Suspended from work after a complaint

Anon54321_2

A few days ago a supplier at work put a complaint about my behaviour. I have been suspended whilst an investigation takes place. This supplier makes a lot of mistakes and I am having to constantly pull them up on it. My communication is mainly through emails and I always copy another member in. I haven't used any abusive language but I guess the frustration of the mistakes come through on my communication. This has been an ongoing issue and the mistakes made have been raised with senior people at the suppliers side. I feel that they just don't like the changes I have made and the fact that I keep highlighting their mistakes. Can I lose my job over this?

Kayalana99

Anon54321 wrote: »

I haven't used any abusive language but I guess the frustration of the mistakes come through on my communication.

Two sides to every story, without being able to read through the e-mails no one on here can say whether you did or didn't do something. You have basically admitted you have done something wrong in the above post though.

As for if you can get fired, being 'nasty' over e-mails to suppliers then yes I think that is grounds for dismissal as you could cost them business and regardless of mistakes you do need to have a good relationship with suppliers and customers. If you haven't then nothing to worry about they will look into it.

That said they may just let you off with a warning anyway.

Anon54321_2

I wouldn't say nasty emails, more like highlighting where the mistakes are and asking if they could look at it and fix, my communication tends to be straight to the point as am usually really busy so I tend to get straight to the point, by no means have they ever been abusive, name calling or anything like that.

tomtontom

As above, it comes down to what you have said and whether you have damaged the relationship between your employer and the supplier. You can be to the point whilst still being polite. Can you give an example of what you have said?

I do wonder if you need to adjust your outlook on this, as adults we don't generally "pull people up" on mistakes, it's pretty patronising and not something people would take kindly to. If you do think there is an ongoing issue then you should have taken this to your manager, unless you are in a position of responsibility where you should be handling it yourself.

How long have you worked there? This is key to what the outcome may be.

Tiddlywinks

Anon54321 wrote: »

I wouldn't say nasty emails, more like highlighting where the mistakes are and asking if they could look at it and fix, my communication tends to be straight to the point as am usually really busy so I tend to get straight to the point, by no means have they ever been abusive, name calling or anything like that.

Can you give us an example?

Something like 'sort it out, NOW' is not abusive but is rude because it lacks professionalism.

I wouldn't expect an employer to opt for suspension simply because a third party supplier complained about some curt emails... have there been any other issues rumbling in the background?

You mentioned you have complained previously and escalated actions about the supplier. What happened to that?

How long have you worked at the company?

In the meantime, have a look at the ACAS website:

http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/r/2/D_G_Booklet_8-08_for_web.pdf

Anon54321_2

Ok so an example, supplier sent over some numbers which didn't look quite right, I asked them to double check why these looked "not right" and asked them to triple check, supplier came back saying they were fine and gave reasons for this. A few days after a colleague also questioned and turned out they had missed VAT etc on some numbers. I sent an email, copying a senior member of staff saying how dissapointed I was that although I had highlighted the issues they assured me that there was nothing wrong with the numbers only to turn up that there was some issues. It's been ongoing for a while. I haven't been with the company very long. When I was brought in I was told that they wanted me to fix the issues we have and improve things, which is what I have been doing. My manager who was very supportive left and therefore I lost that process we had where I would tell her the issues and she would escalate. In the absence of a direct manager I have to highlight some of the issues in order to be able to get on with the job.

tomtontom

It sounds like the final email should have been between you and your senior, not the supplier. They could have then taken it up with the supplier if necessary.

If you have less than two years service then it would be easy to dismiss you. If they give you a warning then you need to clarify your role and your responsibilities. Perhaps for a while your emails could be checked by another staff member to give you feedback on your writing style?

SeduLOUs

If someone asked me to double check and then further demanded that I triple check my work just because it looks 'not right' I'd probably be immediately on the defensive to be honest.

If you'd spotted VAT missing on a couple of figures, it would have been much more helpful to say something like "VAT appears to have been missed on column X, could you please give the sheet a once over for me before I send to my manager" or whatever, but just telling someone their work is 'not right' without any sort of example or explanation isn't great for relationships really.

Don't forget that nobody is perfect and mistakes do happen. Regular mistakes of a similar vein are probably not acceptable, but is it actually your job to be taking on the role of disciplinarian with the supplier? Perhaps with hindsight a better approach would have been to highlight ongoing issues to your line management, who could in turn discuss with someone at a suitable level within the supplier, who in turn would have an appropriate discussion with the person making the mistakes.

Grovel, apologise, explain how you will work better in future. Hopefully the end result will just be a slap on the wrist, but the investigation needs to take place to demonstrate to the supplier that the complaint has been taken seriously in order to salvage/maintain a good relationship.

Anon54321_2

I guess the frustration is that they are ongoing mistakes, they are not one offs, as mentioned earlier we had a system with my line manager but as she left and we didn't have someone to replace them straight away it has been difficult. We have already had people removed from this supplier due to mistakes, the mistakes have been raised higher up with the supplier, I have access to the log of mistakes that was kept. Obviously it's not personal and I am happy to apologise and happy to continue with the previous process.

SeduLOUs

Anon54321 wrote: »

I guess the frustration is that they are ongoing mistakes, they are not one offs, as mentioned earlier we had a system with my line manager but as she left and we didn't have someone to replace them straight away it has been difficult. We have already had people removed from this supplier due to mistakes, the mistakes have been raised higher up with the supplier, I have access to the log of mistakes that was kept. Obviously it's not personal and I am happy to apologise and happy to continue with the previous process.

If your line manager left you must still have had a line manager, it would presumably have been whoever was her manager.

But anyway. Just stick to grovelling. Possibly explain that in the past you would have gone to line manager, but without her around you believed you could handle it yourself which you realise now wasn't wise. Be careful not to make this sound like a excuse or that you are blaming them!

Express that you will seek advice from your management if you feel you are getting frustrated by the actions of a supplier or any other people you deal with in the course of your work in future, and that you are willing to personally apologise to the person/s you have upset in order to rectify the situation.

Best of luck.

Undervalued

Anon54321 wrote: »

A few days ago a supplier at work put a complaint about my behaviour. I have been suspended whilst an investigation takes place. This supplier makes a lot of mistakes and I am having to constantly pull them up on it. My communication is mainly through emails and I always copy another member in. I haven't used any abusive language but I guess the frustration of the mistakes come through on my communication. This has been an ongoing issue and the mistakes made have been raised with senior people at the suppliers side. I feel that they just don't like the changes I have made and the fact that I keep highlighting their mistakes. Can I lose my job over this?

The answer to that question is always yes!

I think what you really mean is "are they likely to sack me and, if they do, will I have any useful redress"?

First question is how long have you worked there? If less than two years then you have no protection against unfair dismissal (apart from certain types of discrimination which don't seem to apply here).