HR are lying? Aibu to be worried?

[ijustwanttodu]

So HR have fabricated an entire meeting. I had a meeting with them and they said we discussed this issue with you a year ago.

They claim I was taken into a small room and talked to by someone who has since left. 3 weeks into me starting there. I was taken aback and said what date was this and she got quite flustered and tried to change the subject and then gave me the vague answer of what month it occurred. And then she said all this bad stuff about me, how I kept coming into work late during that time.

I don’t know why she would do this.

Sometimes there can be specific advice given based on the situation/detail...but if you're not here for that no problem just we can be more helpful overall with more info.

But speak to ACAS they can give really helpful advice.

Also, I'd put in a formal GDPR request for the entirety of your perosnelle file, which they have to legally comply with your be subject to fines etc, and it should have all recorded relating to you including this alleged meeting notes.

Once you've got it, you have everything you need to formally refute it, and not just her word vs yours again.
You can then put it in if they don't withdraw the claims and close that part of the matter. Because they will have to do a full investigation of themselves. And document unfair practices against you too.

Good luck!

How does your manager know you've nothing to worry about, she's obviously been talking with hr and they have all realised they have fecked up, I'd push for an explanation, an apology and a meeting with the head of hr.

It's the Data Protection Act not the Freedom of Information Act.

The OP is making Subject Access Request.

The ICO has information on making a Data Subject Request
ico.org.uk/for-the-public/getting-copies-of-your-information-subject-access-request/

The reason the OP needs to ensure she is using the correct Act is because bad companies/organisations will turn around and simply refuse to give you the information if you write to them with citing the wrong Act.

BTW the Tories de-funded the ICO so now they won't even say that companies haven't complied with valid requests let alone do the rare investigations they used to do when someone reported a company/organisation up to no good.

Make sure you have a personal copy, either a screenshot or a print out, of any of the emails you sent to the HR person. This is because they can randomly freeze you out of your work account.

Most companies don't allow you to send emails that you send to people inside the organisation to your personal email address as well and doing so will be a disciplinary offence.

Chased on the HR person on email yesterday and they still haven’t replied. I’ve even said “I’ve found this stressful”.

Regardless of those who are against me, surely it’s hardly good practice of HR to throw out accusations, and ignore repeatedly requests for more information and that they are making the person stressed out with this and their subsequent actions.

People can’t go around in a professional setting and accuse you of having done xyz and then hide away when they know they messed up.

Omg yes this is totally right. Total brain fart lol thank you

It isn't best practise, but the chances of them making this up out of thin air are extremely slim.

HR have got this information from someone/somewhere in your company and been told to act upon it.

You claim their info is incorrect - if you're right about there never being a meeting, then there's a mad scramble going on right now to find out if you're telling the truth or not, where the incorrect information came from, why it's incorrect.

If you're fibbing about the meeting, there's a mad scramble going on to find the records that prove so, or why they don't exist! 😅

Either way, they probably don't want to say more until their ducks are in a row. But best practise would be to inform you of this and give you at least a vague indication of when you should expect an update.

If HR aren't responding, you should speak to your manager (they will be fully informed of anything HR has spoken to you about), take notes and explain that this is causing you stress and (assuming you are genuinely suffering from stress) will have to take medical advice if it continues. Ask for a rough timeline for resolution and ask for a follow up email confirming what you have spoken about. If they don't send one, send your own, using your notes "Please let me know if I've missed anything" etc at the end and copy in HR (ideally the generic HR address and/or Head of HR assuming you have one).

If you want to make them realise you are organised every time you have a meeting with any of them if they don't email you within 72 hours with a record of the meeting, then email them with your own in the format @AConcernedCitizen has stated.

Oh and posters aren't against you it is because you are stating what the manager is complaining about isn't relevant when it may be. Or there may be something simple you can do to shut the manager and HR down for the next year or so.

They can't do that - especially with no minutes of the meeting (which you should have been given opportunity to read and sign)

Speak to ACAS then follow their advice

You have to be very sure about the meeting not happening in case evidence does exist. Slightly different as I'm technically not employed, but I have in the past provided past files and even a written statement of events on request even though I'd ceased officially working for the company for 2 years. I didn't even charge them for it, just stated the facts according to my email, timesheet and recollection.

