position advertised whilst on mat leave

[snookered]

I desperately need help.
I was extremely stressed last year, spoke to work about it extensively told "aren't we all"

eventually i was brought to a meeting where i was told i was being placed on suspension whilst they investigated bullying allegations.
Job v high pressure v results oriented
I'm a manager director of 10+ years experience 6+ within current role never anything other than glowing feedback in the past

Those who claim bullying under pm measures and process. other numerous members of staff had no issue with my work or management but not considered relevant

further background is that we have lost 4 other d level people in the surrounding mths all women btw

ended up extremely unwell and hospitalised. seen as final straw. had a breakdown
I also discovered that i was preg.
doctor said unfit to attend investigatory meeting

i'm now on mat leave, sick leave too i suppose but they have just internally advertised my position.
they haven't even conducted the investigation let alone given me a disciplinary

also those who had made these claims have now left the business

what should i do?
i am a very regular mumsnetter so please please give your best advice warts and all

Speak to ACAS, I am quite sure that they cannot advertise your position without first making you aware of it. Unless it is cover for mat leave.

With regards to your disciplinary investigation etc it sounds like they are just getting ahead of themselves as those who made the allegations have left the only 'hurdle' left is yourself. It's a sticky situation but it looks like they have made up their mind already without following protocol etc.

On the other hand, it could be nothing and they could be looking for mat cover!

Speak to ACAS first, but I would then consider speaking to your employers with regards to the investigation and ask them to advise what they intend for their next steps to be as you have not received any updates by letter etc. As you were deemed unfit to attend the investigatory meeting this should be rescheduled.

If flowerybeanbag is around she is a dab hand with these things but I still think your first call should be ACAS.

Good luck!

unfortunately it's a permanent role they are advertising

they haven't even held the prelim meeting let alone any findings or disciplinary findings

if they have decided without hearing that i am guilty i feel even more sick

thank you

If they have decided without a hearing that you were 'guilty' then imho you would have a good tribunal case against them. I doubt that they would be as stupid as to open themselves up to that. (But you know them better so it's a possibility!)

Obviously they cannot let you go without following the correct procedure- check your contract for an exact copy of how these things are dealt with or ask them for a copy in writing.

Usually it's a case of

1. Investigatory meeting
2. Decision about the meeting
3. If it's gross misconduct then they can dismiss you but it would have to be quite terrible behaviour to qualify as this.
4. If they are to decide that you are 'guilty' but that it's not gross misconduct most companies operate on a warning system whereby you are given a first warning, 2nd warning and then it leads to disciplinary action and possible dismissal.

Here's ACAS' website

www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1461

And don't feel sick about it because if you look at it in perspective it can only go two ways and either of those ways you still have options x

Have you been off for 6 months on mat leave? If so they can advertise to replace you as they need to give you a suitable job back not your exact job.

How long have you been on maternity leave and when are you due back? How much leave will you have taken?

When your disciplinary was put on hold due to your sickness what was said then about rescheduling it?

I've been on mat for about 4 mths
return date which they have been informed of for week 24.absent all together for one year.
they tried to reschedule and reschedule the investigation stage of the grievance disciplinary but I was genuinely terribly unwell and advised not to attend.
advised that the breakdown was a separate issue through overwork and pnd bringing on a severe depressive illness.

I'm not actually better and one likely treatment option is another stint in a psychiatric hospital. would it be better for me to resign? so that they can get on with running the business apart from anything else?
in truth i can't see how i'd ever be well enough to hold down the same type of job again..
even though they have been incredibly Aggressive i don't want to mess them or my staff around waiting for a return trhat is unlikely to happen

Do they have an occupational health department to refer you to? Are they aware of your condition and how unwell you are?

What did their last correspondence say? Just wondering if they stated that they would go ahead with the investigation with out your input?

You mention being advised not to attend. Who has been advising you?

