just under two years. They just asked me to leave one day. I think I got a month's paid notice and they didn't want me in the office to work my notice. It was a very small company though so there were no policies and procedures as such and nowhere for me to turn.

Is this a large employer? With policies? Has she been taking a representative into meetings with her to act as a witness? If not, she needs to start. And she needs to make comprehensive notes of absolutely everything that is said and done (and written - keep copies of all emails etc) in case this ends up as a constructive dismissal scenario.

http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/p/e/Bullying___harassment_at_work_Guide_for_employees_OCTOBER_2010.pdf