I've been dismissed for gross misconduct. i feel this is too strong. can anyone help

Idiophreak

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

Their point is that they shouldn't have tell you not to allow people to use the facilities at no cost to them and ultimately costing the company more money. If you were the employee in the pub would you give away free drinks? No of course not.

So, an employee really needed a drink. You had some beer that was going out of date...and you wouldn't be able to sell it the next day...You'd let your employee go thirsty.

Glad I don't work for you.

christopheros00

ableandy wrote: »

Rocksavage, if you wish PM me and I will advise privately with you.

For reference:

Allowing others to convert to ones own use company property.

They have a valid point but if you can identify someone else who has been allowed to do this then you may have a case.

Dishonesty and theft

You have not committed a theft (for those who think you have - look up the definition) - were you dishonest? Not from what you have said, dishonesty would require you to lie to them about the incident, from what you have said you owned up as soon as questioned and told them everything they needed to know. Do you fill in a log book at night of things that have happened - did you put this in the log book?

Deliberate and flagrant not following company policy - you will need them to provide a copy of the policy that you have breached. You should have been sent this as part of your disciplinary invite. Without this they are in breach of employment law.

Breakdown of trust - this is linked to all the above, difficult to prove either way but would not on its own be a Gross Misconduct.


Further - by denying you the opportunity to speak to other employees you may have been denied the right to be accompanied, this again would be a breach of Employment Law. Who are you allowed to be accompanied by?

Anyway, happy to help you put together an Appeal.

Well done to Able Andy who provides solid and helpful advice.
Hope that the appeal that you are drafting is successful.

When these incidents occur it is important to get some legal or union advice, even if for the free 30-minutes you have with a solicitor or union representative who might take pity and provide you with advice on an off the record basis, and with you joining their union following advice.

Ensure that you have writtten down a list of questions ahead of the meeting to make use of their precious time and bring along relevant paperwork - record of meetings, letters, company written policy, your work report/appraisal, witnesses, etc.

I would proceed with caution about employing the services of a legal law firm however (unless they are a 'no-win-no-fee' which mainly applies to accidents and where there is almost an open and shut case against the employer) as they can prove to be very expensive and convince you that they will win your case.

There are never any guarantees and you can still be dismissed and left with a hefty legal bill to pay. Unless this case concerns discrimination, which it doesn't, you are not entitled to legal aid for work related problems.

Please keep us posted on how successful you are, and if you are not, get in touch, as there might be other avenues that you might wish to explore.

Best of luck.
Christopher

BillJones

LegalSec wrote: »

The law in the UK appears to allow employers to fire anyone they want. I was recently arbitratary dismissed just for wearing jeans in the office and arguing with my boss – I know, hardly a crime!

That's not true, is it? You've previously detailed your other offences...

Takeaway_Addict

Idiophreak wrote: »

So, an employee really needed a drink. You had some beer that was going out of date...and you wouldn't be able to sell it the next day...You'd let your employee go thirsty.

Glad I don't work for you.

I'd tell them to get some water from a tap and they shouldn't be drinking on the job anyway

rocksavage

Hi I have tried PM Andy but I don't know if it's worked as it doesn't appear in my sent box?

BillJones

Idiophreak wrote: »

So, an employee really needed a drink. You had some beer that was going out of date...and you wouldn't be able to sell it the next day...You'd let your employee go thirsty.

Glad I don't work for you.

I'm glad that you don't work for me either, if you think that giving a thirsty employee beer is a good idea.

Why not give them water?

Idiophreak

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

I'd tell them to get some water from a tap and they shouldn't be drinking on the job anyway

OK...If we really want to torture this analogy...

The member of staff in question has finished work, as had the member of staff in the OP...and there's no other beverage available.

BillJones wrote: »

I'm glad that you don't work for me either, if you think that giving a thirsty employee beer is a good idea.

Why not give them water?

There's no other beverage available. I know, rubbish pub, right. Without a drink of some kind, the (off duty) employee will get too dehydrated and be unable to perform their job adequately the next day. If it makes you feel better, there's some alcohol free beer going out of date, too...Would you let them have that?

My point was simply that the OP allowing the member of staff to stay over night in an unoccupied room shouldn't have cost the company anything (assuming they have contracted cleaning staff), so it's not "stealing" anything.

The OP didn't hand out free accommodation to staff willy nilly, it's not akin to "handing out drinks"...there was an employee in a specific situation that the OP tried to help out.

Clearly you all sympathise with Starbucks on this one:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/2001/09/26/starbucks-apologizes-for-water-flap/

I mean, you can't just go GIVING AWAY stock, right...

arcon5

No drink available other than beer going off.... Hardly a great comparison!

Idiophreak

arcon5 wrote: »

No drink available other than beer going off.... Hardly a great comparison!

Why?

In the OP the person needed a place to say. There was no chance of the room being sold that evening....they would not be able to sell it tomorrow. There was no alternative available.

So do you agree that letting an employee crash in a spare room and handing out free beers in the bar are the same things?

If not, maybe you want to come up with a better illustration than I've managed...

Takeaway_Addict

Idiophreak wrote: »

Why?

In the OP the person needed a place to say. There was no chance of the room being sold that evening....they would not be able to sell it tomorrow. There was no alternative available.

So do you agree that letting an employee crash in a spare room and handing out free beers in the bar are the same things?

If not, maybe you want to come up with a better illustration than I've managed...

There are still costs associated with that room being used, for example electric. Cleaning is still a cost and I would have thought ona room by room basis and even if it isn't it could be in house and ultimately extra work for staff that shouldn't have been done.

The other person no doubt if refused the bed would have got home somehow so it wasn't a necessity.

Of course what Starbucks did was wrong but it is hardly comparable to this situation.

And as for your beer comparison, if it wasn't in my authority and it wasn't life endangering (which the OP's wasn't) then no I wouldn't give them the non alcoholic beer as it wouldn't be my place to. I would however try and get the permission of the person who does have this authority.