I've been Suspended...

Scoobs85

Hi,

Hope you guys can help. I'd appreciate any advice you can give me about this unfortunate situation.

I joined a large supermarket chain last year working overnight. When I first joined my training was very basic, not to the people training me, but those above them. They did their best but as an experienced manager I sucked it up and got on with it.

Initially I was fine, until April when a new manager joined the store. Then everything basically fell apart.

On a number of occasions I have been told that the previous manager did not give the positive feedback, rather negative feedback, that I was given at the time. I was told that my peers were doing so much better than me but when there was a problem I was the one they turned to.

I had a family emergency back in August which caused me to take off 2 weeks due to stress. In my return to work meeting, my line manager said I would be put in for a disciplinary which was unfair as only my first bout of sickness in 5 years with them and previous employers.

Today I have been suspended on gross misconduct as I raised my voice when I was asked a question and was not listened to (after my honesty was questioned) and told them I was being bullied which is what I feel I am. I apologised afterwards as I am a calm individual normally. I have been continiously treated badly by the manager who put me into this process. I am currently suffering from depression and have been had mental health problems since August.

I hope someone can assist me. I have emailed the companies HR a grievance before the suspension and also since. I'm being accused of inappropiate and aggressive behaviour which I dispute.

Of course this situation really adds to my depression so anything you can help with would be much appreciated. I did not swear or threaten. I have to take my young children to school and this occurred long after my shift. I even offered to call the manager in question afterwards but I was told I could not leave until I had explained "honestly why the store wasnt completed" and provide a statement written out.

Feel a bit desperate at the moment all I do is try my best.

Thanks

Scoobs85

Things I would like to know...

- Should I resign? I enjoy the job, but I do not want to be booted out
- Should I seek legal action? I have a very good solicitor but is it worth her legal costs when I honestly dont think I can work with this individual?
- Should I go to the investigation? If I see fit afterwards, would I be able to resign?
- What are my options around bullying in the workplace? I've never been in this situation before. Its daunting and considering the crap year I have had, I could do without this

JamoLew

Less than 2 years with the company, they can more or less let you go for any (or no) reason as long as it doesn't involve any protected characteristics.
Sounds like the job is t healthy for you, I would move on personally

Scoobs85

I've got to agree with you there. I do f

Scoobs85

I've got to agree with you there. I do feel very vulnerable at the moment. Here is another case where mental health is being pushed to the side by an employer who makes out they do so much to tackle it.

I will certainly resign, is it worth going to this investigation so I can see what's going on? It might be something that a tribunal may be interested in or if I'm not pushed and walk my solicitor would like to review as part of the case against the company.

Is mental health a protected characteristic?

Blatchford

Scoobs85 wrote: »

Hi,

Hope you guys can help. I'd appreciate any advice you can give me about this unfortunate situation.

I joined a large supermarket chain last year working overnight. When I first joined my training was very basic, not to the people training me, but those above them. They did their best but as an experienced manager I sucked it up and got on with it.

Initially I was fine, until April when a new manager joined the store. Then everything basically fell apart.

On a number of occasions I have been told that the previous manager did not give the positive feedback, rather negative feedback, that I was given at the time. I was told that my peers were doing so much better than me but when there was a problem I was the one they turned to.

I had a family emergency back in August which caused me to take off 2 weeks due to stress. In my return to work meeting, my line manager said I would be put in for a disciplinary which was unfair as only my first bout of sickness in 5 years with them and previous employers.

Today I have been suspended on gross misconduct as I raised my voice when I was asked a question and was not listened to (after my honesty was questioned) and told them I was being bullied which is what I feel I am. I apologised afterwards as I am a calm individual normally. I have been continiously treated badly by the manager who put me into this process. I am currently suffering from depression and have been had mental health problems since August.

I hope someone can assist me. I have emailed the companies HR a grievance before the suspension and also since. I'm being accused of inappropiate and aggressive behaviour which I dispute.

Of course this situation really adds to my depression so anything you can help with would be much appreciated. I did not swear or threaten. I have to take my young children to school and this occurred long after my shift. I even offered to call the manager in question afterwards but I was told I could not leave until I had explained "honestly why the store wasnt completed" and provide a statement written out.

