Please help me with unfair disciplinary action

[Nezuko22]

Hi,

I have an appeal meeting on Monday against a disciplinary that was given to me last week. I have written dow a rebuttal because I'm quite an emotional person and I will be less likely to cry if I'm reading it off of a bit of paper.

The gross misconduct I've been accused of is false, and they have jumped straight to final written warning despite this being my first "offence".

The disciplinary was also sprung on me, there was no warning, no invite detailing the nature of the meeting, no chance to prepare my defence and no chance to bring a representative. I have been on the ACAS website and this appears to be unlawful. I also note that the appeals meeting is being conducted by the same manager who conducted the disciplinary. I was not offered the chance to appeal, I had to ask for it.

How would you play this? I truly believe this to be a personal vendetta agaisnt me and they are looking for a way to force me out of the company. I am going ot leave, but I am not going to tell them this until I have a job offer in my hand from somewhere else.

The emotional distress this has caused me has been unreal. My anxiety has been so bad I have spent most of the week shaking as I have to sit directly next to the manager who did the disciplinary. I had not eaten in 3 days and am at risk of my hair falling out due to stress related alopecia.

I'm going to call ACAS on Monday morning before the appeal for some extra advice but was wondering if any of you lovely ladies had some words of advice.

My brother was helped by a union even though he hadn't been a member previously- he managed to get his job back as they hadn't followed correct procedures (he left soon after though).

In terms of reference- do you have another manager you get on with? Ask them instead- my friend had similar, she was sacked within 2 years, it wasn't worth appealing but another manager gave her a good reference.

Yes usually that is the case but not always.

Definitely worth having an informal chat with a union rep to discuss if this is the case for your particular union.

WARNING : You cannot be looking for job while disciplinary is on going.

Please don’t do this if the misconduct had nothing to do with a protected characteristic. Erroneous counter allegations like this will only make it more difficult for people who are genuinely need to use these laws to be believed when applying them.

If you are employed less than two years you are powerless.

What on earth are you talking about?

Nonsense. You can look for a job any time you like.

To be honest I’m at a point where I hope they just fire me so this can be over.

In which case they would tell her that. Typically they give you 30 mins/hour free chat.
its certainly worth a phone call even if they tell her no chance. It’s difficult to say either way without knowing any details.

Charming!

Have you never heard of a “McKenzie friend”?

Well you're not going to so give it a rest!

Sadly, that kind of response is typical of MN...

No, but I reiterate the PP's comment. You are only permitted to take a union rep or a colleague. Nobody else.

It's disgusting. What sort of a person thinks those are appropriate responses?!

What is the matter with you? What is the point of your posts?!

Would asking to have my misconduct revoked in exchange for my notice where I request payment in lieu or garden leave be acceptable?

did you get a direct instruction which you did not do?

it feels very heavy handed but without knowing the detail it's hard.

direct instruction which ensures the safety of you and others, if ignored could be gross misconduct i guess.

feels heavy handed if it is "i want you to do x and y and you did x but didn't do y" - but it would depend on circumstances. if you regularly been asked to do y and keep ignoring it then feels more reasnoble.

my advice is to think through the circumstances - are you sure the recordings won't speak to a pattern of behaviour? what do they have on you - put yourself in their shoes, understand from
their point of view and then you should be able to defend yourself better x

You’re not being dismissed though are you, you had a final written warning. Which may or may not be amended following your appeal. If they wanted to dismiss you, they would have done so - very low risk to them unless you have a protected characteristic which may be relevant to whatever the actual misconduct was (your info is too vague for me to comment).

Going forward, if you step out of line yes you will possibly be dismissed. If this should happen after you have completed two years’ service, at that point if they have not followed due process you may have a claim.

At the present moment, you do not.

I’m not surprised you are confused, the hysteria and bad advice on this thread is stunning.

Do yourself a favour, spend 30 minutes on the ACAS website instead of on here. Look up appeals process for guidance on how to set out your appeal if you are determined to pursue that. If it makes you feel better, read on there how you cannot claim unfair dismissal.

Only you can read the room with your employer and figure out if you should find something else. As you already have an interview lined up it seems that’s your pathway. If you accepted the job, your official reason for leaving would be as per your resignation letter (career advancement, different environment, better benefits whatever) and not be related to the disciplinary and you would be foolish to bring it up.

Most employers nowadays only confirm employment dates and job role. Some may include official reason for leaving. Either way, that’s out of your hands but if your employer is so sloppy with admin as they seem to be, they’d probably not even bother.

I wouldn't say that either. I would say that you'd like your career to go in a certain direction and at your current employer there is no room for that. It helps if you have specific ambitions prepared to mention at the interview. It will be the truth and it will steer the interview toward something positive and away from the the immediate reason you are leaving.

Congratulations on the interview and good luck on Thursday!

I agree, some kind of rabid capitalist...