Suspended - help please

quietheart

Good luck today RiverStar!

RiverStar

quietheart wrote: »

Good luck today RiverStar!

Hi quiet heart

Thanks...Its now on Thursday.

RS

Undervalued

RiverStar wrote: »

Phil,
Evidence sent to me is 11 emails (over a year) between me and my partner. Most is general talk, some is a moan re work.
Images of penpal in pool and a conversation (roleplay).
A story l had written and emailed to myself.

Email confirmations of 3 purchases to works email address, work wanted to me to buy a book and l register and bought a book for work but when l realised my mistake for own purchases, l changed email address to my own (this was last year).

Still, rightly or wrongly, these emails were between my partner and myself only, never to a person related to my work or member of general public.

Called union amd waiting on someone getting back to me.

Ultimately this comes down to the firm's policies.

In some places what you describe would be formally allowed (reasonable personal use of email).

In many other places it would be officially prohibited but, in practice many / most people would do it. (However, this is never a good idea as it can always be used as a valid excuse if somebody wants to have a go at you).

Finally, in some places it would be absolutely forbidden and any transgressions taken very seriously.

Only you know what your firm's policies are.

In law, the fact that other people break the rules and get away with it is little help. However, in an internal disciplinary it could be useful mitigation but only if the firm choose to allow it to be. Equally, if they want to be difficult, they could argue that you were at fault for not reporting others for breaking the rules!

ohreally

RiverStar wrote: »

It stated that a senior manager will be chairing and the accuser who supended me, held the subsequent investigation meetings will be present to show evidence.

Is this allowed?, l thought that anyone having any part in the allegations/investigation wasn't able to conduct or be part of the hearing panel?

The investigating manager will probably present the findings to the panel and thereafter leave the room. This individual is unlikely to play any further part in the proceedings.


Ensure tu makes contact with you to arrange a meetup ahead of hearing.

lakes17

RiverStar wrote: »

Hi quiet heart

Thanks...Its now on Thursday.

RS

Good Luck for today Riverstar

BillJones

Torry_Quine wrote: »

I uderstand what you're saying but in my opinion personal mobiles should be turned off anyway while at work. A text sent can be read at break or end of work and in an emergency the office should be called

Really! It gets worse with employees paying bills in work time.:mad:

It really does depend on the nature of the job. In my work my contracted hours are 37, but I tend to do more like 60 every week, without any breaks whatsoever or overtime pay. I can miss a deal if I'm off, so I tend to always be on the desk, but that doesn't mean that I'm needing to always actively "work". In some ways it's a bit like being a goalkeeper in football. It would cause havoc if I was needed and not here, but it'd be ridiculous for anyone to think that I could spend those 12 hours working furiously (and doing what?) every day.

So, if it were here, and someone thought that we should be upbraided for sending the odd email, the complaint would get short shrift.

quietheart

Fingers crossed for you RiverStar.

PHILANTHROPIST

quietheart wrote: »

Fingers crossed for you RiverStar.

You are clearly a very thoughtful person Quietheart. Doubtless your concerns are greatly appreciated by the OP.

FYI I have been doing my best to offer some guidance to River Star based on my "experience" with similar situations. The input has largely been done via PM, in part because the evidence if presented in the open forum could link River Star to her fairly large national employer. OP could then be accused of breaching, albeit inadvertently, the firm's social media guidelines.

Anyhow, and I am certain that River Star will not mind you knowing this , but the OP has asked for further time to a) to receive some "meaningful" evidence from the employer. and b) to allow more time for OP to gather witnesses and prepare a fair and suitably comprehensive defence.

Thus the hearing date is in abeyance.

IMO for the OP to be suspended and accused of gross misconduct is in the circumstances disproportionate and an inconsistent application of the employer's internal procedures.

Once it's all sorted, either way, I'd imagine OP will out of courtesy summarise events and let the forum know what has happened in general terms.

Watch this space.

Phil ...

quietheart

Thanks for your update Phil.
Having advice and support makes all the difference in stressful situations.
Glad you've been able to provide both for the op.
Keep up the good work! :beer:

Torry_Quine

BillJones wrote: »

It really does depend on the nature of the job. In my work my contracted hours are 37, but I tend to do more like 60 every week, without any breaks whatsoever or overtime pay. I can miss a deal if I'm off, so I tend to always be on the desk, but that doesn't mean that I'm needing to always actively "work". In some ways it's a bit like being a goalkeeper in football. It would cause havoc if I was needed and not here, but it'd be ridiculous for anyone to think that I could spend those 12 hours working furiously (and doing what?) every day.

So, if it were here, and someone thought that we should be upbraided for sending the odd email, the complaint would get short shrift.

I have to agree that if someone is doing that much unpaid overtime then being overly niggardly about personal emails would be harsh. However personally I can't understand why anyone would stay in a job that expects so much from them. :mad: If there isn't enough work for all those hours why are you at work?