Feel a bit desperate at the moment all I do is try my best.

Thanks

In response to your questions:
1. If you resign they can still discipline or dismiss you during your notice period, and the disciplinary (even if not completed) can be mentioned in a reference, so resigning has no benefit to you.
2. Legal advice won't help you at this point in time and quite probably won't be of any help at all ever.
3. If you don't go to the investigation meeting then (a) you can be disciplined for that, and (b) you have no right to then complain that they didn't listen to your side of the story
4. Bullying doesn't really exist in employment law, to all intents and purposes. And in all honesty I am not seeing a clear case of bullying anyway - you may not like the way that your manager(s) operate, but that isn't the same thing.

You have less than two years service, so a claim for unfair dismissal is unlikely to succeed anyway. Having mental health problems since August is not at all likely to place you in the disabled box - you would have to show that a disability had lasted, or was likely to last, for 12 months or more; and that it had a significant impact on your ability to function on a day to day basis with normal activities.

As observations on your situation:
(1) Your previous sickness record with previous employers is irrelevant. What is relevant is the sickness policy that your current employer uses. If that means that after two weeks absence there is a sanction, then that is what it is. Sickness absence management has nothing to do with why you are sick or whether you are sick - they operate solely on the basis of trigger points around the amount of time or number of occasions. Two weeks sickness in a year would trigger many such policies - including my own employers, who are actually very good employers. So the amount of sickness absence you have had is certainly excessive in the eyes of many employers - and if yours is one of those employers then it is "fair". Ours, for example, is 8.5 days in a year, or three occasions of sickness. Your opinion on what is fair doesn't really matter on this point.

(2) There seems to be a history here of management questioning your performance of your duties. That is not bullying. That is management. And you seem to concur on this matter because, otherwise, why are you arguing that you were not adequately trained when you started? You appear to be arguing contradictory points - that you were not trained properly, but that they turn to you rather than your peers because you are doing better than them. But equally - so what? None of those things have anything to do with the disciplinary action. It seems that your argument is that if management don't give you positive feedback that justifies shouting at them.

(3) You "raised your voice". And they are saying that is gross misconduct. What is the rest of the story? Because even if you didn't swear or threaten, that doesn't make what you did "right", but it does suggest that you did a little bit more than simply raise your voice. What you have said here is very confusing - if this happened "long after your shift" then were you in work at all? What was the issue that needed explaining, and why couldn't you explain it? And what did you actually say / do?

Blatchford

Scoobs85 wrote: »

I've got to agree with you there. I do feel very vulnerable at the moment. Here is another case where mental health is being pushed to the side by an employer who makes out they do so much to tackle it.

I will certainly resign, is it worth going to this investigation so I can see what's going on? It might be something that a tribunal may be interested in or if I'm not pushed and walk my solicitor would like to review as part of the case against the company.

Is mental health a protected characteristic?

You have shown no evidence that you have a disability. Depression since August isn't anywhere near the bar. Depression is not automatically a disability. Lots of people get periods of depression but that doesn't make them disabled. And the employer has not "pushed" mental health to one side. You had two weeks off work. As I have already told you that would get you into procedures in many places. On this matter you are being unreasonable. The manager and the employer did nothing wrong in managing your lengthy period of sickness absence.

eamon

Don't resign.

You have been suspended from work whilst your employer investigates the issue(s). I think that it would be in your best interest to engage with the process. In the meantime you are still getting paid.

Until you know what/when the next stage stage of the process is then use this time away from work to concentrate your efforts on recovering from your depression. Are you a trade union member? If yes get them involved. Who actually suspended you? And do they have the authority to do so? Ask HR for copies of the sickness management process, disciplinary process and anything else that you think that you need.

When the next stage happens don't go alone to any meeting with HR/Management. Don't agree or sign anything at these meetings ask for time to carefully read & understand any documents that you are presented with.

On a positive note if your employers are investigating they may find that you have done nothing to warrant dismissal. As Blanchford has mentioned your 2 week sickness may have triggered absence monitoring procedures. They would in my workplace as well. I wouldn't be too worried about that as you should be able to justify it, I assume that you did go to your GP for a "Fit Note"? Raised voices between work colleagues could be read as a case of "he said, she said" in a heat of the moment discussion.

