HELP Fired for Gross Misconduct, can anyone help?

[Henrysgone]

NC because I am going to be recognisable with all my other comments and threads.
Well, I've been a bit stupid, naive, flippant etc.

Trying not to give too much identifiable information but I work in an area when one main employer is paying your salary by "leasing" you to different projects. Usually, you are always employed but occasionally, you might find yourself with no work but you still get paid and wait for the next project to arrive. By being employed like that you don't get paid as much as working alone but for those moment with no work, it's godsend to have a steady income.

I found myself in december in such a position. No work. This took over 7 months to find me something to do and in the meantime, I was connected to both the internet and having my emails so I didn't think it was necessary to go to the office every day and sit around for 9 hours doing nothing. I thought if something comes up, I will get a call/email and go in the office. I used to go in the office every other day for a few hours just to be seen.

And this is where the gross misconduct comes. According to my contract I should have been in the office for the whole 8 hours and they have gotten proof via the log-in/out system it exists at work that was not the case. Since this has been going on for months, it is classed as gross misconduct. Their argument was I didn't ask for work and was not proactive therefore I fell under their radar. My argument is they did it on purpose as it was said in a meeting that they "were surprised I had not left yet". My work has meet standards (and a few of them I exceed the standards) all the 10 years I worked for this company.

Now, my hearing with HR and my representative is for this week. I was caught of guard so I asked if I resign to have a clean record to find another job and not be unemployable. They can't guarantee that. But when I check online, poor timekeeping is not gross misconduct and it's their fault, nobody stopped me earlier.

What could I do. While this chance has been truly screwed, I want to preserve my name. I have a decent career and a family to feed and can't throw it all away if I become unemployable.
I am distraught right now as this is not how I envisage my life to turn.

If your contract says you have to attend the office, I don't see how you can argue against that.
Surely it must have occurred to you emphatic you have done is taking the piss?

Sorry, just reread! Do you not have annual reviews? Meetings with a line manager? How do you know who what to do between projects?

Did you tell anyone you were going to stay at home or did you unilaterally decide it?

Did you, for the whole 7 months, make someone senior to you routinely aware that you had no work and were wanting some work.

Because I've worked in organisations like yours and those would be the standard things to do. It would also be expected that you wouldn't just "sit about" when not assigned to a project, but that you would be learning new skills, or training others, or be involved in some non-money generating internal company initiative.

Yes, no one from the company has been pro-active in noticing you weren't doing anything, but equally hiding away at home and not making anyone aware has not really helped your cause. Was there some sort of precedent that made you think this would be ok?

Employers are supposed to follow a procedure if they have a problem though. Turning round after 7 months and saying "But it's in your contract - you're fired" is not a disciplinary procedure. Why on earth didn't they ask about her absences before? When the OP was in the office what was talked about?

It seems to me like they're trying to get out of paying any redundancy. But it also looks like she has been rather ambivalent about the situation and letting it slide. It is difficult to fire someone for not being proactive (how would you prove it?) but not being at work when you're supposed to be is easy.

Has nothing been said before now abut you not being in? Surely, if the company were unhappy about the situation then they should have raised it long ago as a verbal warning rather than say nothing and let it fester for 9 months before going straightto gross misconduct.

Presumably if you aren't in the office half the time, it makes it harder for them to allocate work to you as well? When things are slow or we're in between projects in my office, people will say "is there anything you need me to do?" and will only go home if told to do so. You make it sound like you've made that decision for yourself rather than letting your employer decide.

Not sure how it can have gone on so long without anyone actually saying something to you unless there have been failures elsewhere, though.

Turning round after 7 months and saying "But it's in your contract - you're fired" is not a disciplinary procedure. Why on earth didn't they ask about her absences before?

This exactly. It sounds like firing someone by wilful neglect.

I used to go in the office every other day for a few hours just to be seen.

I think this is going to go against you, as it seems quite calculated - it means that you weren't constantly around (which might have prompted them to notice that you weren't currently on a project), but did you completely disappear (which might also have prompted questions).

Really, though, you just need an employment lawyer ASAP, and you also need to be as dispassionate about this as possible (easier said than done, I'm sure!) - don't think about 'clearing your name', which is about ego, but about doing what you can to safeguard your future employability.

You should have been on their case from day 1. My partner is a gas engineer and he works with agencies if he only gets 3 or 4 jobs he will say something. If you want things to happen you have to say something or they will find someone else who wants it more than you.

I am sorry this has happened to you but this is your fault and all you can do is grovel.

Speak to a few of Employment Lawyers today. Make an appointment for Monday with the one who sounds like they'll be in your corner.

Do not resign.

