suspended on full pay

FBaby

If you didn't get approval to use the phone how did you get hold of the phone? Is the disciplinary about the large bill alone or the fact that you used a non permitted phone?

Tiddlywinks

I think you probably should have raised your difficulties about having no home internet access for 2 weeks BEFORE just using the phone as this is likely to have formed the bulk of the data used.

As a home worker, are you expected to provide and use your own internet access?

I can understand a bill of £10,000+ resulting in disciplinary action - it's a bit like going away on business, staying in a 5* hotel and running up a restaurant bill by ordering champagne, truffles and caviar... all because the Travelodge was full.

You should have got permission first.

What does the staff handbook / company poloicy say about phone usage?

How large is the company? £10,000 is relative and will mean much more (accounts wise) to a smaller company than a multi-national.

Are you able to offer to pay this back (even in instalments) which is preferable to losing your job.

I think the culpability lies largely with yourself as you knew your usage had increased but did nothing to mitigate the costs such as discussing this with a manager to try to find an alternative, using McDonalds or Starbucks to surf etc.

natureboss

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

I think you probably should have raised your difficulties about having no home internet access for 2 weeks BEFORE just using the phone as this is likely to have formed the bulk of the data used.

Agree with this point

As a home worker, are you expected to provide and use your own internet access?

Yes

I can understand a bill of £10,000+ resulting in disciplinary action - it's a bit like going away on business, staying in a 5* hotel and running up a restaurant bill by ordering champagne, truffles and caviar... all because the Travelodge was full.

I can understand that it does result in a disciplinary action, but how can you expect me to know that in today days that when I've been assigned a smartphone I wouldn't be given a data plan.
If you stay in a 5 star hotel you are aware of the costs related and agree to it.


You should have got permission first.

What does the staff handbook / company poloicy say about phone usage?

Within the company policy, it states that the company is responsible to make the employee aware and monitor usage of internet / phone. Which they haven't

How large is the company? £10,000 is relative and will mean much more (accounts wise) to a smaller company than a multi-national.

Quite large

Are you able to offer to pay this back (even in instalments) which is preferable to losing your job.

To be honest, If I was found guilty, I would expect it and pay back

I think the culpability lies largely with yourself as you knew your usage had increased but did nothing to mitigate the costs such as discussing this with a manager to try to find an alternative, using McDonalds or Starbucks to surf etc.

Thanks for your feedback and have left my answers in blu!

natureboss

FBaby wrote: »

If you didn't get approval to use the phone how did you get hold of the phone? Is the disciplinary about the large bill alone or the fact that you used a non permitted phone?

My basic nokia handset was broken, and while there was a mobile phone swap the company decided to upgrade me to a smartphone.

My line manager wasn't aware of the fact that I was assigned a smartphone otherwise he would have upgraded me to a data plan, and there would never be such a high bill.

Undervalued

natureboss wrote: »

I have accepted that the risk of dismissal is high but would it be for gross misconduct ? or without notice ?

Probably not. For it to be gross misconduct they would need to argue that this was theft rather than a mistake.

However all that gets you is a week's notice (or more if specified in your contract).

If they were to call it GM and dismiss without notice you could make a claim for WRONGFUL dismissal which does not have a two year qualifying period.

tomtontom

natureboss wrote: »

My basic nokia handset was broken, and while there was a mobile phone swap the company decided to upgrade me to a smartphone.

My line manager wasn't aware of the fact that I was assigned a smartphone otherwise he would have upgraded me to a data plan, and there would never be such a high bill.

Did you not tell your line manager you had been issued a new phone?

I appreciate you are trying to mitigate your situation but it seems you are largely trying to shift the blame onto others. Common sense would suggest that when given a smartphone you check you have a data plan before using those features.

natureboss

tomtontom wrote: »

Did you not tell your line manager you had been issued a new phone?

I appreciate you are trying to mitigate your situation but it seems you are largely trying to shift the blame onto others. Common sense would suggest that when given a smartphone you check you have a data plan before using those features.

Yes I did, and have been using it for 5 months.
I'm not shifting the blame, I have been naive with my assumptions.

Tiddlywinks

I think the most relevant facts are:

You've confirmed you are expected to provide your own internet access as a homeworker. You moved and that resulted in a lack of access. A situation of your own making and you should have put something in place to address this rather than using a company service to bridge the gap.

Your company phone was changed to a smart phone - you should have checked the plan before embarking on 2 full weeks of internet usage... a level of usage which would have been way over the norm expected had you been using your home internet access.

It works both ways - you say they should have monitored your usage and let you know your levels... BUT you were the phone user so would have had first hand experience of your usage. Why did you not ask about the costs of increasing your usage?

I think you should just eat humble pie. Apologise for the costs and explain that you had no idea that the business costs would be far in excess of personal contract costs. Then offer to pay it back.

Good luck.

natureboss

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

I think the most relevant facts are:

You've confirmed you are expected to provide your own internet access as a homeworker. You moved and that resulted in a lack of access. A situation of your own making and you should have put something in place to address this rather than using a company service to bridge the gap.

Your company phone was changed to a smart phone - you should have checked the plan before embarking on 2 full weeks of internet usage... a level of usage which would have been way over the norm expected had you been using your home internet access.

It works both ways - you say they should have monitored your usage and let you know your levels... BUT you were the phone user so would have had first hand experience of your usage. Why did you not ask about the costs of increasing your usage?

I think you should just eat humble pie. Apologise for the costs and explain that you had no idea that the business costs would be far in excess of personal contract costs. Then offer to pay it back.

Good luck.

Thanks for your feedback and your time looking into this. We pay for our own mistakes and life moves on

DUTR

natureboss wrote: »

Thanks for your feedback and have left my answers in blu!

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, if you are 'expected' to provide your own data connection, then why was a dongle with sim only 30 day or payg not possible?
If I work from home I use my PAYG for the outgoing calls, (desk phone diverted to the handset) , I used 42p from my payg, which is cheaper than the petrol cost to and from work.

Anyways I guess if you were no briefed the policy, then you may end up on a final warning.
Good luck with the outcome though.