It is possible that you have a toxic line manager that wants rid of you. If that is the case you have my sympathy.


Lastly if I was in your shoes I would consider withdrawing your grievance. In the absence of reliable and able witnesses it would go nowhere and you would lose. Better to hold it until after your suspension, investigation and possible disciplinary hearing have concluded. Then you can reconsider if you still need to proceed with it.

elsien

If you're in a union, contact them.

Blatchford

I broadly agree with Eamon, but...

eamon wrote: »

Don't resign.
…….

When the next stage happens don't go alone to any meeting with HR/Management. Don't agree or sign anything at these meetings ask for time to carefully read & understand any documents that you are presented with. There is no right to take someone with you to anything other than a disciplinary or grievance meeting, unless your policy allows it - which isn't common. So an investigation meeting doesn't carry the right to be accompanied.

…….Raised voices between work colleagues could be read as a case of "he said, she said" in a heat of the moment discussion. It could be read as a lot of things, which is why what actually happened is important. And what was said, and where, and how, and who heard it.... etc. Plus, raising ones voice can mean many things. Speaking a little louder is one thing. Screaming at someone is another.

…..
Lastly if I was in your shoes I would consider withdrawing your grievance. In the absence of reliable and able witnesses it would go nowhere and you would lose. Better to hold it until after your suspension, investigation and possible disciplinary hearing have concluded. Then you can reconsider if you still need to proceed with it. I wouldn't. It's a matter of opinion, but it is now on record and has been seen and read, and probably passed on through different people. What has been seen and said cannot be undone. There is no benefit in re-submitting it later if you don't like the outcome of the meeting. If you have said things in the grievance that you wish you hadn't, then tell them it was prompted by your distress and forget it and move on. If you stand by what you have said, then you may as well keep it on the record. One thing is certain - your manager has read it now, and if relationships were poor before, they won't have improved any with this, but withdrawing it now won't change that. Do you stand by it or not?

I do mostly agree that resigning doesn't do anything for anyone, and whilst it is unlikely, if you shouted at your manager, that you will get away without any sanction, depending on circumstances you might get a slap on the wrist and told not to do it again. Which, honestly, is probably fair enough. You shouldn't have shouted and you obviously knew that straight away. However, my question would be whether you actually can go back. I don't know whether you can or not. But if you can't, then trading your resignation for a good reference may be possible. So it is something to think about.

Equally, and this is just an opinion, if you were a member of my staff, unless there is a lot more to this than you have said, I'd probably give you a warning and tell you to get back to work. If it was just a raised voice. And that may also be the view of your employer. So you could be resigning over nothing.

Scoobs85

Thank you guys for your honesty. I appreciate the comments even if they are direct. There is no point in sugar coating it all and saying everything will be fine when I feel deep down it's not.

My line manager definitely has a problem with me, I have no issues with him. However after the conversation I did submit a grievance. There is evidence, my team has spotted differences in the way I'm treated and others are and how I am visibly uncomfortable when I am in. This is now with the area manager and they are progressing this. I will however in a meeting with them, which I'm sure will happen state I do not want them to lose their job. They may have put me in a corner but I'm not going to do that to someone with potentially mortgages, kids etc. I have my integrity in tact.

The long and short of this is the incident happened 45 minutes after my shift. I have to get the children to school and they know this. All other managers understand and comply with this request but I was told I could not leave until I gave an "honest" explanation of why the store was not completed. I stated again the reason why and the line manager stated he did not care, and that I'm not leaving. I eventually left at 8:15am and had to drive at a silly speed to get home and pick them up. At this point I expressed my concerns, that I feel he is bullying me. I provided a solution that I would call when I get home and can email but this was rejected and I was told to stay. I now have to hope I dont get a fine from the council.

I stupidly am not a member of USDAW, wish I was now but I will ask to take our union rep in. She has in fact seen me visibly upset due to this manager before.

The problem is this manager is clever with words, I will give him that, he isnt stupid by any nature. Whilst I am not thick I maybe cannot explain things and am not articulate with my information.

I do have some very good friends in the management team, one in particular I know would support me to the hilt but I cannot pull her in as I am concerned that if I'm gone she will be their next target and I am not prepared to do that to her.