Suspended from work for gross misconduct

[Sam1993]

Hi all, I need some advice ASAP as I am really stressing out here
In a nutshell, I’ve recently been suspended from work for gross misconduct (call avoidance) however I’m also 17 weeks pregnant... I know it was ridiculously silly of me to become so complacent at work but due to ill health I really did just let it all get on top of me. It’s no excuse but I genuinely had no idea how far it had gone until I was called in for a meeting to be told I’m being suspended!
I’ve got an interview this week to see facts/figures so I’ll know better then, but if anyone can please advise in the meantime I’d thoroughly appreciate it x

Hand on heart I have no idea to what scale this has been done on, I have no idea how far back they’ve gone in their investigations either - if they’ve only listened to calls within the last 6 months then I know I’ve not been performing to my usual level however if they were to take the last 6 months into consideration - there were a lot of personal issues which I can only hope they’ll understand genuinely are mitigating factors - and listen to anything prior to that I would be shocked if they found anything worth suspension.
As far as I know, excluding myself another 7 other people have been pulled up for this but I am not sure if there are more or if their grounds are EXACTLY the same.

As you’re aware call avoidance is extremely serious, particularly in a outbound sales call centre. All you can do is throw yourself on their mercy, show remorse, refer to your previous good performance and promise to knuckle down.

A few thoughts that may be helpful:
My understanding is that you were off with depression for 2 months a while ago. Were you referred to Occupational Health? (many employers refer at an early stage for anything stress related). If so what advice did OH give and did the employer follow it (eg phased return to work, adjustments in work to help etc). If not what happened when you returned to work? Were you (and are you still) on medication for depression?
Depression can cause difficulty concentrating which could be one factor in your difficulties at work.
You mention that the stress was not work related so it may be worth thinking about what steps you took/are taking to minimise the stress so that you can function better at work ( because you obviously do want to keep your job and do it properly, this is about convincing your employer of that).
How has your pregnancy affected you? eg nausea. Has this made concentration at work more difficult?
I think you should ask for the details of the problems your employers have identified before the meeting, or ask for a deferral (unless your union rep advises otherwise) because it is not reasonable to expect someone to respond to random dates and times on the spot. If you can get a copy of the transcript of calls/delays/whatever you might be able to explain why you had difficulty on certain days/times.
You need to find a way to convince your employer that you are committed to your job and do want to continue (in case they think you are just drifting along and will have no intention of returning after maternity leave).
It's not clear from your posts what adjustments the employer made when you returned from absence because of stress but you should be prepared to comment on this because their position is that they did try to support you - if it wasn't as helpful as expected why was that?
These are just some things to consider/think about/discuss with union rep.
I do think some posters have been rather unkind. Irrespective of the rights and wrongs it is tough to suddenly be confronted with a situation like this, especially when it wasn't foreseen. Think carefully about why you have struggled to focus at work and what steps you can take to help you to focus better. Being suspended is obviously going to add to your stress - a point your union rep will no doubt make.

OP you must have an idea of how much time you've spent avoiding calls and what you were doing in that time.

You can't say 'hand on heart I have no idea to what scale this has been done on'

You might not know to what extent you've been caught but you do know to what extent you've not been doing your job.

Until you are honest with yourself about that then you can't really get advice on a defence of if there's a way of keeping your job.

If you have been spending a significant proportion of your time not doing the very thing you are employed to do then I'm not sure how you can expect your employers to react.

Has this really never been mentioned before your suspension?

If you are not allowed the evidence beforehand you should take it and request another meeting to discuss it.

That's not how an investigatory meeting works. The OP will be asked questions by the investigating officer, they will be shown the information and asked to comment on it. The OP will be expected to respond to questions in the meeting, not afterwards.

So to be completely open here - in regards to the depression I was offered a 3 week phase return and I was told there is simply no option to extend this so I just agreed without questioning it. With the medication, I was prescribed medication that I took at the time and when I found I was able to cope better I stopped taking it and only took them as and when they were needed (for example when I could feel an anxiety attack coming on etc). I was also going for counselling which I found helped at the time, however due to other unforeseen circumstances (my mother who I am also a carer for and my two teenage siblings were made homeless and had to move in with me and stayed for 2 months before being rehoused by the council) I had to pause going for those sessions so I could support my family instead. Not long after that issue was sorted I found out I was pregnant. Since I’ve been pregnant I’ve not taken any of my anxiety medication and I’ve been too unwell to go for the counselling sessions too as I’ve been in and out of hospital for various health issues since my second month of pregnancy.
Again, I’m not looking for sympathy but I do hope this better explains why I’ve found it quite tough over the last 6/7 months at work and every time I start to get back on my feet I find another issue arises which takes me 10 steps back again.

@bearbehind I’ve already said I don’t know to what scale it’s been done on, if I knew I’d have been honest about it from the get go. I don’t appreciate being doubted on everything I seem to be saying if I’ve said it’s never been raised prior to this suspension then that obviously means it hasn’t and also, I’ve not said my employers are being unfair I’ve come here looking for advice on how to help what is already a bad situation. If you’re not going to do that and instead just keep passing judgment then please just stop commenting!

