Advice !!

[Vada13]

Hi I’ve recieved an email from work asking me to attend an ‘informal disciplinary discussion ‘ in 6 weeks time . The tone of the letter is very formal and also HR will be attending . The allegation is that I’ve twice not turned up to work which is true but is due to personal issues and DV at home which work are aware of . How to I defuse / handle this situation for the best ? TIA

In six WEEKS time? Is that right?

Did you phone in before your shift when you were off?

Yes in 6 weeks - long time to stress . No unfortunately on both occasions there was an incident at home and I was unable to access a phone as soon as I could I called and explained

All you can do is demonstrate that things have changed and that it's not going to happen again. They really won't be interested in your life at home, their concern is whether you can be relied on to turn up for work.

Gosh, that’s tricky. I’m sure your contract will say something about notifying them that you can’t come in before your start time. Particularly if you work somewhere where someone needs to cover your work - teacher, nurse, carer etc.

Are you in a union? If not, speak to CAB. I think you might be in trouble though.

I think you'll have to go along and hear what they are going to say. As they say 'informal' I assume that they are going to go through their policy because it would seem like they could start formal disciplinary proceedings. Does it say if you can take anyone along with you for support?

While you have let them know why you didn't contact them before your absence, as a PP said they will just want to know that you are able to turn up for work reliably or let them know so they can make other arrangements if you can't.

It's not a situation to 'defuse' because it is what it is - you just need to show that it won't happen again.

I hope you are away from the DV now, OP.

Maybe they're trying to be kind and give you a wake up call and 6 weeks to extricate yourself from there DV situation (if ongoing) before deciding what to do about the effect it has had on your work?