Contact via email only.

Spend a while this weekend gathering any back up paperwork you can. Writing down what you & others have done in previous 'gaps' etc

Spend the rest of it job hunting.

Good luck.

It's not going to come down to just the contract - past precedent will be included. OP this sounds complex and you need a real employment lawyer but ring ACAS in the first instance as it sounds like they aren't following procedure for dismissal either.

Yes, Yes, Yes to getting proper legal advice! Is there any way you can get the hearing put back to give you more time to prepare?

What is the allegation you have been invited in for for which they are alledging is GM?

Have you broken any rules e.g. What does it say in your contract, company handbook, policies, etc.

Have you been attending team meetings, 1-2-1 meetings with the manager, answering emails, telephone calls, attending training and all the other things a normal employee would do? Have you had a performance appraisal in the last 9 months and what did that say? Do other people in your team regularity work for home. Is WFH something you need to agree with you line manager or something people in you team are allowed to do?

The comment - we thought you would have gone by now smacks that they wanted you to resign (possibly as your position is redundnant and they want to get out of paying redundancy money)

You don't have to use an employer as a reference it can be one of the men and women you worked on a project with.

Speak to an employment lawyer now.

I can't believe you stayed at home and being paid for 7 months without doing anything about it. Crikey I would have covered my arse from now to kingdom come. Why didn't you look for alternative work? Did you think you'd be paid indefinitely?

Are you a consultant? I know that those "on the bench" are allowed to work from home due to pressure on desk space if everyone comes in, though most would be angling for work. The company is aware as they're not charging a client for your time.

It sounds like you should have been given a warning anyhow before just firing you. Surely this is a management issue as much as your issue?

Usernamegone they've paid far more than statutory redundancy as a result. It seems ludicrous.

I would speak to a solicitor and get them to deal with them for you. You don't want them to mess around with redundancy money. If they are saying misconduct then all they want to do is get rid of you as quickly as possible.

I didn't think it was necessary to go to the office every day and sit around for 9 hours doing nothing. I thought if something comes up, I will get a call/email and go in the office. I used to go in the office every other day for a few hours just to be seen.

How did you come to those conclusions when According to my contract I should have been in the office for the whole 8 hours?

If you decided off your own back to not bother coming into work except to show face now and again without agreement from a line manager/HR then I don't see what your defence is? Did others in the same role do the same thing?

What is in your contract and what is 'custom and practice'? Both are relevant. Are there sufficient desks in your office for people to sit between projects or is there a custom of working mostly from home when seeking roles?

Presumably you dropped below target chargeability long ago but I would expect this to have been discussed with you much earlier with scheduler's chasing you about applying for roles or tracking training/internal work you might be doing.

Do you have a good previous track record of chargeability/quality over the past ten years? Is there any reason why, after all that time, you were unable to secure a role for 7 months? It is a hell of a long time and most firms who charge out people would not wear it.

You could end up wasting your money on a solicitor who can do very little for you. You did not go in for 7 months and do something, not even help out with someone else project. You kept quiet the whole time waiting to get paid.

7 months? Yep. Lawyer. My brother works in a similar capacity. He always goes into the office.
But it does sound like something should have been said sooner. I'd say you have both acted badly.

You need to have a look at your contract. Does it explicitly state that you must be in the office and the hours? Normally they would.

In the OP it does say that she went in for a few hours every other day. This does rather imply that you knew you should be in the office, OP!

Did you ask them for work during this period? What did you do in the few hours that you went in to the office on the days that you did?

I think a compromise agreement would be about the best thing you could do here otherwise yes, I think not turning up for work half the time or chasing other projects could well be considered gross misconduct. On the other hand, they should have picked this up much sooner tbh.

What contact did you have with the person who normally assigns you work/projects?

(Not a lawyer, former HR worker here).

You obviously need to get proper legal advice but tbh it doesn't look great from what you've told us. Your contract states you should be in the office for 8 hours. You decided to spend loads of that time hiding away at home Yet also going in to be visible regularly enough to try to deflect attention away from your absences. Sounds very deceptive to me. Yes, you might assume that the absences would have been picked up on earlier but it's difficult if someone is deliberately trying to deceive, and being around just enough to make it look as though you're working on a project. My understanding is for gross miconduct, the behaviour is serious enough that the normal disciplinary steps don't apply. You don't have to have given a graduated series of warnings such as you would with lesser offences.

You sat around doing nothing for 7 months

Whilst I think they are in the wrong in regards to not bringing this up sooner, why did you not contact them in those 7 months to see what was going on and if there was anything else they needed help with sits here daydreaming about sitting around doing nothing for half a year and still getting paid for it