If you are fairly sure that you will never be well enough to go back, then the only reason not to resign really is for sick pay. If you get sick pay at work you could go 'back' from maternity leave at the planned date, but be signed off sick. The company will probably take medical advice as to whether or not there is a reasonable prospect of you returning to work, looking at whether redeploying you somewhere else would be a possibility, and then if not, terminating your employment through capability.

How much awareness do they have of your condition? You seem reasonably convinced that you are very unlikely to be fit to return on the date you have planned - have they got reason to think that as well? They are not recruiting externally so if they have reason to believe you may well not be back when you say, then they could probably argue that they were rejigging things internally to cope with that scenario, with every intention of moving the internal recruit back again or elsewhere should you in fact come back on the planned date. That may not be the case, but they might say that.

It just sounds as though the issue isn't about them deciding the outcome of the disciplinary in advance and therefore recruiting a replacement, but more that they are anticipating long sickness absence and are therefore recruiting a replacement. Again that might not be the case but that's certainly a possibility and will be what they would say.

Do you get any sick pay?

i'm concerned that once i resign they will hold the investigation without my input move to disciplinary and sack for gross misconduct
there is the matter of accrued holiday pay
and 6 mths notice you see which they will not want to pay
all i want is to go and have a decent reference commensurate with my 6yrs hard work and achievements

fighting through all the trumped up nonsense (for example I used negative body language) is beyond my capabilites anymore and i was extremely hurt by how they handled it as i treated work as a far too important area of my life and very shamefully put it above family, health, friends etc

also how will the investigation go now that most of the complainants have left or been sacked?

i was advised by my psychiatrist not to attend. ditto psychiatrist wrote a report to the oh

Can't imagine they'd hold an investigation in your absence without witnesses and try to dismiss for gross misdonduct if you've resigned anyway, that would be very foolish of them.

And if you resign you won't get notice pay unless you are back at work, which you don't think you will be.

In your position I would write extending your maternity leave for the full year, then resign effective the last day of your maternity leave. That way you'll get your holiday entitlement for the year and won't need to go back.

thank you for your help

they have helpfully warned against resignation as it will not cease the process

apparently even though we are only at investigation stage and i haven't gotten as far as denying almost all of the charges against me they constantly remind me and the medical team that this may end in gross misconduct and dismissal

tbh i am guilty of sending work home and working from my home hotmail account on some evenings when my work dongle wouldn't work (won't allow us to have work laptops connected to our home broadband??)
also my pa included an office work gift in my expenses.

she has put together my expenses in their entirety for 5 yrs i glance at them and then send them to our md for him to agree {after all this time i don't always glance)he queries anything he doesn't like the look of or decides not to pay
facts are i purchased the gift and gave her the receipt as i then took the kitty toward the payment of the gift (gift cost twice as much as the kitty received) she left it on her desk and then mistakenly included it in the expenses and it was queried as it rightly should be
looks like i've gone made and started to obviously embezzle by submitting receipts to a banking business from jojomamanbebe

finally that was a while ago and those who have made complaints against me regarding the bullying have mostly left or subsequently been sacked
what happens in that situation?
i'm by no means a thief or a bully btw although I suppose anyone would say that!
does their leaving affect the investigation or not?

Well resignation wouldn't stop the process if you were in work as normal and the investigation was underway. But it's not, and you're not. You are on maternity leave and they are not proceeding, and don't sound as though they have any intention of proceeding while you are off. When your maternity leave ends you are likely to be signed off sick anyway. As long as resignation coincides with the end of your maternity leave, or your doctor confirms that you are not fit to take part in a process for the duration of your notice period, it should be fine.

Of course, if asked in a reference, they will say to a future employer that you were in the middle of a disciplinary investigation for serious allegations, so the only difference it will make really is to your notice pay, but if you're not in work during your notice period anyway, and are either on mat leave or off sick, that should make little difference.

If you do go back to work and they conclude their investigation the people making the allegations not being at work now might hinder their investigation slightly although I would assume they have taken witness statements and they may ask them to come back to give evidence.