OP, going back through the thread there's a couple of things I'm not clear on...

Are they claiming that this 'mystery' meeting you were alleged to have had was some sort of formal affair, or just that someone spoke to you?

You initially said that the meeting was fabricated, but went on to say you were "99% sure it didn't happen".

Is it possible that the HR person who has since left mentioned something to you in passing/as part of a larger conversation/chat/whatever, then noted in their records that they'd spoken to you about said issue?

Is it possible that you don't really remember a brief mention of it in passing, but they've recorded it as a 'meeting', or at least a more formal convo? That seems like a much more plausible set of circumstances than them just making something up.

What do you mean I have to be sure? I haven’t accused them of anything directly. No here is different.

I haven’t done anything wrong to say I don’t remember the meeting you’re talking about given that it was a long time ago so please provide me with a date and what was discussed.

You have done the right thing to ask if you are not sure. The difficulty is that it comes across a little bit like "she left, so prove it". It's a nasty situation to be in.

I hope you are able to resolve everything else quickly so that you can move past this. If you have been on time throughout and they say that discussion was week 3, then you could ask your manager to confirm by email to you and to HR that there have not been issues with your timekeeping. That would nullify the debate on that in future as the vast majority of your service is since week 3, so discussion should then stay focused on whatever else actually did go wrong.

They mean you have to be sure.

"They fabricated it" is sure.

"I'm 99% sure it didn't happen" isn't sure.

"I don't remember it" isn't sure.

There's a scenario where you know the conversation happened (or you forgot it happened), but you also know they failed to follow it up in writing and the other party has left. GRex was noting that this would look bad for you if you pressed the issue only for them to come up with proof that it did happen, by contacting the ex-employee for example.

Also, GRex didn't say you'd accused anybody of anything or that you'd done anything wrong. Snapping as almost everyone you've replied to isn't going to get you the help you need. A number of posters have pointed this out to you.

Tbh if I was you I would drop it. If it isn’t connected to the current issue and you aren’t in trouble at the moment I don’t know why you are hell bent on pursuing this. I would at least just try and keep my head down until I had been employed for 2 years.

Its possible that they got you confused with someone, its possible it was made up and it’s also possible that ex HR person did in fact say it happened. But it doesn’t actually matter until they try and use it against you which at the moment they haven’t as you haven’t had an offical meeting with HR. So my advice would be leave it and if you want a copy of your records in the future then request them.

Tell your manager that you are stressed about it and that you haven't received a response and ask him/her to escalate it. There is no way they don't know what's going on.

Because I’m not allowing someone in a professional capacity to go around and spread lies about me. HTH.

Wait, now they're spreading lies about you? To who?

They have information from an ex-employee that they spoke to you about something. You say the conversation never happened. There's no evidence either way, but the onus is on them.

That's hardly spreading lies OP. If you react in such a confrontational manner in the office, they're probably assuming you have something to hide.

Yeah I think going on about this is just going to get irritating. They might have made a mistake just get over it until they actually want to use it against you. Nothing is official unless it’s documented so what is the issue. If they want you gone they will do with or without the conversation 12 months ago

What do you mean, have they been telling other people that you had a meeting

Well it is a lie as it never happened. So someone started it.

And no I’m not a wallflower that’s going to back down. I’m not updating this thread further. None of you have been in this situation and I’m sure none of you would just be like “ok no problem” to people saying you had a formal HR meetings over issues that you don’t have.

It is very upsetting to have someone lie, and you sound more certain of that now, which changes things. By all means push ahead gently then, just "I'm really worried about this, can you help me get more info please."

Even if you were late every day for the first 3 weeks, if you haven't been late since it is effectively irrelevant because it was so long ago. Have you had an appraisal? If it were meaningful, it should have been raised in probation review or appraisal sessions. Companies differ, but I would expect these at 4, 8 and 12 weeka then twice yearly; if even at 4 weeks it was not documented (can you check?) then that shows clearly that it was not a verbal warning.