HR advice please

JemmaM91

Hi

I'm sorry not to be able to post all the details but please feel free to PM me for more.

My partner has recently been charged with domestic common assault. This is completely unrelated to work and the incident was a lot more minor than it sounds.

After the court he went into work to inform them of his sentence and they have said they may sack him.

He has to go to a meeting tomorrow to discuss whether they will let him keep his job or not.

I was wondering if he had any rights, if he does what are they?
Also is there anyway he could improve the situation eg. Would it help if I wrote a letter stating that it was a minor incident etc.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Takeaway_Addict

how long has he worked there for firstly?

Undervalued

Virtually all employment contracts will have a clause about not bringing the employer into disrepute. Even if this is not specifically spelt out it could easily be argued to be an implied duty. I'm afraid such a conviction, which no doubt will be reported in the local paper, could easily be argued to do just that.

It is very much up to the employer if they choose to see it that way. If they do then, legally, dismissal is within the range of reasonable responses so would almost certainly not be found unfair if he were to take it to an employment tribunal.

All he can do is show remorse, draw the employer's attention to all the good things he has done in the past and hope for the best.

Sorry.

JemmaM91

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

how long has he worked there for firstly?

Just over a year

Virtually all employment contracts will have a clause about not bringing the employer into disrepute. Even if this is not specifically spelt out it could easily be argued to be an implied duty. I'm afraid such a conviction, which no doubt will be reported in the local paper, could easily be argued to do just that.

It is very much up to the employer if they choose to see it that way. If they do then, legally, dismissal is within the range of reasonable responses so would almost certainly not be found unfair if he were to take it to an employment tribunal.

All he can do is show remorse, draw the employer's attention to all the good things he has done in the past and hope for the best.

Sorry.

This is what I was worrying about. It's a big well known company as well. I don't think it will be in the paper as the case is now closed. The case was almost 2 weeks ago and has not yet been published.

Would not being published help?

Takeaway_Addict

With less than 2 years employment with them they can get rid of him pretty easily I'm afraid....time to grovel!

Undervalued

JemmaM91 wrote: »

This is what I was worrying about. It's a big well known company as well. I don't think it will be in the paper as the case is now closed. The case was almost 2 weeks ago and has not yet been published.

Would not being published help?

It may do but I'm afraid it is entirely up to the firm how they see this matter.

As TA has said above, with less than two years service they could just dismiss without even following any procedure as he has no redress.

All he can do is apologise, mitigate and hope for the best.

JemmaM91

Thanks for all your help. Il just tell him to show them how remorseful he is and basically just promise that nothing will ever happen again.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Thanks again

ohreally

He needs to impress upon them this was a one off and out of character and there will be no repetition.

Perhaps he could gently remind them he has already been punished by the court.

TBagpuss

what is his job? If he is in a position of trust, or if his job involves working in any way with children or vulnerable people, then that may affect how they treat it. IS there anything specific in his contract or any handbook about what would be considered gross misconduct?

A criminal offence unrelated to the job is not automatically gross misconduct although as TA says, given he has been there less than 2 years they can terminate his contract without having to make a gross misconduct finding.

I would advise against any suggestion that it was a minor incident - that could be seen as minimising the seriousness of what happened. Similarly, he should refrain from making any excuses - what he can do is make clear that he fully understands that it is a serious issue, that he recognises it was not appropriate and that there are no excuses, that he has cooperated fully with both the court process (assuming that is true) and with the internal investigation and that he is absolutely determined not to do anything similar again.
I think he can explain to them that you (assuming you were the victim) have agreed to take him back. If there are any other relevant factors he could explain those as well. For instance, if he had been drinking at the time of the incident, being able to tell them that he has stopped / cut down the amount he drinks might help. If he has arranged, or intends to arrange, anger management counselling, then again, that is a positive that he can raise to demonstrate that he is taking it seriously.

Undervalued

TBagpuss wrote: »

what is his job? If he is in a position of trust, or if his job involves working in any way with children or vulnerable people, then that may affect how they treat it. IS there anything specific in his contract or any handbook about what would be considered gross misconduct?

A criminal offence unrelated to the job is not automatically gross misconduct as TA says, given he has been there less than 2 years they can terminate his contract without having to make a gross misconduct finding.

I would advise against any suggestion that it was a minor incident - that could be seen as minimising the seriousness of what happened. Similarly, he should refrain from making any excuses - what he can do is make clear that he fully understands that it is a serious issue, that he recognises it was not appropriate and that there are no excuses, that he has cooperated fully with both the court process (assuming that is true) and with the internal investigation and that he is absolutely determined not to do anything similar again.
I think he can explain to them that you (assuming you were the victim) have agreed to take him back. If there are any other relevant factors he could explain those as well. For instance, if he had been drinking at the time of the incident, being able to tell them that he has stopped / cut down the amount he drinks might help. If he has arranged, or intends to arrange, anger management counselling, then again, that is a positive that he can raise to demonstrate that he is taking it seriously.

I would agree apart from the part I've highlighted in red.

It would be perfectly reasonable for them to treat this as gross misconduct whether or not it is spelt out in his contract. That doesn't mean to say they will. In any case, if they decided to dismiss the only difference this would make would be his entitlement to notice. Unless more is specified in his contract this only be one week's pay.

Either way, if they dismiss, they must pay him for any accrued holiday.

Takeaway_Addict

I think you need to put it into context for the employer, if this has come from to much drink on a night out then I would expect whilst bad alot of employers (inc me) would bolllock him, warn him and allow him to carry on.

If it was a revenge attack for something then it would be bye bye from me as I wouldn't risk my other staff.