Worry making me ill, help please

mintymoneysaver

Can you sign up with a temping agency?
The reason I ask is that if you get a temp job before a permenant one then they will be classed as your last employers, and you could use them as a reference. My husband was sacked ( unfairly like you), and now has a far better job than he did before, he used his temp job as a reference and also a good friend from the original company. He has never had to explain himself to his new company although he always said he would be honest if asked.

mum2one

ejones666 wrote: »

Thank you for all your replies and suggestions.

I am speaking with my union rep tomorrow about sending them my intention to appeal. I still can't go into too much detail as I still feel that I'm being 'watched'?

I have contacted a solicitor who offers their 1st consultation for free, and, depending on the outcome, and whether I can afford it, it is my intention to take this as far as possible.

In the meantime, I have to get work, I am so worried that if I'm up front and tell the truth, any perspective new employer will automatically assume I'm trouble.

My immediate manager will stand by me, and has already written me a personal reference, but, will any new employer write to HR dept, even though I'll give them my local managers work address?

I still can't believe this has happened. Please be careful.

I dont mean to sound like \im putting a damper on it, btu u need to get ur appeal in asap, and be careful re solicitor, ok first half hr free, its the rest of the bill.

If its done on legal help scheme your not represented at a tribunal, where as union will represent you,

Re reference, if you were to apply for another job then there is nothing at all wrong with you putting ur managers work address down, as HR depts can be unpersonal.
x

patchwork_cat

Hi
It really is hard to say without knowing what you actually said and your conditions of service, but from what you are saying here if you feel you have not put the company at potential risk - could you go for unfair dismissal? I am not up to date with employment law, but you need someone who is.

Also as this is a hot topic with more and more people using these sorts of sites then I think the media might be worth a try. Your employers could face a wealth of bad publicity because of this and I think they have been very foolish - much better would have been to slap your wrists and move you to an area where you didn't have such access to information. You could cause them some very bad publicity which would obviously hurt them . I would have been tempted to ask for a golden handshake to keep schtum!

ceridwen

I'll just bump this one up - as I cant understand how it has been shifted to "Marriages and Family Resources Bar" - as its a job query.

affordmylife

this is a really awful situation you have my sympathy but i dont understand why we have to be careful.

do employers go searching around site for people who might be their employees and then try to identify who they are? surely people have got better things to do with their time.

i cant imagine my employer would be interested in my private life and even if i did say things about work how would anyone else know who i was talking about!!!

Glad

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]!!!!!![/EMAIL].

ceridwen

affordmylife wrote: »

this is a really awful situation you have my sympathy but i dont understand why we have to be careful.

do employers go searching around site for people who might be their employees and then try to identify who they are? surely people have got better things to do with their time.

i cant imagine my employer would be interested in my private life and even if i did say things about work how would anyone else know who i was talking about!!!

Sorry - affordmylife - but a lot of employers are very intrusive about things their staff say/do in their own time...yes I know it sounds unbelievable...like something from the dark ages...but I can assure you, from my own experience, that they do. I find it totally incredible and I know its absolutely wrong...its totally none of their business - but, believe me, a lot of employers do take that attitude. I dont know whether employers would "officially" go round searching websites for signs of their employees or no (it wouldnt surprise me if a few do though!) - but there is always the chance that a fellow employee might spot someones contribution and if they dislike you and/or you are a rival for a job they want - or they just plain cant resist poking their nose in - then they go off and tell the employer to make sure they know.

TigerAngel11

ejones666 wrote: »

Has anyone got any suggestions on how to explain what happened to me to any potential new employer?

I'm so sorry that this happened to you - it sounds like you would have been well justified if your comments had been negative, instead of positive.

The best thing to do in this situation is to be honest with potential employers. If you try to skirt around the issue, chances are they'll hear something about you being sacked for posting comments about your previous company and reject you without knowing the whole story.

Explain that your comments weren't negative and you didn't know that you were breaking any rules, but that you realise posting them on the internet was a mistake. Say that you're very sorry and have learnt from this experience.

Often, potential employers are surprisingly sympathetic in awkward circumstances. I left the job prior to my last job because my boss was bullying me. I was aware that this could be misconstrued and turned against me, so I thought it was better to be honest rather than to say something vague like "I left because of personal differences" (which is partly true - he thought he could treat me however he liked; my opinion differed).

The interviewer for my last job (understandably) asked me about this, so I explained. She was incredibly sympathetic - especially when I gave details of how I'd been treated - and I was offered a job a week later.

Good luck for the future,

Leigh

ejones666

Hi, thanks for all the advice.

I have my appeal date set for next week, and my union rep will be representing me. I have accepted a job offer elsewhere as I need to be able to pay bills and mortgage etc.

If, (and it's a massive IF) the original decision is reversed and I am reinstated, could I then get into problems with my new employer? I have signed a new contract but am not due to start until AFTER the appeal hearing.

Still wake up every morning not being able to believe the outcome of all this. I did become addictive, I guess, to this web-site, and only tried to help people, I never, ever slated my employers.

My union rep isn't confident that the hearing will go in my favour as we are both under the impression that my ex-employers are making an example out of me as a warning to other staff, I know that since I have left, there has been a new handbook issued to staff which now includes issues surrounding internet use at home.

My union rep has also taken guidance from union solicitors who are happy to represent me at an employment tribunal. However, I am so worried about my new employer finding out about my dismissal that I am now unsure about how far to take this? Does the outcome of a tribunal become public knowledge?

Thanks again for all the advice, as soon as this nightmare is over I will provide more details about the case.

mum2one

Theres a lot of good news.
You have got an appeal date - and that the union rep is representing you, if it went to employment tribunal at least your have a solictor on baoard all the way through the process including represenatation.

(Without looking - plz bare in mind that this is my thought)
The fact that the firm have issued a new handbook, actually goes in your favour, it means that the handbook that was in force whilst you incident happened was not strong enough to coberate the offence, Im guessing the employer is clutchng at straws.

re your new contract - are you financially worst off with the new job, in theory with moist jobs there is a probation period where notice can be given by either party with a short notice, you would need to go through the contract with a fine toothcomb.

If possible I would also print off the extracts etc that are in question and relook through them so you know exactly what ur ex employer is implying that you did.

If it went in your favour and you were reinstated would you really want to work for a compnay that has done that to you? x

Good luck at the appeal.

One point - at the appeal hearing they can only use the evidence that was used at the disciplinary hearings they can not produce new documents etc xx