Urgent advice needed - potential gross misconduct

[Passe]

Looking for urgent advice on this situation.

DP works nights in a warehouse (9 months in, permanent contract)) on a forklift. Thankless backbreaking work where all the workers are treated appallingly.

6 months ago he accidentally clipped a pallet causing an immediate investigation and threats of gross negligence.

Last week, a similar thing happened, he was exhausted and must have taken his eye off the ball for a second.

He has been called to a disciplinary meeting on Friday afternoon (well after his last shift for the week) where he is convinced they are about to fire him. He has previously observed that a Friday afternoon seems to be the preferred date /time for firing as the company will have got a full week's work out of the employee.

If that is the case he thinks he should just resign up front rather than wait to be sacked.

I think that is a really bad thing to do, surely there are several steps to this process and he also says the whole place is a total H&S shambles.
We are also going through a really traumatic time at home with other issues.

What can he do? If he loses his job we will lose our house.

*put

That's a great outcome. Respectfully, I would also have taken him off FLT duties. I know it sounds like a small thing but it can very quickly have very serious consequences. Most sites I know give a disciplinary for any knocks or bumps as it shows lack of skill and/or awareness in a very serious area.

I would however be pushing for the trucks to be adequately maintained. Do they have someone on site to do this?

I don't know about the servicing of the forklifts

What I can't believe is that he is being left with no option but to resign with the threat of removing his licence

@HillBillieEilish they've clearly only put him on other duties until they dismiss him on Friday

He is going to get photos of everything

Not suspended, put on other duties pending the meeting

Again, respectfully, are you sure he shouldn't lose his license? Imagine he was a lorry driver and accidentally clipped a car or pedestrian twice in this timeframe. I know it sounds like an exaggeration there but this is an incredibly dangerous situation and his ability is being rightfully questioned.

Ah, I see. I do hope not for OPs sake but as my previous post, I don't think FLT driving is the one.

Personally I'd suggest spending this week looking for a new job, imo there's no point in doing anything else given your description of the place

Yes he is looking today. I will encourage him to consider other work but that aside he's needs to know if his licence can still be removed if he resigns first

I'm sure you're already planning to find this today but won't that be dependant on the rules of whoever awarded the licence and the conditions on it? It isn't issued by the employer is it?

Sorry for my stupidity but is the license issued by the company? How can they take it off him?

Ask the union man to go into the meeting with him.

I don't know and maybe I'm wrong but I'd assumed from a common sense safety POV there is a mechanism for employers to report dangerous drivers to the licencing body

No, it’s like any other licence, it’s his. However accidents, negligence etc can result in the issuing body revoking or suspending. Two incidents is significant , especially in such a short period, due to the safety requirements associated with forklifts.

I have no idea how it works. I will have to investigate.
Not sure if DH is a member of the union, unlikely. No harm in asking if the rep will attend with him I guess

Am really grateful for all the information and advice everyone is giving.

It's a hideous situation and just one more thing I have had thrown at me over the last few years

I also think the defense of I’m going through stuff at home which made me unfit to do my job is very risky indeed as he should have declared if not fit.

id be looking for things that made the incidents unavoidable, ie stacked incorrectly or something.

He won't disclose any other factors.

Looks like his best option is to resign and hope they don't revoke his licence

OP I’d be pretty sure he is going to have his forklift license revoked here, he needs to be applying for other unrelated jobs. It makes no difference whether they let him go or not, 2 of these incidents in a 3 month period means he really shouldn’t have the license. The guidance is very clear that licenses should be suspended/revoked in certain circumstances and one of them is where there is an accident or incident, your partner has now had 2 of those in a short space of time. He’s not safe to go on and do this at another job, next time it could be people injured or worse, it’s a no brainer at that stage to let him go and revoke/suspend license. I have worked for years alongside several local businesses which employee forklift drivers and that’s exactly how it would be dealt with there.

Sorry maybe I wasn't clear. It was 2 incidents in a 7 month period, not 3

Sorry maybe I wasn't clear. It was 2 incidents in a 7 month period, not 3 months.

Not sure if that would make any difference

It doesn’t make any difference no, you could have the license suspended or revoked for even 1 incident due to the huge risk of harm and damage when these incidents occur, it’s a health and safety issue for everyone to have someone operating a forklift when they have proven they shouldn’t be. 2 incidents, especially in such a short timeframe, is someone who should not have a license. His employer have a duty of care to report this, he’s not safe to get another forklift job elsewhere, if we hired him and then there was another incident and we found out about the previous 2 we would arguably be looking to his current employer for failing to tackle those issues.