DH has been dismissed for gross misconduct... what next?

[carrottyjuice]

Hi all, I really hope someone can give us some advice. I'm a bit of a nervous wreck at the moment. I've been a SAHM for 11 years, with 3 DCs. Having had my first child very young, I have had little work experience, and all of them in entry-level positions, so don't have a CV to speak of. We've always relied on DH's income, which was decent enough, but today things changed, as during a disciplinary meeting, he was dismissed straight away for gross misconduct.

This was due to an incident where he failed to inform his manager of an issue as well as deliberate falsification of documents to cover up the issue. This was when he was made to work 9 days consecutively without off days, and on that particular day, he worked for 24 hours (yes, 24 hours) and was so knackered at the end of that, that when the issue arose, he chose to falsify records so he could come home to catch some rest.

He admitted all the charges against me and stressed to the hearing that he was overworked and tired when he made the mistake, due to working an extra night, weekend shifts and call outs without overtime pay due to a colleague being on long term sickness. These haphazard working hours have been going on since his colleague went off on sick leave round about a year ago.

They dismissed him today, reason being a breakdown of trust, as he was a supervisor. He's read somewhere that if he is dependant on drugs, they can not sack him but must get him into rehab while allowing him to keep his job. He has been a regular cannabis smoker for the past year since his job shift patterns changed to accomodate his long term sick colleague, because he was so stressed out with all the extra work, he needed help to sleep.

It's not the right thing to do, I know, and he feels really remorseful for the way things have turned out. Not that the cannabis was a main reason why he did what he did, but it could have played a part. He's wondering if he could appeal his dismissal raising the cannabis dependency issue as a reason, and thereby have a shot at keeping his job, while he actually goes looking for a new one? He has not been happy for the past year. Our family life has suffered a lot because he was always on call, doing shift work (when he shouldn't, because his contract states his job hours should really be 9 to 5 Monday to Friday)...

Do you think he has a chance of winning his appeal and keeping his job and getting rehab from the company?

OP, lots of companies only give date references. Unfortunately they may also give out the information that he was dismissed for gross misconduct. One to raise with ACAS also.

Did your husband ever sign away his rights under the working time directive? I don't know much about this, but it sets out maximum hours that can be worked. May be able to be used as a mitigating factor?

Unions won't usually represent a new member for something that pre dates membership.

I second ACAS and it may well be a breach of all sorts of legislation.

It takes a while to get benefits sorted out. So go down and get help form CAB or job centre first thing in the morning. ANd call ACAS.

I do think Northern has a good point though...not that you can feed a family on good points but you know what I mean

Regarding references, where I work we also only confirm start and leave dates, and name of job position. But if we are asked about disciplinary issues we would be obligated to disclose this. To my knowledge we have never been asked for a reference where there were disciplinary issues.

He says he was told by his employers today that once he worked at a specific work pattern for a certain amount of time, like 2 mths or something (he's not sure how long) then that meant he agreed to it and so he can't raise that as a mitigating factor. He doesn't remember if he ever signed anything away. He thinks not??

I don't think ACAS usually advise employees, to be honest.
It's hard to comment without knowing what kind of documentation he falsified, but it doesn't sound too hopeful IMO, and admitting to taking illegal drugs is unlikely to help much, surely?

These employers sound dodgy.

My thoughts too about the drugs thing. I've never been happy about that. Told him many times that I'd prefer if he stopped it, also I often asked him why he'd agree to those ridiculous shift patterns. I think he was a bit naive thinking if he worked hard for them, his job was secure. Clearly not the case. So many things that he could have done to prevent this along the way. So gutted.

He says now he will definitely join the union if he found a new job.

This is directly from the ACAS website:

The Acas Helpline is the place to go for both employers and employees who are involved in an employment dispute or are seeking information on employment rights and rules. The Helpline provides clear, confidential, independent and impartial advice to assist the caller in resolving issues in the workplace.

Call the Helpline on 08457 47 47 47.
Monday-Friday, 8am-8pm and Saturday, 9am-1pm

So they do help employees as well.

Definitely giving a call to ACAS tomorrow... but not holding my breath. His employers treat people at work like that. It's not him only that works overtime without pay. Obviously people have not felt like leaving because so far, the only people who leave are the ones they dismiss. It's still better to have a job in this climate than not.

It's still better to have a job in this climate than not.

I think some employers prey on this attitude. Not very nice, but it does happen.

Yes unfortunately so.

Check out whether you have legal cover bundled in withyour Home Insurance policy.

That cover may buy his some telephone legal advice FOC.

He just called ACAS and their response is that he is unlikely to win an appeal. They advised him to seek solicitor's advice, but he is not gonna do it because it will cost money and he says to me he doesn't feel like fighting for this anymore.

Do not disclose a drug habit. It has no retrospective use whatsoever and will seriously weaken your case.

Well the drugs clearly hampered his judgement imo and id not have him workibg for me -sorry x

Yes, I know. Even I told him it's not a good idea to appeal on the drugs basis. Seriously I'm so fed up of the drugs issue. He's been clean now for over a week and is determined to get his life in order. I only wish he'd seen this earlier on. He's now going to appeal on the basis of a good track record. He may not win it anyway because he got done for gross misconduct (advisor at ACAS said that too) but this will be one last try and he will never look back again.

He's thinking of starting his own business, but has had no business experience. Can anyone recommend a good place to approach for business advice and maybe a startup grant? There seem to be so many these days.

"He's read somewhere that if he is dependant on drugs, they can not sack him but must get him into rehab while allowing him to keep his job."

Don't know where he read that but it's nonsense.

His best bet is to appeal based on good track record and mitigating circumstances in terms of the hours he was being required to work.

He's just posted his appeal to the director. He didn't put that drugs issue in (thank goodness). Not holding out much hope but at least it will give him some closure. He's still shell shocked at how quickly this happened. Really worried for him.

I recommend he contacts a local drugs & alcohol agency for support. The cannabis use might be his way of medicating symptoms of Depression or anxiety. Best get it checked out in an anonymous setting by people who can help. They can also advise and support you.

That's a good idea mignonette. I just had a Google around for this. Would you say Addaction is one of these sort of places? Is it anonymous?