As I passed the end of my tether months ago.
Short version is that I have been in my current role for several years and have had no issues, appraisals always good, not even one day off sick. Sorry, this is still going to be long. Thanks in advance for reading.
The role is perfect for me, quite senior, part time and fits in well with child care for my preschool child. Professional Role.
Around this time last year there was an issue at work where I ended up making an informal complaint of sex discrimination, however as my child was unwell at the time and then needed to change Nursery I did not have the energy to pursue this more formally at the time, and the issues did not reoccur, or so I thought. I have email evidence printed out in a safe place (not at work).
Around the same time I had represented a member (I am a union rep) that I had to refer on to the regional office who was being bullied out of her job, and later took my employer to tribunal. Following that the Senior Manager involved was transferred to my Team office location at around Easter time this year. We work across a very large geographical area.
My Line Manager suddenly and unexpectedly then went off on extended Sick Leave.
Chaos reigned in the Office. We have a system of work allocation where Team Members take it in turns to allocate referrals to other Team Members and in practice this means Cherry Picking of Work and Annual Leave goes on a lot.
My workload being part time became ridiculous. I was then “allocated” a really complex case.
Long story short is I visited the home of this person twice, nobody raised any issues directly with me, however I had noted that this individual was extraordinary in reactions to basic questions, therefore the second time I took a colleague with me as a Witness. Because I had to recommend withdrawal of funding for this person’s relative, this person waited until my assessment was complete and only then sent a very long letter containing a very lengthy personal attack on me directly to my employer copied in to some of the others present at the second visit, this was a targeted attack. Five pages long. The Senior Manager then phoned around the others “to confirm it is all true” but at this point had not approached me at any point. This is a known occupational hazard in my role, I have never had a complaint before, my colleagues have, but nobody has been treated the way that I have over this.
I found out about this Letter when I contacted the person via telephone which was the week after the visit as I had suggested they may wish to submit evidence for the File. I then approached the Senior Manager, who proceeded to verbally abuse me for two hours in front of my Line Manager who had commenced a phased return to work days before. This resulted in me physically breaking down, I still have stomach pains related to this but was totally humiliated and embarrassed at the time. The two Managers then left mid afternoon and I left at the end of the day to start my two weeks planned Annual Leave.
On my return to work I was immediately suspended. No access to anything. I was allocated a support person who was also the Investigating Officer, who then went on two weeks Annual Leave. The union have been and are still being totally useless.
Following my investigation meeting the suspension was lifted and I returned to work under close supervision of management, no details of this or specific reasons for this were given. My Line Manager and everyone else was forbidden to discuss due to confidentiality, it has been very difficult but I have “kept calm and carried on”.
The Investigation took several months. The report is fifteen pages long. The disciplinary hearing happened last week. There were five witnesses who all attended, one was my support colleague. The two Managers were interviewed but not called as witnesses. My Line Manager fully supports me but is completely intimidated by the Senior Manager.
Basically there are two external and two internal witnesses. On the day of the hearing one of the external witnesses did not turn up claiming to be off sick with stress. The other has been basically badmouthing me ever since the first visit and has form for this behaviour. The two internal witnesses are Senior to me, did not “need” to be at this meeting and basically if there were any actual concerns at the time could have stopped the meeting. I am the chair of this meeting, these are highly contentious meetings, it was difficult but doable, my colleague has backed me up and saw no reason to stop the meeting at the time either. The meeting was almost four hours long, I am being accused of being “rude and abrasive” throughout this time, originally it was accusations of being aggressive and bullying.
Out of three allegations of gross misconduct which may result in summary dismissal, one allegation was partially upheld “on the balance of probabilities” and two sanctions imposed, training, counselling and written warning for one year from date of issue. Basically the unnecessary presence of these seniors has meant I was outnumbered, but this is always the case in these meetings, I am essentially a Lone Worker in the Community, I took a colleague as a witness, not sure what else I could have done? The incident has not been investigated, I have been personally investigated and subsequently am being blamed for this, they are I feel setting themselves up nicely to bully me further.
The hearing lasted all day. Five hours. I was then only asked a few questions at the end, my official paperwork from the visit a 50 page document that I was handwriting throughout was all correct and the panel have looked at this and all the evidence and ratified my recommendation to withdraw funding. Usually these meetings last on average around two hours, this took twice as long, as the person and relative was rushing off to a Hospital appointment in the afternoon, this was very poor planning, I did have to cut things shorter than I would have liked, but I remained professional and wasn’t rude. There was constant challenge from others present and disruption which I had to contain to do the task at hand, which I focused on and completed as I usually would.
I have now received my outcome Letter and need to decide quickly about appealing or not. The union are saying they strongly advise against and won’t support this, I have no-one else, my Line Manager is probably too intimidated and will want permission from HR, I want to clear my name, the union are useless and have done very little all along, even basics such as taking notes at meetings.
My question is should I appeal? What could I say? The union are saying don’t bother, raise a Formal Grievance against the Senior Manager instead. But the two unnecessary senior witnesses are (having not met them previously as work in other roles and locations within my organisation) now in new roles where they are based one in my Team and the other covering for my Line Manager when she is on Leave. Something doesn’t seem genuine about this, it is all very convenient but nobody is listening or taking me seriously. Help!
I haven’t had any real support throughout all of this, it is quite overwhelming and I need to put my child first, but this includes staying in employment to fund her school place where she is now blossoming. I feel trapped as now have this on my record so getting out will be extra difficult and am already exhausted and my health suffering, finally been to GP for some investigations this week.
Currently I am now taking some leave as not had chance to really take a break for the past year with one thing and another as I have said above. So even if I could find another job which fits in with school, my health, motivation are at rock bottom and I have this black mark on me, which is what this has been about really all along. This a brief outline of what I have been and am going through.
Solicitors, at least the ones I have spoken to so far, are not really interested, because there isn’t much they can do I think, and they cannot accompany me to any meetings. My house insurance has legal cover but only if actually sacked they said when I phoned them.
I know there are lots of very helpful and knowledgeable people on here, please can anyone suggest a realistic, viable way forward?