I might get fired for Gross Misconduct and I'm scared what will happen

Grumpy_chap

Adamthom85 said:

Mojisola said:

Adamthom85 said:

Don't  rise to a provocation and never say anything I wouldn't be happy to scream from a plinth at Hyde park.

I will never ever say anything I would go on national news and say to my family

I'm just not going to use social media as I did fine before it came along and I can do just fine without it.

All of those.
And don't use real name and year of birth as user ID.

Good luck and let us know how it goes, if it ever goes.

ScottishGuy1122

Grumpy_chap said:

Adamthom85 said:

Mojisola said:

Adamthom85 said:

Don't  rise to a provocation and never say anything I wouldn't be happy to scream from a plinth at Hyde park.

I will never ever say anything I would go on national news and say to my family

I'm just not going to use social media as I did fine before it came along and I can do just fine without it.

All of those.
And don't use real name and year of birth as user ID.

Good luck and let us know how it goes, if it ever goes.

Thanks, yeah I'm changing that. I genuinely don't know how to take it if they don't call today...based on everything that's happened is it likely to either be
A) very very serious and they are still setting up an investigation (even though they have all the info) and never got round to contacting me or even mentioning it might happen.

Or

B ) Minor indescresion and they don't have any evidence, just simply an allegation and they never got round to contacting me to warn me in future 

What seems more likely?

Ditzy_Mitzy

theoretica said:

One potential scenario is your employer got a complaint - they don't want to end up slated as an employer who did nothing when they got a complaint about a staff member - so they have to do something so then can send back some bland reply about 'taking appropriate action'.  If this is the case they are probably irritated at all involved for putting them in this situation and they probably don't want to dismiss you or anything, just for you to be very careful they are never bothered again by such nuisances.

Probably - I had a spurious complaint of racism made against me once and my employer went through similar steps as the complainant refused to go away when told to.

theoretica

Adamthom85 said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Adamthom85 said:

I'll just have to hope and learn my lesson whatever the outcome is.

And what is that lesson?

Don't  rise to a provocation and never say anything I wouldn't be happy to scream from a plinth at Hyde park.

Also perhaps that it isn't worth provoking other people.  You were called a name and reacted by retaliating and calling the provoker a name.  It isn't very surprising they retaliated in turn. 

JReacher1

If you've not heard by now I wouldn't be too worried.  Do you have a line manager who you can have an informal chat with?  They would be aware if the situation was in danger of becoming more formal.  HR by and large rarely go straight to an employee without a line manager being involved.

IrishSean

I'd stay off all social media where you're identifiable but I think you know that.

Just play some Call of Duty or if politics is your beef, watch Question Time and scream at the TV like the rest of us😂😂😂

I once joined in inter-organisational banter years ago.. round table meeting, pre-Christmas. A woman from another organisation said she was going to a Country & Western concert, I asked "if Santa was bringing her a life for Christmas".. everyone laughed... except her.
I regretted it for years, she barely spoke to me, proper atmosphere. I banked it in the 'life lessons' part of my brain! I was soo glad my boss wasn't there caused i'd have got roasted. A b0ll0cking is one thing but dismissal is something else entirely.. thankfully not a common occurrence. If everyone was sacked for making a mistake there'd be no-one employed!!

As ppl said don't worry unduly; i'm loving that 'you wouldn't walk yourself to the gallows' tho😂
Lmao

ScottishGuy1122

JReacher1 said:

If you've not heard by now I wouldn't be too worried.  Do you have a line manager who you can have an informal chat with?  They would be aware if the situation was in danger of becoming more formal.  HR by and large rarely go straight to an employee without a line manager being involved.

I know I should probably concern this as done but I'm scared that they might call any minute and say I have to attend an investigation tomorrow..I was speaking to my line manager today about non related stuff and he seemed unaware of any meetings today.
I just don't want to get my hopes up if I don't hear back today and them BOOM first thing tomorrow morning I get a call telling me to attend an investigatory meeting or even a letter through the post saying the same.

ScottishGuy1122

IrishSean said:

I'd stay off all social media where you're identifiable but I think you know that.

