Resigning pre investigation possible disciplinary and dismissal

jfc

I resigned this week giving 1 months notice. My boss called me up to her office and told me that she would accept my resignation but with immediate effect (no notice). I have worked there 8 years but apparently her reason is they were in the process of investigating my use of social media during work time which is considered gross misconduct and if I work my notice the investigation and disciplinary process will still go ahead with the likelihood I will be sacked.

I am in a no win situation but this close to Christmas with no money I am well and truly hung out to dry

advice please.

sangie595

You have the situation fairly clear already so I'm not sure what advice we can give. If you wish to work your notice then the investigation and disciplinary will go ahead. On the other hand, if you resign with immediate effect there is no guarantee it won't still be mentioned in a reference. And if asked directly, the employer couldn't lie about it anyway.

i am afraid this is a judgment call for you to make.

Undervalued

Well, there is a argument that they are obliged to pay you for your notice period despite what your boss said. Although I am sure that is not what she intended.

You may well be able to enforce that, with a bit of effort, plus of course they must pay you for any untaken holiday. Beyond that I am not sure what advice you expect apart from the obvious like not mixing social media and work!

Guest101

I presume you are resigning because of the SM use?

Undervalued

sangie595 wrote: »

You have the situation fairly clear already so I'm not sure what advice we can give. If you wish to work your notice then the investigation and disciplinary will go ahead. On the other hand, if you resign with immediate effect there is no guarantee it won't still be mentioned in a reference. And if asked directly, the employer couldn't lie about it anyway.

i am afraid this is a judgment call for you to make.

The OP has resigned by giving a month's notice. If the firm won't let the OP work that notice then they must pay him / her for it. That could only be varied legally by means of a formal settlement agreement. Any informal agreement (as appears to have happened) will be unenforcible.

jfc

my reasons for resigning were unrelated to my use of social media at work. I just wondered on the legality of the notice part. Thanks for the responses. Between a rock and a hard place

worried_jim

Get yourself to all the agencies in town, I'd be amazed if you weren't working this time next week. Turn your phone off and leave it in your coat pocket/bag to avoid temptation. Good luck.

Guest101

jfc wrote: »

my reasons for resigning were unrelated to my use of social media at work. I just wondered on the legality of the notice part. Thanks for the responses. Between a rock and a hard place

But what are your reasons?


Have you got a new job? - will you need a reference?

Undervalued

jfc wrote: »

my reasons for resigning were unrelated to my use of social media at work. I just wondered on the legality of the notice part. Thanks for the responses. Between a rock and a hard place

Your reason for resigning is largely irrelevant. You offered the correct notice. The firm must either let you work that notice or pay you for it. As I said any informal "deal" leaving you worse off would be unenforceable without a settlement agreement for which you would have to have received independent legal advice.

Whether it is worth pursuing is another matter. Assuming they don't pay your notice it is probably at the very least worth a letter threatening action.

sangie595

Undervalued wrote: »

The OP has resigned by giving a month's notice. If the firm won't let the OP work that notice then they must pay him / her for it. That could only be varied legally by means of a formal settlement agreement. Any informal agreement (as appears to have happened) will be unenforcible.

Yes they have resigned. I didn't suggest it could be otherwise varied, and neither did the employer. What the employer said, and so did I, is that during that month the disciplinary could go ahead, they could be dismissed, and they could be dismissed for gross misconduct. Whether the OP wishes that to happen is up to them. OR they may decide to resign with immediate effect - their choice- but that does not mean that the disciplinary investigation won't be mentioned in references.

The employer is not refusing to let the OP work their notice. They are telling them that they have a choice in the matter - immediate or disciplinary investigation / hearing. That is the choice the OP has, and it certainly is " enforceable". You haven't read the OP correctly. The employer is giving them the choice. Personally I'd take the disciplinary and stay because, as I said, there is nothing to stop the employer mentioning this anyway. But that is a risk. If they resign with immediate effect the employer might keep their side of the bargain and not mention it.

sangie595

Guest101 wrote: »

But what are your reasons?


Have you got a new job? - will you need a reference?

Quite. I don't agree that the reasons for resigning are irrelevant. The OP has made it clear they need money for Christmas. So they have no savings to fall back on. And no job to go to? Because if they have a job to go to then wouldn't there be less of a worry about money perhaps? There is something more to the story it seems, and that reference point is the big elephant in the corner of the room. It's up to the OP whether they tell the whole story, but it's impossible to make a good guess at the risks here without knowing the whole story.