Suspended from work

Jillanddy

This happened  a week ago. That might feel like a very long time now to you, but it is actually a short time. And I think you need to be very careful. You were told not to have contact with anyone at work. That includes not talking to people who phone you! The very act of talking to someone you work with, even if they phoned you, is potentially another disciplinary action. You should not talk to anyone at work except for managers or others in authority dealing with your current situation. People are gossiping and you are talking to gossips!

We have recently merged shifts with another shift and there has been tension between the two shifts since its inception on the way things are done. I have had disagreements about our working styles with another shift lead but never anything personal or bad to say about anyone.
Is it your place to disagree with shift leads about how things are done? Normally such "tensions" would be dealt with my higher management. This may explain the issue you are facing.

And I appreciate that this feels awful, but it is not your employers responsibility to offer you support, so you need to stop expecting it. They are doing nothing wrong - or there is no evidence that they are. An allegation has been made, they are investigating it, and that takes time. It may amount to nothing. It may amount to something. But they are obliged to investigate the matter. 

Marcon

Jillanddy said:

This happened  a week ago. That might feel like a very long time now to you, but it is actually a short time. And I think you need to be very careful. You were told not to have contact with anyone at work. That includes not talking to people who phone you! The very act of talking to someone you work with, even if they phoned you, is potentially another disciplinary action. You should not talk to anyone at work except for managers or others in authority dealing with your current situation. People are gossiping and you are talking to gossips!

No evidence OP has been talking to people - the comment was that they had 'received messages', which doesn't sound like a conversation at all.

Jillanddy said:

We have recently merged shifts with another shift and there has been tension between the two shifts since its inception on the way things are done. I have had disagreements about our working styles with another shift lead but never anything personal or bad to say about anyone.
Is it your place to disagree with shift leads about how things are done? Normally such "tensions" would be dealt with my higher management. This may explain the issue you are facing.

Why would one shift lead not talk to another shift lead? Seems pretty normal behaviour to me.

Jillanddy said:

And I appreciate that this feels awful, but it is not your employers responsibility to offer you support, so you need to stop expecting it. They are doing nothing wrong - or there is no evidence that they are. An allegation has been made, they are investigating it, and that takes time. It may amount to nothing. It may amount to something. But they are obliged to investigate the matter. 

Completely agree with the above. OP, do you have any close family in whom you could safely confide? This is a really miserable time for you, but your employer cannot 'support you' and keep a neutral stance in the investigation. There is more information about how such matters are handled at https://www.acas.org.uk/disciplinary-and-grievance-procedures or you can call ACAS's free helpline on 0300 123 1100. They will be able to explain what could/should happen next.

MalMonroe

Hi, I'm in agreement with Marcon about contacting Acas.

There's also a link about suspension from Acas here -

https://www.acas.org.uk/search?keys=suspension

I'm surprised that you work for a big organisation but there's no union. 

[Deleted User]

MalMonroe said:

I'm surprised that you work for a big organisation but there's no union. 

The op simply stated he wasn't in a union.

What do you think ACAS can do apart from repeat information script from their code of practice?

Tahlullah.H

Do you have home insurance?  Many policies nowadays also provide Employment Law protection/cover.  If you do, speak to them now, before speaking to anyone else and they will take your case on.  If you go to a solicitor, it will cost you.  You are not a member of the union, so you will get no support there.  Your local Citizens Advice probably will not have a specialist Employment Worker, as funding has been cut by the Legal Aid Agency for this type of work.  So, unless you can find a pro-bono agency who you can approach, you will have to rely on yourself, or whoever your organisations policy states you can have accompany you to any investigation and hearing.

You need to get hold of the organisations policy and procedures to see if you can speak to someone internal to accompany you, or if they state you cannot.  Much of your next actions depend on you understanding what the procedures will be, which includes recognising if they are not following it.

ACAS are a 'neutral' organisation whose role is to arbitrate between the 2 parties.  They do not take sides.  What they will do is show that you tried to settle, which will allow you to access the Employment Tribunal without financial penalty, if you choose to go that direction.

Jillanddy

Marcon said:

Jillanddy said:

This happened  a week ago. That might feel like a very long time now to you, but it is actually a short time. And I think you need to be very careful. You were told not to have contact with anyone at work. That includes not talking to people who phone you! The very act of talking to someone you work with, even if they phoned you, is potentially another disciplinary action. You should not talk to anyone at work except for managers or others in authority dealing with your current situation. People are gossiping and you are talking to gossips!

No evidence OP has been talking to people - the comment was that they had 'received messages', which doesn't sound like a conversation at all.

Jillanddy said:

We have recently merged shifts with another shift and there has been tension between the two shifts since its inception on the way things are done. I have had disagreements about our working styles with another shift lead but never anything personal or bad to say about anyone.
Is it your place to disagree with shift leads about how things are done? Normally such "tensions" would be dealt with my higher management. This may explain the issue you are facing.

Why would one shift lead not talk to another shift lead? Seems pretty normal behaviour to me.

Jillanddy said:

And I appreciate that this feels awful, but it is not your employers responsibility to offer you support, so you need to stop expecting it. They are doing nothing wrong - or there is no evidence that they are. An allegation has been made, they are investigating it, and that takes time. It may amount to nothing. It may amount to something. But they are obliged to investigate the matter. 

