Unfair dismissal

amy1209

Good morning, 

I am looking for any advice if possible please. As I have never been through anything like this before, and I am not sure where I go with this all. I work from home always have worked from home for this employer, I was called into an investigation for gross misconduct to do with bonus fraud. They have stated I have not followed business rules on how to present the product to the customer for me to receive bonus for it there for I have broke business rules, the investigation finished and it was then put to a disciplinary hearing where I was dismissed with immediate affect. This particular bonus scheme I have repeatedly asked for training on I have it in writing 3 times of myself asking for training and support around it to my team leaders and I have never been given any extra training or support around this, I have not gained anything financially from this and it was pointed out by the hearing manager who dismissed me that he did not believe I had done these things for financial gain, my argument was I have asked for training and support numerous times and never been given it, I have always stated I struggled with the the bonus scheme and did not feel comfortable or confident with it. Their argument was I did a training online course in July 2021 2-3 weeks before I went on maternity leave for 11 months and I had postnatal anxiety and depression after having my baby I have no knowledge of doing this course and cannot remember it, the manager provided me a snippet of the course title my name and the date in July but the day after the initial investigation I looked through my courses and that course was not on my list of courses but it was on the course section and it was down as to start the course there for I have not done the course. I have a screen shot of this course page with the course not completed and the date and time which was the day after the initial investigation. Other colleagues on my team that had a disciplinary for gross misconduct was given a final written warning for the gross misconduct and their sickness levels combined. I was given immediate dismissal with no chance to correct my errors and be given the support and training I had asked for. I was advised to get a occupational health appointment earlier this year which I did, the dr stated about my mental health state and the support I would need around pressure to meet targets etc, since that I was put on an action plan for my targets which I had never received anything like it before or any sort of pressure around targets from my old team leader. My new team leader as of feb 23 put me onto action plan for targets this team leader I have asked time and time again for training around this bonus scheme which was never put into place he investigated me on the bonus and stated I have committed gross misconduct and then was taken to disciplinary and was dismissed. I have 14 calendar days to appeal and I am now on day 6 and I have not received any paperwork or documents from them of the outcome and how to appeal and was told to log straight off my laptop, my HR do not have a contact number they have an email that will take 2-3 days to be answered. Sorry it is a long read theres a-lot more to it and more stuff I have not put in, I feel I have been victimised and discriminated against due to my mental health. Any advice I would really really appreciate thank you! 

Undervalued

amy1209 said:

Good morning, 

I am looking for any advice if possible please. As I have never been through anything like this before, and I am not sure where I go with this all. I work from home always have worked from home for this employer, I was called into an investigation for gross misconduct to do with bonus fraud. They have stated I have not followed business rules on how to present the product to the customer for me to receive bonus for it there for I have broke business rules, the investigation finished and it was then put to a disciplinary hearing where I was dismissed with immediate affect. This particular bonus scheme I have repeatedly asked for training on I have it in writing 3 times of myself asking for training and support around it to my team leaders and I have never been given any extra training or support around this, I have not gained anything financially from this and it was pointed out by the hearing manager who dismissed me that he did not believe I had done these things for financial gain, my argument was I have asked for training and support numerous times and never been given it, I have always stated I struggled with the the bonus scheme and did not feel comfortable or confident with it. Their argument was I did a training online course in July 2021 2-3 weeks before I went on maternity leave for 11 months and I had postnatal anxiety and depression after having my baby I have no knowledge of doing this course and cannot remember it, the manager provided me a snippet of the course title my name and the date in July but the day after the initial investigation I looked through my courses and that course was not on my list of courses but it was on the course section and it was down as to start the course there for I have not done the course. I have a screen shot of this course page with the course not completed and the date and time which was the day after the initial investigation. Other colleagues on my team that had a disciplinary for gross misconduct was given a final written warning for the gross misconduct and their sickness levels combined. I was given immediate dismissal with no chance to correct my errors and be given the support and training I had asked for. I was advised to get a occupational health appointment earlier this year which I did, the dr stated about my mental health state and the support I would need around pressure to meet targets etc, since that I was put on an action plan for my targets which I had never received anything like it before or any sort of pressure around targets from my old team leader. My new team leader as of feb 23 put me onto action plan for targets this team leader I have asked time and time again for training around this bonus scheme which was never put into place he investigated me on the bonus and stated I have committed gross misconduct and then was taken to disciplinary and was dismissed. I have 14 calendar days to appeal and I am now on day 6 and I have not received any paperwork or documents from them of the outcome and how to appeal and was told to log straight off my laptop, my HR do not have a contact number they have an email that will take 2-3 days to be answered. Sorry it is a long read theres a-lot more to it and more stuff I have not put in, I feel I have been victimised and discriminated against due to my mental health. Any advice I would really really appreciate thank you! 

