Final Written Warnings...

J_i_m

But even so

'hard day today because a resident threw her dinner at me'

that doesn't tell you anything other than that someone had a dinner thrown at them.

Theres no identifying information at all. I think some people are far too ready to take the worst possible view on the smallest of things.

Now, look. Had they gone and posted "Well old Mrs Wainwright threw a hissy fit and chucked her piping hot coffee at me at work today, the old hag"... then there'd definitely be a case to answer to, because that would breach confidentiality, dignity and all the rest of it. A safeguarding investigation would be entirely appropriate in those circumstances.

But that's not what happened is it? Instead they made a passing comment about how they got a dinner chucked at them whilst at work.

Was it clever? No
Was it in any way harmful? Again no.

If anything, you could view them as the victim, since they effectively got assaulted by the patient.

There is no information in the thread to say that it was provoked, and yet, you would have them treated like a condemned criminal.

A little bit of perspective and sense is required here. Posting on social networking about the incident at all was definitely daft and naive, there's no doubting that, but responding with an instant final written warning with minimal due process is equally inappropriate.

Safeguarding is important, and we do need to protect the vulnerable people under our care.

But it should not be forgotten that care workers themselves are vulnerable to all kinds of abuse which are far too often brushed underneath the carpet due to the vulnerable nature of the people in their care. And yet people are very often trigger happy to condemn a care worker for the smallest of things that aren't quite right.

Hiddendeath

I agree 100% with what J I M put. I too have had something similar a few years back, again no mention names etc but boy was i hauled over the coals. Which i accepted and moved on, its a bitter pill yes but i had no option.

Lessons learnt, never ever post on F-book, nor "trust" any work colleagues as much as i did. I was well and truly back stabbed.

ViolaLass

Torry_Quine wrote: »

There's a difference between generic statements such as 'hard day today' and more specific such as 'hard day today because a resident threw her dinner at me'. People knowing where you work is alright as long as you don't tell them specific incidents and definitely not on social media.

I hear what you're saying but I just don't see why it would not be OK to tell friends that an unspecified person threw their dinner at you today. Calling them names isn't nice, sure, and you shouldn't say their name but simply recounting that it happened? Why is that a problem?

e.g. if I told friends that "A child told me to shut up today and I was shocked", where's the issue? The child hasn't been identified and I haven't said anything rude. I genuinely don't understand why this is a problem. All I've seen so far is 'it's not appropriate when working with vulnerable people' but how is that child harmed in any way by my recounting of the story?

Bantex_2

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

No different from her telling her friends face to face then.

FB is a form of publishing.

Bella73

themull1 wrote: »

We'll have to differ on this one. If she said ' hey i work for sunnyside care home' and mr jones spat in my face etcetc, thats different. But a generalised passing comment is making a mountain out of a molehill.

But the OP stated later that it is in a village, so probably the person might be the only one who is 99 years old so everyone in the village now knows what happened and who to and who by.

If you live in a city this can seem a but odd but not in a village in a local care home. We only gave one care home in our village so everyone would know who works there and who lives there, it's just the way it is.

Guessing the home are trying to make an example of a "senior" member of staff.

Best thing is to never mention work on your Facebook account.

Bantex_2

Why does anyone feel the need to post this sort of stuff on Facebook. I truly do not understand. Am I missing something?

Bogof_Babe

redpete wrote: »

I wouldn't advise the defence that she "didn't identify who she works for". I'm sure many of her friends know where she works.

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

No different from her telling her friends face to face then.

Bantex wrote: »

FB is a form of publishing.

Taken in context, my comment still stands.

ViolaLass

Bantex wrote: »

Why does anyone feel the need to post this sort of stuff on Facebook. I truly do not understand. Am I missing something?

For me it's the equivalent of talking to a bunch of friends and family, as one could if one met up with them, except they're all over the country. Yes, I could email or phone them individually but that's overkill for a remark.

That said, I am not linked to anyone I work with and my privacy settings are as tight as they can be. There are many things I wouldn't otherwise talk about on there.

Torry_Quine

ViolaLass wrote: »

I hear what you're saying but I just don't see why it would not be OK to tell friends that an unspecified person threw their dinner at you today. Calling them names isn't nice, sure, and you shouldn't say their name but simply recounting that it happened? Why is that a problem?

e.g. if I told friends that "A child told me to shut up today and I was shocked", where's the issue? The child hasn't been identified and I haven't said anything rude. I genuinely don't understand why this is a problem. All I've seen so far is 'it's not appropriate when working with vulnerable people' but how is that child harmed in any way by my recounting of the story?

In this case though the age of the resident was mentioned so it is identifiable to at least some extent and especially in a small place.

Just don't put anything about work and there can't be any problems.

Bella73 wrote: »

But the OP stated later that it is in a village, so probably the person might be the only one who is 99 years old so everyone in the village now knows what happened and who to and who by.

If you live in a city this can seem a but odd but not in a village in a local care home. We only gave one care home in our village so everyone would know who works there and who lives there, it's just the way it is.

Guessing the home are trying to make an example of a "senior" member of staff.

Best thing is to never mention work on your Facebook account.

PHILANTHROPIST

Gee, a remarkable number of posts.

I presume person30 is in fact the person being disciplined. That's fine.

It would appear that the outcome has been pre-determined by the employer which is plain stupidity.

There appears to be somewhat of a plaque on both houses here.

I'd accept a written warning and move on and put it down to a lesson learnt.

Some employers track forum's such as MSE when a workplace dispute arises. You or your apparent friend are already accused (on balance wrongly in my opinion) of misuse of social media. Do not run the risk of repeating the act. If I were you I would take on board the feedback received and delete the thread.

MSE cannot be a substitute for an employment tribunal.

For free and confidential guidance I'd stick to ACAS.