Been sacked for gross misconduct

[RidetheT]

I have been sacked. I made a mistake in work that could have had wide reaching implications for a client.

I hate myself. The mistake was through sheer stupidity and carelessness and rushing to get work done by a deadline.

I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I keep crying. I’m terrified for the future. How am I going to ever work again? Who would trust me? I don’t trust me.

We have about a months savings and then we are going to struggle to pay the bills/ mortgage so my kids are going to lose their home on top of everything.

I just don’t know what to do. My DH keeps telling me he has faith in me and he knows I’ll make it all ok. I don’t know how.

Don’t be a martyr OP. Fight this!!!

I am here for the updates where you don’t take this lying down and get a nice payout as a result

If risk is high enough that you can be immediately sacked then they should have stronger processes in place to minimise it - we are humans not robots and mistakes can and do happen.

I have accidentally inputted the wrong salary when onboarding an employee into the payroll system before - at 500k per annum instead of 50k for example!!! The difference is that there is a second check of these things before the money is paid so was solved by that person telling me “hey this persons salary looks to be wrong can you change it”. A process with huge financial implications that starts and ends with one person will NEVER work. I really think you need to fight this.

Yes, this is my understanding too. My employer offers only minimal, factual references however, sharing the reason for leaving is factual! Many employers, mine included don’t ask for references but some do so it’s high risk not to mention this. This is why the OP needs to see beyond the emotion associated with making the mistake and question the gross misconduct.

It's fine to own up to your mistake but you still have the right to appeal your dismissal - and your employer should have made that clear when they sacked you. They should also have taken minutes of the meeting and given you a copy. You only have a certain amount of time to say you want to appeal - they need to follow procedures as well. They can't just dismiss you without doing a proper investigation and they absolutely should have made it clear you have the right to appeal their decision.

If you do nothing else today, make sure you check your letter confirming your dismissal, to see when your appeal has to be in by. It might be only 7 days from the letter. Email them to say you wish to appeal.
You can send more details once you have taken advice.
You can also change your mind and retract the appeal.
But if you don't do it before the deadline,you lose your right

Op re: references check with your employer on this if you do nothing else. If they don't disclose disciplinaries on a reference you can just say a vague half truthful "it was time for a change" as your reason for leaving.

No one on this thread will have any idea what they will put on your reference, so do check.

But it was an accident. It isn't as though you have done something similar before and were on a warning. It sounds as though it was your first and only major error and your company has to take some responsibility for deciding that this process didn't require any additional check/reviews by another staff member, even though it led to a significant financial loss.

Online examples of gross midconduct include theft, corruption, violence and insubordination, none of which apply to your error.

Please do this OP.

None of this that had happened to you seems right

OP - you are not passive, you are in shock. Take yourself off for a long walk, just yourself and your thoughts and mull over everything said here. I agree with everyone else, you need to challenge this. You have so much responsibility at home and you're feeling an incredible level of pressure + guilt, but the fact of the matter is procedures should have been in place to stop this happening. You made the mistake, but your employer has been negligent and you do not deserve to be sacked.

I am a retailer - no impactful financial consequences for anything my business does - but I have put several processes and checks in place to make sure my staff don't post wrong items to customers, always include legally required info etc. It slows us down a bit, but if I hadn't put these in place, inevitably something would go wrong at some point because I have employed human beings who are capable of making mistakes. That would be on me.

If needed, speak to your GP - emergency appointment is totally valid - to see if they can suggest anything to help you through this period re anxiety/mental health (it sounds traumatic), but please do challenge your ex-employer and quickly. You are in shock but need to pull yourself out and act.

Best of luck X

Appeal. Write a short letter requesting the opportunity to appeal whilst expressing remorse. Not for the anppeal request letter, but later consider how you’ll explain the case to have a warning rather than dismissal. For example how will you explain about the disability if you think it’s relevant, that you’ve been under pressure (if you have been), that you’ve never made any mistakes and whilst you accept this is very serious, it is a genuine and one off mistake. You could offer willingness for training, regrading, another period of probation etc, anything to avoid dismissal. Hopefully they’ll change to a final warning. Put your written explanations through AI to see if you can make your response any clearer. Take some legal advice if you can.

Abc this. When I was reading your explanation of what happened kg first thought was ‘well if yhd stairs were so high, where were the checks and balances?’

This, @RidetheT

And please do at least have a one time consultation with an employment lawyer.

Don't think of it as fighting back. Think of it as fighting for your family. You are worried about them now that you don't have a job. Surely it is worth a some discomfort to possibly get your job back or some compensation as their decision sounds very harsh indeed if this is your first significant mistake, particularly if you are in a fairly junior role.

You’ve been very meek in accepting this.

I think it’s imperative you seek legal advice.

Everyone's advice here is spot on.

What I would say is bear in mind that someone within the company may have pushed this approach of completely unfair 'gross misconduct' (as PP have said you'd expect theft or violence or something to get that label applied) to cover up their own errors. Please don't assume good faith - by dismissing you for 'gross misconduct' over a completely normal human error they have displayed bad faith.

Consult with an employment lawyer for sure, I hope your insurance covers this.

Good luck OP, and stop beating yourself up - you sound incredibly conscientious and honest. You will find something else, but do not allow the 'gross misconduct' label to stick, you don't deserve it.

If you are a support worker then I cannot see how this could possibly be gross misconduct. In situations like this in most firms the buck would normally stop with the senior supervising you or with the senior owner of this risk for not having adequate systems in place.

If it is a financial services firm there must be a proper risk management system in the firm - you have to have that to manage regulatory compliance.

I would fight this!

Unfortunately a lot of employers ask “has …. Ever been under investigation or subject to disciplinary action?” If I were OP I’d be totally honest with potential employers about what happened unless of course they have had multiple sanctions on their record.

Who conducted the investigation? And the disciplinary hearing? My advice would be phone ACAS as soon as possible. Then appeal your dismissal. If at any stage you want to take them to tribunal - you have to appeal this sacking.

Then make a claim for benefit - it would probably need to be a joint claim and they would take your husbands income into account. You should also be able to claim child element for your kids as well if you are entitled to UC.

There will be an internal appeal mechanism before an external one. I have sat on many many of these as a hearing manager and this will all be kept private and confidential. Even if goes external the company can’t slander the employee with regards to the process to a new employer.

I'm not in HR or legal so can't offer any practical advice but just wanted to say: please forgive yourself.

We all make mistakes. Maybe yours cost your company and the client a large amount of money but it was unintentional and there was no malice. No one has been hurt. It shouldn't define your life or your career.

I'm very puzzled by this. If it isn't considered an area with a high enough level of risk to have a review process in place, why are the consequences of something going wrong considered serious enough that somebody can be fired for gross misconduct?

This is exactly the point to be raised in appeal.

I haven’t read all the responses from other posters, but OP, it was a mistake.

You didn’t do anything deceitful or dishonest or sneaky.

Go easy on yourself.

I feel really shocked you have been sacked for this .and that they didn't have processes to protect against human error when everyone knows human error happens.

I'm really sorry op. This feels very unfair.

I totally agree!