Your posts aren't making much sense to me.

You said in your first post you've been suspended for call avoidance.

That can only have happened whilst you've been at work, not during the times you've been off for the issues you've just described.

how much time have you spent avoiding calls whilst you have been at work?

X posts but if you aren't going to be honest about the extent of how often you've been avoiding calls as you say you really don't know, then I can't see how anyone can offer any advice.

Op, sorry the question isn't how have they done it, more it is you must have an idea how many calls you were avoiding on average. If another seven people are going through something similar it seems this company has a problem with their staff doing this and are cleaning house.

I'd have a think, you must have a rough idea how many calls you avoiding speaking on. Not even Was it one in ten or five in ten or nine in ten. But was it a lot or very rare. An average will help you try to prepare for this.

Do you have a union rep?
If so speak to them
They will have a better understanding of your company and how they will implant their policies around this.

However having been in a union rep in a call centre, and given you know you’ve actually been avoiding doing a fundamental part of your job, and given the ofcom regulations around outbound calling. I don’t hold much hope regardless of pregnancy as it is obviously not pregnancy related.

I mean it must be a lot more than I would have thought it would be and it’s enough to justify a suspension so I’m not confident it’s as rare as I would have initially thought.

I’m just wondering whether they are likely to take mitigation into account or not. Prior to the issues I’ve had which I stated earlier, I did a lot of work in my department outside of my core role too in terms of taking on various projects, helping out with training new staff and even training current staff on new processes. This is why I am saying this is completely out of character for me and really hope they take all of this into consideration before making their decision.

It doesn’t need to be a lot at all.
It just needs to be deliberate.
And it would have been gross misconduct at my work and unless there was a really good reason and a clear way forward to avoid it happening again, there would be a dismissal.

Unfortnately - the tone you are using is not helping either in this case.

I think maybe if you can try and be a bit clearer on what exactly has happened, you may get some better advice.

So, have you been making an outbound call without putting your headset / having your mic off on so the customer hangs up as there is no one there when they answer?

Have you been doing this deliberately as you were stressed with other issues?

Or is it accidental? (although the company may argue how you could take your headset off by accident after you were the one who made the outbound call).

Are we talking you doing this the odd time (once/twice over several months) or several times a day/week?

Your company will be able to flag the number of ‘short calls’, so the times you have dialled and the customer has answered but hung up quite quickly. They may then be able to listen to the call, so the customer saying ‘hello, hello?’ then silence from your end.

What would be the best tone/way to approach this issue to try and get it all resolved without going through dismissal? Because thats all I care about right now, ensuring I still have a job to go back to.

I think you need yo be honest and contrite with them

To not yo

OP, until you can be honest with yourself and put a rough estimate on how often you've been avoiding calls no one can help you.

You can want to save your job as much as you like but until you make it clearer what your 'offence' is no one can offer advice.

You must know roughly how long you were not on calls on an average day and what you were going instead.

So what I have been told is that we have been auto-dialling customers who have answered, there’s been no response from myself which has caused them to hang up. I’ve not been given further details than that.
All the issues I’ve mentioned before have definitely contributed to me not working to the best of my ability and I’ve not had the same drive I had prior to these issues starting.
As I said earlier I wouldn’t be able to put a number on the frequency because I didn’t realise it was even this bad before I got suspended - so I doubt it’ll be once or twice a month it must be more than that.

I can’t understand how I’m being told to put a number against something I didn’t even realise was an issue before it got flagged for the first time, when I got suspended.
I have categorically never been pulled aside for this before.

What is the procedure for 'auto-dialling'?

Do you know you've done it?

If not, is the only way to know is how often you've not had your head set on? then how often is that?

The fact that the OP has been suspended pending investigation makes it clear that there is more to this than just missing the odd call here and there.

OP, seek support from your union rep. Have the terms of reference been drawn up for the investigating officer yet?

I’m assuming you are aware that ‘auto dialing’ exists and whilst you are ‘available’ you need to keep your headset on to avoid these calls belong lost?

Have you been taking your headset off/turning your mic off deliberately to avoid calls?

OP you need to decide (and quickly) do you want to retrieve the situation, and retain your job.

They are giving you the opportunity to give your side of the situation, and recognising your right to be accompanied. They sound like a reasonable employer.

You need to be mindful that with your 2 year anniversary still 2 months away, they could come down heavy on this situation citing your lack of attention on the job, when call centres are generally very tight on their stats, service level agreements etc, which you may have adversely affected.

If you are resolved to keep your role (judging by your comment that you and your DH are reliant on your income as well as his), I would make some notes of the criticisms they have levelled against you, with credible responses as to what happened, and how you intend to tighten things up significantly. You also need to draw their attention to your MH condition and if you are certain that it may have contributed in some way to your lower parr performance, then say so, but try not to use it as an excuse, just a way of explaining how things deteriorated.

Ultimately they see you as a problem employee, and are highly likely to use it to part company. Only you can decide if you want to fight to keep your role. Currently I'm afraid your posts come across as muddled and disorganised, so try to strip away all the confusing detail and summarise some key facts to talk through with your union Rep to prepare for the meeting.

I wish you all the very best.