Just play some Call of Duty or if politics is your beef, watch Question Time and scream at the TV like the rest of us😂😂😂

I once joined in inter-organisational banter years ago.. round table meeting, pre-Christmas. A woman from another organisation said she was going to a Country & Western concert, I asked "if Santa was bringing her a life for Christmas".. everyone laughed... except her.
I regretted it for years, she barely spoke to me, proper atmosphere. I banked it in the 'life lessons' part of my brain! I was soo glad my boss wasn't there caused i'd have got roasted. A b0ll0cking is one thing but dismissal is something else entirely.. thankfully not a common occurrence. If everyone was sacked for making a mistake there'd be no-one employed!!

As ppl said don't worry unduly; i'm loving that 'you wouldn't walk yourself to the gallows' tho😂
Lmao

Yeah some COD might be good. I just can't make my mind up if the vague attitude, unsure about my posts, getting me to delete and saying having a chat means that it probably isn't progressing further and they don't actually really need to act further as they had no evidence

Or they are preparing a massive case against me ran out of time to call and I'm about to get a call any minute telling me my canoe has just floated by the guys from deliverance.

ScottishGuy1122

Just got a call from HR, they have invited me a meeting tomorrow to discuss an allegation about a comment I made that could bring the company into disrepute by being identified (through the complaint) and the person took offence.

I don't know how to play this as it's being held on Microsoft teams and they have said all the cameras will be off so it's just talking and a commercial manager will be asking me some questions.

I don't know what route to take, do I ask if they evidence first? If they do, I just have to explain my best...  

TBagpuss

MoneySeeker1 said:

Adamthom85 said:

Thanks, I'll let you know how my "chat" goes tomorrow. It does seem strange though that they called me on Friday and were a bit vague saying "someone has made an allegation you posted a comment on linkedin which could be deemed racist" which is why I was initially puzzled as I don't use linkedin, I then suggested it may be a Facebook comment to which say said "can you just delete any of the posts" and seemed fairly normal, then just said thank you and "well have another chat on monday"

I can't tell if they have a screenshot, it would explain then being a bit vague about the comment and not immediately doing the investigatory interview right there and then if they had evidence.

Guess I won't know until the chat tomorrow.

I think that was a mistake there to "hand them ammunition" - ie where they said "Linked In" and you then corrected them by suggesting it might have been "Facebook". It would have been better, in the event, to just stick to the absolute basic facts of "No - I didnt say anything on Linked In - as I don't have a Linked-in account". The matter might have ended right there and then - as they wouldnt have been able to say "You said on Linked In...." the second you were able to state you aren't on Linked In.

What you did - or didnt - say on Facebook is a totally different website - and they said nothing about that one.

For future reference - you might be as well to have a totally NON personal Facebook account with a different name to it than the one you are usually known by - and without putting any identifiable photos on it.

Employers are well in the wrong to go spying on employees personal lives like that - but it's something they seem to have been doing for the last few years - wrong as it is and they seem to have got away with it so far without anyone particularly "calling them" on it. Someone will "clock their employer one big time" at some point for spying on them like that - and hopefully there will be a law to stop them doing that sort of thing. I think it best if it isn't you that does that.

Say as little as you possibly can. Volunteer no further information. Keep Facebook as a non-personal thing that you only use for keeping in touch with groups you are interested in - but do not give out personal info. on there again until the day employers can't get away with sacking people because they've spied on them this way (and I admit I have no idea how much longer they'll be able to get away with this before there is a test case and they're clobbered for doing so).

Right now - DO NOT resign. May be they won't decide you are "out the door" - but, if they do, it has to be THEIR doing and not yours. That way - they are the ones that have put themselves in the position that you are no longer working for them - and that should help, I feel, in ensuring they won't be able to manage to reclaim that £12,000 training costs from you. If you are the one that does it (ie you resign) then there is a very good chance they will be after you for repayment of the £12k (because they will say it was your doing you left).

So keep as schtum as possible and do NOT resign.

This is the voice of experience time here - back from before retirement where my employer and I both knew what had happened in my OWN TIME - but I was not going to admit it (because it was my own time - and therefore none of their business).

Regarding the bolded - if people chose to post publicly it isn't 'snooping' for an employer read it. If you have an employer who tries to make you hand over facebook passwords ir tries to demand that you 'add' them on social media sits then that is inappropriate, but if you chose to make public statements (and comments etc. on Facebook are public, (unless you chose privacy settings which limit who sees what you post, and even then, you need to understand what the setting eman so you are cclear what the reach of your posts will be.)

Putting stuff on the Internet isn't like writing in your diary, it's more like standing at Speaker's Corner and shouting. And employers have a legitimate interest in what their employers to in their own time, where those actions have an impact on how their employer will be perceived.