Disciplinary advice

gilly58

Hi after a bit of advice for my daughter 

Can you be sacked on hearsay, a person my daughter works with has gone to management to say certain things are not being done, and that my daughter is being rude to this member of staff and that's she has heard my daughter discusing them with other staff members

My daughter has been called in for investigation, can she be disciplined on one person's say so, 

Another member of staff has backed my daughters claims

Thanks in advance for any advice

Diamandis

If she's been there less than 2 years she can be dismissed for any reason. If she's been there more than 2 years the employer should have reasonable belief that the allegations happened. Conducting an investigation meeting would usually be the first step in determining what had happened. 

oh_really

Has your daughter been rude and gossiping? (hint, neither you or the other member of staff can possibly know), it may be the other person who has approached management can verify the claims.

gilly58

Has I was saying there does not seem to be any evidence, my daughter has been in the job for three years, no previous issues, 

JamoLew

You still haven't answered the obvious question (that was asked in the post above yours)
An employer doesn't necessarily need hard evidence - they may to able to take action based on the  "law of probabilities"

gilly58

Obviously with me not being there I I can't say for 100%, but I believe my daughter and the other member of staff that backs her story,
There is no physical evedience, it's just he said, she said 

Undervalued

gilly58 said:

Hi after a bit of advice for my daughter 

Can you be sacked on hearsay, a person my daughter works with has gone to management to say certain things are not being done, and that my daughter is being rude to this member of staff and that's she has heard my daughter discusing them with other staff members

My daughter has been called in for investigation, can she be disciplined on one person's say so, 

Another member of staff has backed my daughters claims

Thanks in advance for any advice

Short answer is yes. This is not a court of law with hard and fast rules of evidence.

To dismiss fairly in law an employer, after attempting to conduct a reasonably fair investigation, needs to be "reasonable belief" that the misconduct took place. If they are and if dismissal falls within the range of responses a "reasonable employer" might choose then it is legally fair.

If the employee has less that two years service they have little redress (except in cases of unlawful discrimination etc) so the employer can usually get away with missing out the above steps.

gilly58

Could they have reasonable believe if my daughter story is back by another staff member though 

Undervalued

gilly58 said:

Could they have reasonable believe if my daughter story is back by another staff member though 

Possibly.

There is no absolute yes / no answer to the questions you are asking.

As I said if the employer feels they have a reasonable belief they can take disciplinary action (possibly including dismissal). If that happens and your daughter feels it is (legally) unfair she can take them to an employment tribunal (providing she has two years service). There a judge will have to decide if their belief was reasonable or not. In some circumstances one trusted employee's evidence may be enough even when two others say differently. More often it wouldn't be but it depends on an objective assessment of the situation. To repeat, there is not a definitive "tick box" yes / no spreadsheet.

gilly58

Would a managers backing help my daughter 
Thanks for advice 

Comms69

There's 2 options here:

1: Your daughter isnt good at her job, therefore not valued and they're looking for a reason to get rid of her

2: the employer isnt a good employer, and for whatever reason believes employee B, and is looking to get rid of your daughter

In both cases the key factor needs to be, is this worth my time and effort and losing a reference