Resigning during investigation! advice needed

suewiththeblues

I have been off work whilst they investigate an allegation of gross misconduct against me, my work (hostel) is dragging their feet with this investigation. i do not think it will amount to anything but that does not really help me in the meantime as i have to twiddle my thumbs and wait, never mind the mental strain of it. i have decided to resign and move on as i do not feel confident in going back, i feel that they should have seen the allegation for what it was and did not have to go to this extreme. :mad: as well as the damage to my reputation

the whole process could take months to resolve :mad:

has anyone been in this situation before that could advise me about references? i am sure they have a right to state on my reference that i resigned during an investigation

or can i just resign and work for an agency? do agencies insist on you using your most recent employer as a reference?

i am a support worker and the allegation is that i allowed an 'innapropriate' relationship to develop with a resident (which i did not!)

help!!!

standupguy

Whilst this must be frustrating it looks like your employer has to go through this process.

While you are suspended you should still receive your full salary so it is in your employers interests not to let this drag on.

If you can, it may be better to sit this one out and wait for the result of the investigation. These sort of things are never clear cut and never black or white and to dismiss someone for gross misconduct is a mighty big step to take in view of the consequences for the employer if they get it wrong.

If you resign it could be viewed by a future employer as a sign of admission?

It may well be that even if your employer is convinced of the gross misconduct they may give you the opportunity to resign at that time and you can agree with them the form of any future reference.

There is always a chance if they dismiss you then you can make a claim for unfair dismissal and they will want to box off any chance of this happening.

So, my opinion, if you can, sit tight for now.

Take a union Rep or get a fellow worker to accompany you to any meeting to take notes for you.

Conor_3

They don't have a right to state you resigned during an investigation. They can merely say whether or not they'd employ you again, not why you left.
Agencies I've signed up for don't usually require the last employer, just at least one previous employer. I used one from 6 years ago.

dmg24

Conor wrote: »

They don't have a right to state you resigned during an investigation. They can merely say whether or not they'd employ you again, not why you left.
Agencies I've signed up for don't usually require the last employer, just at least one previous employer. I used one from 6 years ago.

sue, you are correct, and Conor is wrong.

Your employer can state anything in your reference as long as it is accurate and balanced (i.e. reading the reference as a whole gives a true reflection of your performance in the role).

Many reference requests now ask if the employee had been subject to any disciplinary action, and your employer could state that you resigned during an investigation. Obviously they could not state whether they thought that the allegations were true or not.

If you were going into another role working with vulnerable people, it would be irresponsible of the new employer or agency not to obtain a reference from your most recent employer. I am sure that any organisation that is governed by CSCI would make such a check.

Whilst I can imagine that the waiting is very stressful, I would not resign until you have cleared your name. Otherwise it may be hanging over you for a lot longer x

dmg24

Conor wrote: »

They don't have a right to state you resigned during an investigation. They can merely say whether or not they'd employ you again, not why you left.
Agencies I've signed up for don't usually require the last employer, just at least one previous employer. I used one from 6 years ago.

To confirm that this is wrong, this is the information from the govt website.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/StartingANewJob/DG_10026703

suewiththeblues

that was my point of view... i will sit at home while they pay me to :beer: but that was 8 weeks ago! now that i have been at home a combination of realising how hostile it was there, and the feeling that i could be accused of this, and i feel like i wont feel the same there if i go back if that makes sense...they have done me a lot of damage. i also not sure that i can take the stress of fighting it out till the end its all so un-necessary. whilst i just sit here they have the power and when i made my decision to resign i felt like i got some of the power back :j but i dont want to make a hasty decision in case i can't get another job cos of the reference issue!:cool:

standupguy

8 weeks is a long time for an investigation and if this ever got to a claim for unfair dismissal then I think a tribunal would take a dim view of the time lag.

It may be worth your while writing them a letter and keeping a copy - informing them that it has now been 8 weeks since you were suspended and this is causing you extreme stress and suffering and can they give you an idea of when the investigation will be completed?

This puts down a marker for you which you can refer to in the future

dmg24

I can understand how you feel. I once got dismissed from a job with no investigation and no notice. Needless to say as soon as I appealed and HR became involved, they tried to get me to return to work (sitting opposite the person that had sacked me). I refused to return, and was able to negotiate a nice pay off to walk away and not take it any further (it was a very large company, they didn't want the bad press).

Have they kept in regular contact with you as to what is happening? If not, I would make contact with them, remaining calm and polite, asking if they had any update on how far they are with their investigation, and stating the immense stress that the waiting is putting you under.

Whilst they do have a duty to investigate an allegation, they also have a duty towards you, and part of this duty is to ensure that you are not put under undue stress that could have a negative impact on your health.

Good luck x

Edit: Cross posted with standupguy!

suewiththeblues

dmg - how terrible but glad it worked out well for you :j

the investigation was initially meant to take 4 weeks and i had to chase them up the day before the 4 weeks ended, at which point they said another 4 weeks :mad: so yes this is undue stress for me and i have had enough now!

blue_haddock

To me it would like look you had jump before being pushed. If you were innocent of the offence you would have stayed to clear your name rather than leave before the investigation came to a conclusion.

zowoods

Hi with my company the reference they give out simply states you worked for them with dates, rate of pay, con tracted hrs and title they do not give out any disciplinary information etc.
What is their policy wrt disc action, ours states must re-suspend every 10 days if continuing to investigate, I guess sometimes unforeseen things happen for example a person they need to interview is off sick or on holiday and this could be a reason for the delay however if they are regularly in contact with you then this is reasonable (and you are getting paid so it is in their interest to get on with it) I would contact the citizen advice bureau for info and take your employee handbook if you have one.
hope that helps and I hope it gets resolved soon as must be stressful..