Disciplinary

LouD46

Hi everyone,

I was subject to a disciplinary investigation in work.  I meant to send a friend something on social media but posted publicly instead.  The post contained bad language.  It wasn’t racist, sexist or abusive about my employer and just contained a couple of bad words.  Someone reported it to my employer and I went through a disciplinary investigation and hearing.  I accepted I had breached social media policy and apologised profusely.  The result was no formal action and I have that in writing.  I did not get a warning (verbal or written) and kept my job.  I have been told to forget about it and move on. 
It was really stupid of me and embarrassing.  A hard lesson to be more careful.
 My question is do I have to disclose this on any fresh job applications?  Would the employer disclose it?

TELLIT01

I wouldn't disclose it.  It is a reminder to everybody that accessing any form of social media from work, and making comments about work on social media at any time, is a very bad idea.

LouD46

Was a comment made in my own time and nothing at all to do with work. Just bad language by an employee that potentially could have damaged the company’s rep.

TBagpuss

No, you don't need to disclose it and it is very unlikely that your employer would. 

The only exception would be if you are completing an application form which explicitly asks whether you have had any disciplinary actions taken against you within the last x months (as lying on an application is a huge no-no, it can easily result in you being fired if it comes to light, even if whatever you lied about was relatively minor) 


Do you have an employees handbook / workplace manual ? If so, does it say anything about references?  A lot of employers have a policy to only give a 'factual reference' (detailing job title and dates employed) for instance.and your handbook may say whether this is the policy where you work.

Also check what it says about disciplinaries - mostly there is a timescale after which they are disregarded.

If they are asked about disciplinary record they might answer, but if so then it should simply be that there was a verbal warning and no further action (and if asked, you can explain at that point that it was a minor breach of a social media policy where you used bad language on a personal but public post) 

Are you actively looking for a new job at the moment? 

LouD46

No, I’m happy in my job but I was worrying about the repercussions moving forward.  I was really quite ashamed of it.

couriervanman

LouD46 said:

Hi everyone,

I was subject to a disciplinary investigation in work.  I meant to send a friend something on social media but posted publicly instead.  The post contained bad language.  It wasn’t racist, sexist or abusive about my employer and just contained a couple of bad words.  Someone reported it to my employer and I went through a disciplinary investigation and hearing.  I accepted I had breached social media policy and apologised profusely.  The result was no formal action and I have that in writing.  I did not get a warning (verbal or written) and kept my job.  I have been told to forget about it and move on. 
It was really stupid of me and embarrassing.  A hard lesson to be more careful.
 My question is do I have to disclose this on any fresh job applications?  Would the employer disclose it?

" Someone reported it to my employer"........was this someone another employee with nothing better to do than stick their nose in, all companies have have them...backstabbers with nothing better to do than suck up to management normally with no friends because they cant be trusted

Dakta

Sounds to me a troublemaking colleague has tried (and failed) to cause some stir - whilst the company has looked into it they themselves have found it not worth their time, they have to be seen to take such things seriously hence the formalities but ultimately nothings resulted from it - which whilst the negative connotations is a win all around except for the troublemaker who has just wasted a lot of peoples time.

I wouldn't disclose it, after all - no formal action was taken though i'd keep a copy of the paperwork for that. I would also use the opportunity to look at your social media privacy settings, as clearly you are under observation and even without suggesting you have done anything wrong it makes sense to protect yourself.

static266

I’d say that if a company is willing to conduct a disciplinary on a non-business related social media post then they probably also have a ‘factual reference only’ policy so I wouldn’t worry about it. 

I had a similar case against me where I posted in an industry related closed group on Facebook, there was no way to tie my post to my employer but someone in the group (disclosed as a colleague in London, 300 miles away!!) must have recognised my name. I admitted I’d broken the policy but said on record that I though the incident was blown out of proportion and wouldn’t apologise. Left me with an informal warning or letter of concern. 

There really are some busy bodies out there. 

LouD46

Thanks for the opinions guys.  I am not sure who reported it.  It was posted on a form of social media with no direct links to my employer so someone either did a bit of digging or it was a colleague.  What’s done is done though.  I have no difficult with how my employer handled it.  They have a procedure which must be followed but it was very worrying time for my wife and teenage daughter who got wind of it.

eamon

First rule on social media. Don't talk about work.

Second rule. Don't name your employer.

Third rule. Don't have work colleagues as social media friends.

Peter999_2

Fourth rule.  Don't use social media.