Resign or be fired URGENT

SandraX

It appears to me that you have been entrapped and not been given reasonable time to reflect or had the opportunity to take in an advocate with you. You can move on and then take action and not sign your resignation document as you can cite you need time to reflect/digest and hopefully, in the meantime, you have ACAS on your side.

An honest and polite comment, if possible, always try and keep some cash saving for future needs and this will reward you dividends, EG no high-interest small loans and give you thinking time.

Good luck and keep us informed. IMO, you will get a small, 2/6 week salary and ok reference as references these days are usually natural anyway as far as I know

Undervalued

SandraX wrote: »

It appears to me that you have been entrapped and not been given reasonable time to reflect or had the opportunity to take in an advocate with you. You can move on and then take action and not sign your resignation document as you can cite you need time to reflect/digest and hopefully, in the meantime, you have ACAS on your side.

An honest and polite comment, if possible, always try and keep some cash saving for future needs and this will reward you dividends, EG no high-interest small loans and give you thinking time.

Good luck and keep us informed. IMO, you will get a small, 2/6 week salary and ok reference as references these days are usually natural anyway as far as I know

It is not the function of ACAS to take sides!

In the first instance their call centre can provide basic information about employment rights. However, always remember you are speaking to call handlers with basic training who are largely following a script, not a solicitor, so it is no substitute for proper legal advice.

If a claim is made then ACAS have a function to arbitrate, if the other party chooses to engage, in the hope of reaching a settlement. These are higher level people but again they do not take sides.

TELLIT01

At a minimum I would ask for additional time to take legal advice as you have been bushwacked with no time to challenge any of the claims.

SandraX

Update as I forgot to say about you being told you were monitored. They have to warn you that your work is being closely watched and then tell you if they have any concerns and give you a chance to explain or rectify. From your post, I believe you were not warned. So you have a leg to stand on.

Undervalued

SandraX wrote: »

Update as I forgot to say about you being told you were monitored. They have to warn you that your work is being closely watched ......

No they don't!

and then tell you if they have any concerns and give you a chance to explain or rectify

That part has some validity but it depends on the seriousness and the circumstances.

So you have a leg to stand on.

Maybe, maybe not. Not enough information to say.

agrinnall

Do you agree that you have done the things that they say? If you do then the only issue really is whether they warrant gross misconduct. I'd suspect that they do, so getting out with a reference that doesn't mention it is probably worth a lot more than any additional financial compensation you might be able to get, so I'd think very seriously about accepting the offer.

mac.d

Undervalued wrote: »

That part has some validity but it depends on the seriousness and the circumstances.

Yes if it was performance related "I am told that my performance is not up to scratch", there would usually be a disciplinary procedure that had to be followed, and staff should be aware of the different stages of this procedure.

However, if there has been something that has caused the company financial harm and they cite gross misconduct, they should give you the chance to respond but can fire you straight away.

ohreally

SandraX wrote: »

in the meantime, you have ACAS on your side.

Please explain.

Anonymoose77

I've been deliberately vague on years of service, time of meeting etc. As I don't want to have this traced back. Suffice to say it's over 3 years and not a single blemish in that time, no previous warnings verbal or written and nothing I can think of that would immediately make me think uh oh.

getmore4less

Anonymoose77 wrote: »

So I'm working away as normal dealing with my daily tasks and getting things done. I have a "meeting" in my diary In the late afternoon which isn't unusual as I attend a lot of meetings as part of my job role. I go into the meeting with two senior company members and within seconds the alarm bells are ringing. The words "without prejudice conversation" are used and I'm asked if I agree to said conversation. At this point I'm not entirely sure what that means or what's going on but it didn't sound good.

I agree under duress as I still don't know what the conversation is about at this time and I don't know what's going on. There are only the three of us in the room and I have no representation, why would I as all I knew beforehand was that I had a meeting?

Then the bombshell drops. I am told that my performance is not up to scratch and I have done something that has caused financial loss to the company and that they now have grounds to fire me under gross misconduct. Since my job role was changed a few weeks ago it hasn't worked out and I have not followed the instructions of a superior which has lead to client complaints. All of which they say are grounds to dismiss me.

However given my several years of service and hard work they will accept my resignation instead if it's handed in Monday morning at 8am and they will pay me up to the end of the notice period but I will not be required to go into the office. They will also give me a reference which will not mention this situation.

Given the timing I have no chance to seek any advice from the likes of ACAS over the weekend and I feel like I've been backed into a corner. We don't have any savings to fall back on and I can't risk having a bad reference on my record as that would end my career. I don't have anything in writing, no official warnings on file in fact up until the meeting there were no indications at all that anything was amiss.

With an 8am deadline looming I have no idea what to do.

I don't see what option I have other than to tender my resignation

This is the key part of the long post.

What is not clear is

Why your job changed
When you became aware you were underperforming
Why you ignored instructions and how many times.
What was said at each occurrence
Were you(or should have been) aware that not carrying out instruction would result in losses.

People make mistakes but this reads far more serious perhaps you can clarify where on the woops I got it wrong to I should have known better you are.