Completely agree with the above. OP, do you have any close family in whom you could safely confide? This is a really miserable time for you, but your employer cannot 'support you' and keep a neutral stance in the investigation. There is more information about how such matters are handled at https://www.acas.org.uk/disciplinary-and-grievance-procedures or you can call ACAS's free helpline on 0300 123 1100. They will be able to explain what could/should happen next.

Splitting hairs won't assist the OP. They should not be communicating in any way with anyone, but have posted it on the internet. Not a wise move.

The OP said they have had disagreements, not that they were talking to another shift lead. Disagreements (plural) should be referred to higher management, not lead to "tensions", which has a wider impact on work and teams. Perhaps where you work the employer encourages disputes and disagreements in the workplace and thinks tensions are completely ok. That wouldn't be the normal approach of many employers. 

TELLIT01

If the OP is contacted by anybody regarding this situation or any other work related subject they need to advise the caller that they are not allowed to discuss anything work related and leave it at that.  Even if they meet socially with people from work they need to apply the same rules.

elsien

Tahlullah.H said:

Do you have home insurance?  Many policies nowadays also provide Employment Law protection/cover.  If you do, speak to them now, before speaking to anyone else and they will take your case on.  If you go to a solicitor, it will cost you.  You are not a member of the union, so you will get no support there.  Your local Citizens Advice probably will not have a specialist Employment Worker, as funding has been cut by the Legal Aid Agency for this type of work.  So, unless you can find a pro-bono agency who you can approach, you will have to rely on yourself, or whoever your organisations policy states you can have accompany you to any investigation and hearing.

You need to get hold of the organisations policy and procedures to see if you can speak to someone internal to accompany you, or if they state you cannot.  Much of your next actions depend on you understanding what the procedures will be, which includes recognising if they are not following it.

ACAS are a 'neutral' organisation whose role is to arbitrate between the 2 parties.  They do not take sides.  What they will do is show that you tried to settle, which will allow you to access the Employment Tribunal without financial penalty, if you choose to go that direction.

There’s nothing to settle at the moment. OP has been suspended pending investigation. That’s all, at this stage. 

Tahlullah.H

elsien said:

Tahlullah.H said:

Do you have home insurance?  Many policies nowadays also provide Employment Law protection/cover.  If you do, speak to them now, before speaking to anyone else and they will take your case on.  If you go to a solicitor, it will cost you.  You are not a member of the union, so you will get no support there.  Your local Citizens Advice probably will not have a specialist Employment Worker, as funding has been cut by the Legal Aid Agency for this type of work.  So, unless you can find a pro-bono agency who you can approach, you will have to rely on yourself, or whoever your organisations policy states you can have accompany you to any investigation and hearing.

You need to get hold of the organisations policy and procedures to see if you can speak to someone internal to accompany you, or if they state you cannot.  Much of your next actions depend on you understanding what the procedures will be, which includes recognising if they are not following it.

ACAS are a 'neutral' organisation whose role is to arbitrate between the 2 parties.  They do not take sides.  What they will do is show that you tried to settle, which will allow you to access the Employment Tribunal without financial penalty, if you choose to go that direction.

There’s nothing to settle at the moment. OP has been suspended pending investigation. That’s all, at this stage. 

I didn't say there was anything to settle.  All I said was what ACAS do.  I did not project forward.  I provided information on what to do and where to get help and the sort of help he will get.

TBagpuss

I'm sorry that you are gong through this, it sounds very stressful.

Where a serious allegation is made against an employee it is common to suspend them (on full pay) - this should be a neutral act, i.e. it does not imply that they have already mead their mind up or are assuming that you did whatever was alleged, but it protects them by ensuring that (in cases where allegations were true) ensuring that matters cant escalate and there aren't further incidents, and also protects you (you aren't there, so can't be accused of trying to bully anyone into it drawing their allegation, for instance)


If you didn't get a copy with the letter then it may be worth you writing to HR, ask them to provide you with a copy of the disciplinary process, and state that you are finding this extremely stressful, particularly not knowing what you are accused of doing, and asking them to give you a firm time line of when you can expect to hear further.

Yu can also ask that the specify
(1) what is the nature of the alleged gross misconduct
(2) what is the alleged mis-use of company property
(3)whet is the alleged inappropriate behaviour
When is it alleged that the incident or incidents took place 

IF they are following a process based on best practice, you'd normally expect them to have an initial investigation process, which should involve speaking to you to let you give your side of the story.

They are not obliged to tell you exactly what the allegations are at this stage - obviously if they proceed beyond the investigatory stage then they will need to, and as part of the investigation I would expect them to tell you so that you can give your side of the story to allow them to complete the investigation, but it's possible that at this stage they are still speaking to others / reviewing computer records etc. and may not want to speak to you until they have completed their other enquiries. 

Following the investigation, they would then decide whether to take formal disciplinary action and if so, would arrange a disciplinary meeting at which you have a right to be accompanied by a Union rep or a coworker. You may want to arrange for a co-worker to go with you if only so you have someone who can make notes of what is said, if not, you may want to make your own notes (your employer will be making notes but you might want your own)