In brief....

If you wish to appeal then write to them to say so within the 14 days (8 days remaining). Use a first class stamp and get a certificate of posting (free) from the post office. For most legal purposes mail is deemed to be delivered within two days and providing you have proof of posting that is good enough. Your appeal paperwork can follow later.

You say "I feel I have been victimised and discriminated against due to my mental health". 

Was your mental health condition formally diagnosed and accepted to be a disability? Whilst MH can be a disability for employment law purposes it is certainly not always the case. Whilst a disability requires the employer to make "reasonable adjustments" it does not prevent dismissal if there is good cause.

How long have you been employed? If less than two years you have few rights although disability rights have no minimum time qualification.

What has happened to other is not necessarily relevant.

Have you been given written reasons for your dismissal?

amy1209

Yes I was diagnosed with anxiety before I worked for them, I have been employed 26 months. But it states in the disciplinary policy that decisions are to be based on what pervious employees have been disciplined with. No I have received nothing in writing.  

amy1209

I also have not been given any address or anything to send any appeal to. 

Wonka_2

Maybe some more answers needed before advice can be given to avoid assumptions

Are you employed/self-employed ?
Is it a regulated industry ? (Financial services or similar) that could have 'mis-selling' consequences if training/processes aren't followed

For the address to send your appeal to presumably you have a physical, registered address for your employer ? 

amy1209

I am employed. Yes it is for some things but when it comes to this bonus scheme I was investigated for it is purely for bonus for employees nothing that would affect customers or would be classed as a mis-selling, it is a scheme that is just for employees and to benefit employees. No I do not as I was employed to be home based and I was interviewed over microsoft teams. I have never been into an office or anything of that sort. 

Wonka_2

amy1209 said:

No I do not as I was employed to be home based and I was interviewed over microsoft teams. I have never been into an office or anything of that sort. 

OK - but surely you have some correspondence showing a physical address for your employer (payslip/P60/email footers etc) - failing that you send to the registered address of the company 

amy1209

I would do but my payslips are on my work laptop that I cannot go on. Okay great thank you. 

Undervalued

amy1209 said:

I am employed. Yes it is for some things but when it comes to this bonus scheme I was investigated for it is purely for bonus for employees nothing that would affect customers or would be classed as a mis-selling, it is a scheme that is just for employees and to benefit employees. No I do not as I was employed to be home based and I was interviewed over microsoft teams. I have never been into an office or anything of that sort. 

If all else fails look on Companies House for the registered office and send your letter there.

Undervalued

amy1209 said:

Yes I was diagnosed with anxiety before I worked for them, I have been employed 26 months. But it states in the disciplinary policy that decisions are to be based on what pervious employees have been disciplined with. No I have received nothing in writing.  

Any well written (from the employer's point of view!) disciplinary policy will be "non contractual", so only a guide to what generally happens and not conveying any legal rights over and above the statutory minimums.

Bobbobbobingalong

I rather suspect your 14 day window to appeal the dismissal will start the day you receive your confirmatory letter. That said, a quick phone call to your previous line manager making it abundantly clear that your are appealing yet have no details of who to appeal to, nor where, should be your next move and I would not be hanging around to do that.

The dismissal letter is important not least for reasons as mentioned above but it will detail what you have been dismissed for and it should come with minutes of your meeting. It's there that you need to start, poring over the minutes ensuring what has been recorded was said and what was said has been recorded. You should return the minutes agreed or amended as you see fit, as soon as possible.

Successfully appealing a dismissal is not an easy task, after all, why would your ex-employer freely admit they got something wrong? And that's the key, they don't have to prove anything so long as their response is within the band of reasonable responses and they have made a finding of at least a reasonable belief you did what you were accused of. That's why I recommend you get the letter and minutes pronto, because you need to ensure what was said and discussed logically leads to the reason for dismissal (it should also reflect what was on your invite letter as the allegation you were responding to - they should be the same!!!). Simply appealing because you don't like their decision will fail, you need to show they got it wrong either procedurally or factually and those are the grounds for your appeal which you should submit to them in advance.