Disciplinary whilst pregnant

[EJT91]

HELP!!

I received and email yesterday inviting me to a disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct. The letter states they have received an allegation (?!) that I am working for another company whilst contracted to them. There was no evidence attached for what was found in the investigation and the letter also states that if the allegations are upheld then I will receive a warning. It might be worth noting that I am 25 weeks pregnant. I haven’t slept a wink worrying about this or eaten. The only thing I can think is that my tax code has changed. My partner has innocently
put me on the payroll for his company to start transferring money to me to help while I am on maternity leave. This has changed my tax code. I do the invoicing on a Sunday afternoon after he leaves for work and it has absolutely no affect on my contracted job and is a completely separate role and industry to the one I am employed to do by them. I feel like this particular director has been gunning for me since I announced my
pregnancy. I am the first female in my role to have a baby and she hates the fact I am no longer able to fulfil my entire role, due to health and safety reasons as set out by occupational health. so it feels
like this is very much a targeted attack on me. I didn’t let them know about my extra income as it’s just a couple of hours a week, outside my working hours, so I didn’t realise I needed to advise them. I’m obviously going to apologise and explain I wasn’t aware etc, but has anyone got any advice? I feel sick to my stomach. I’ve never been in trouble with work before and have an excellent record. I’m barely off sick, even through pregnancy. I’m going to ask for evidence to be sent over to me today so I can prepare my case. I have a work contract for my “side role” which states my working hours and also the day I’m
contracted to work, so they will see it doesn’t clash with my main role. Any advice for going in for this would be great. I have major anxiety and as I’ve said, I’ve not really slept all night worrying they will sack me and I won’t get my maternity pay 😞

Please keep us updated OP, I'm invested! Good luck!

There's a few things here:

Does your contract say you can't have a second job? They often do

Familiarise yourself with your companies disciplinary procedure and ensure it's followed

Your husband cannot "pay to help you out when you're on maternity leave", unless of course you are forfeiting your maternity leave and your main job (you can't do both!).

Your main employer are probably perplexed that you are going off on maternity leave, taking maternity pay fraudulently AND benefiting from a second job.

As you already said you were going to do : go in, explain the situation, apologise for good measure - because I don't think you made a big mistake or anything. Your chef seems to have it in for you, so for now don't make a big fuss. But do make sure to document every step you take to clear this situation, keep all relevant prove like mails and sms or whatsapp conversations in a file. If they choose to make you redundant you will need this information to prove it has to do with your pregnancy.

@wickerlady most of your points are addressed by the OP in the thread.

Which bits are you unsure about? Clearer to quote the op if you want her to clarify what she's said.

OMG. <goes back to bed>

the first half of your post has already been answered. The second is utter horseshit.

@wickerlady why are you just making shit up now?!

You can have multiple jobs and have multiple maternity pays/maternity leaves quite legally.

It baffles me why people post confidently about something they clearly know nothing about.

If this is your partner’s business and you help him with accounts on Sunday when you are not working this is a grey area. It would be better if he hadn’t put you as an employee, as he’s your DP, not clear why he did that, unless of some benefit to him?

You need to take someone along to the meeting with you and if you have someone, to tell them in advance. A trade union representative would be best. Failing that someone in a professional capacity (such as senior trusted colleague) don’t bring your DH!

She wouldn’t be entitled to take anyone that wasn’t a TU rep or a colleague.

Lucy Letby brought her dad!

It wasn’t her legal right to do that. Has to be along the lines of a reasonable adjustment for me to consider going outside of the established ACAS guidance. It’s very risky to allow someone unknown to the business into those spaces.

Why would I lie 😂 what would be gained from that? I’m just reiterating what the lady at Ava’s told me. I’ll be honest, I didn’t look into it any further after she said it, I just took what she said at face value as she’s the professional.

I think this is a good case of crossed wires.

There’s nothing in employment law that states you can’t have more than one job at a time. That’s correct.

That doesn’t mean that your employer can’t impose reasonable terms through a contract.

You being in breach of contract can be a valid disciplinary issue.

It would be unlikely to be reasonable for an employer to totally ban all work for any other employer. It is however reasonable in many cases for them to put in requirements relating to this. Eg. Competitors, rest time, conflict of interest etc.

This is generally done by starting with a requirement to be informed included in base contracts.

So, everyone is right. And wrong.

I think she is trying to say she is having a second job at the moment to save money for the period she will be on maternity, as she will be getting much less. So I think it is relevant.

They really, really aren’t.

there is no law preventing second jobs, but that doesn’t mean your company can’t restrict them, which is how you appear to have interpreted it.