Should I quit my job after being suspended pending investigation thats not yet been concluded?

Lilacsoftcotton

Hi there, so I was suspended with immediate effect after my shift a month ago meaning I could not come in for any subsequent shifts I was scheduled for. To give a little back story i did something that would be seen to the company as misconduct. I rectified the situation myself immediately and apologised, but then an additional untrue allegation was made against me as a result of my misconduct. I was then suspended pending investigation about this allegation. I was told i would receive a letter explaining in more detail but I’ve received no letter or updates since. Ive tried to chase this letter up or an outcome from the person who implemented my suspension, but my communications are now going ignored. I’ve obviously been looking for new work since but not had any luck. They also said I would be paid for the shifts I was supposed to have which i did get paid for shifts up until the end of august. But it seems I won’t be paid for any shifts after August as I’ve not been put on the rota or asked for my availability since which they do each week or monthly. The last conversation I had with my manager before being suspended made it seem as if it was unlikely I would have a job after this given my misconduct has broken their trust in me and that i technically brought this situation upon myself. This is all I know regarding my situation with them.

Basically, I want to know if resigning would put me at a disadvantage at all or harm me further? Ive worked with them for almost 4 years and this is the only incident that’s ever happened. I have been their most reliable person in the role up until this point. I have no idea if an outcome has yet been reached and ive been made to come to my own conclusion that i most likely wont have my job once this is over. My job also wasn’t treating me the best before this happened where they were allowing me to train up fresh faces for them to be prioritised full-time shifts over me and as a result cutting my shifts in half to part-time. You could say my misconduct was as a result of this poor treatment. So either way, I was planning to leave this job as soon as something better came along until all this happened. I would obviously rather i leave on my own terms, but that power has been taken out of my hands now with this suspension and as I said, I don't have another job and I am struggling to find a replacement at the moment. 

lincroft1710

If you resign prior to the investigation being concluded, your employer could truthfully say in a reference "Resigned pending outcome of investigation" which obviously raises concerns for future employers.

Uriziel

Are you being paid? Are you saying that you have not been getting paid for over a month due to this suspension?
They cannot just stop paying you and expect you to live off nothing.
It sounds like what happened is very simple and they just cannot be bothered getting back at you since they are not paying you anyway. I would visit a CAB and see what they say.

RunsFromRobots

I think you should contact ACAS: https://www.acas.org.uk/ 

Lilacsoftcotton

Uriziel said:

Are you being paid? Are you saying that you have not been getting paid for over a month due to this suspension?
They cannot just stop paying you and expect you to live off nothing.
It sounds like what happened is very simple and they just cannot be bothered getting back at you since they are not paying you anyway. I would visit a CAB and see what they say.

I was paid for the shifts i was scheduled to have up until end of august. As they do the rota monthly and as they did not ask me for my September availability due to my suspension ive not been put down for any shifts this month meaning its unlikely i’ll be getting paid for any days from the 1st sept. And as they’ve not given me any additional information about this suspension other than what I know and are ignoring my communications, I am left in the dark about this. The type of job i have, there is no HR or anyone higher than the person ive been trying to communicate with regarding the suspension hence why i’ve come to this forum. 

elsien

Do you have a contracted number of hours or are you on a zero hours contract? 

Lilacsoftcotton

elsien said:

Do you have a contracted number of hours or are you on a zero hours contract? 

This is exactly what my contract states:

“Your normal working week will vary with the needs of the operation. This can vary between 0 shifts or up to 4 shifts per week (each shift is normally 8 hours in duration) according to the weekly shift rota or other arrangements notified to you. These hours may fluctuate significantly up or down, and your hours of work may be irregular and extend beyond normal working hours, they will often include weekends and bank and public holidays.”

So i assume this means it’s a 0 hour contract? I’ve always worked full time (4 or more days a week) for almost 4 years up until recently when they cut my shifts to give to these newbies who’ve only been there for 2 weeks. So haven't had to worry about what was in my contract until now. Also verbally my manager agreed to me that i would always get at least 3 shifts a week if anything was to change. 

elsien

Are you in a union? It seems odd that after working full time for years your hours suddenly go to someone else. Have there been other issues that might make them want to get rid of you? 

Lilacsoftcotton

elsien said:

Are you in a union? It seems odd that after working full time for years your hours suddenly go to someone else. Have there been other issues that might make them want to get rid of you? 

No union. And no reason at all. Like i said i had no problems with the company up until this point and was always considered their most reliable person. Ive witnessed the way they get rid of other people though, one minute you are like family the next you are dead to them. So theres no real loyalties and im now finally experiencing the back end of it. I mean, there’s no point dwelling on it now if I may not have my job at all after all of this, which seems the more likely outcome given how they treat their staff and the lack of communication they’ve given me.

Undervalued

Lilacsoftcotton said:

elsien said:

Do you have a contracted number of hours or are you on a zero hours contract? 

This is exactly what my contract states:

“Your normal working week will vary with the needs of the operation. This can vary between 0 shifts or up to 4 shifts per week (each shift is normally 8 hours in duration) according to the weekly shift rota or other arrangements notified to you. These hours may fluctuate significantly up or down, and your hours of work may be irregular and extend beyond normal working hours, they will often include weekends and bank and public holidays.”

So i assume this means it’s a 0 hour contract? I’ve always worked full time (4 or more days a week) for almost 4 years up until recently when they cut my shifts to give to these newbies who’ve only been there for 2 weeks. So haven't had to worry about what was in my contract until now. Also verbally my manager agreed to me that i would always get at least 3 shifts a week if anything was to change. 

It does I'm afraid.

You might (possibly) be able to argue that if you have worked effectively full time for several years your contract has changed by default and is no longer zero hour. However that is complex and you would need proper legal advice.

Otherwise the problem is they don't need to do anything at all. They can just not allocate you any more work. With a zero hour contract it does, in theory at least, work both ways so you could simply just choose not to work for them again. No need to resign as such! Simply go and work for somebody else.

EnPointe

Uriziel said:

Are you being paid? Are you saying that you have not been getting paid for over a month due to this suspension?
They cannot just stop paying you and expect you to live off nothing.
It sounds like what happened is very simple and they just cannot be bothered getting back at you since they are not paying you anyway. I would visit a CAB and see what they say.

if someone is on a Zero hours / casual contract and 'suspended on full pay'   they  get nothing,  if the employer is one who gives peope nominal  hours  guaranteed  but then 'offers' extra hours that peopel are voluntold to do  , 'full pay' is a fraction of real pay