Sent home during my notice period

[Polarbearflavour]

So if you’ve read my other posts about my crappy Civil Service job you’ll know I resigned. The first time I resigned my manager persuaded me to give it a go until Easter. Then just before Easter he had an informal probationary chat with me and then 30 mins later handed me a letter saying they were having a stage one meeting to discuss my performance. Completely out of the blue.

Manager is away for the next two weeks. I’ve heard that the meeting won’t go ahead and they’ve dropped the “allegations” against me.

I have nothing to do. The person handing over to me (now staying in the role) has a chat with a more senior person and they agreed there was no point in me staying at work doing nothing.

So I was told to go home and come back Tuesday. I was told could do “personal admin” or “studying” at home.

I don’t think they can tell me not to come back in and not pay me can they? As I’m working out my notice period according to my contract. I have a feeling on Tuesday when the bigger boss is back they might tell me not to bother coming back in.

Have they told you they're not going to pay you? If they're giving you directions on what to do during your time at home it doesn't seem like these are unpaid days away

Nothing has been said. Just told to go home and do studying or personal admin. Just very aware that they don’t like me very much so feeling rather cautious.

Doesn't sound like there's anything to suggest they won't pay you, although if they are placing you on garden leave they should confirm that to you.

It sounds like a form of garden leave so I imagine you will be paid.

I also need to find out what reference HR will give - they only write your job title and dates of employment to confirm you worked there.

If I resigned after being told I was having a stage one meeting and then this was cancelled I wonder if my reference would say resigned pending disciplinary meeting?

The main reason was that I don’t have the specialist qualification for the job. I was studying it and they knew that at the interview and when I started. It’s not as though I lied about having the certificate. I was never told I had to have the qualification before I passed my probationary period - this was dumped on me just before Easter.

The other reason was that my manager was concerned I wasn’t working my hours. Despite being told by him verbally to come in late on a Monday as the unit don’t start until 10:30am. And not to hang around on a Friday afternoon when they all leave at 1pm!

I also leave early on a Friday to do volunteering - as a Civil Servant I have 46 hours a year to volunteer. I had shared the policy with my manager!

Get it in writing!
I had a situation where I'd started a new job, it wasn't working out, when I told someone I was not happy and thinking of leaving (but perfectly willing to work my notice period) my manager went ape and stopped speaking to me (lovely lady!) and I was told to stay home during my notice period. I pushed for it in writing that they'd pay me, and made it clear I was perfectly willing to work my notice.
Result they paid me a months garden leave plus outstanding holiday on top so I got 5 weeks pay out of them whilst I looked for a new job.

Ask them to clarify they are not requiring you to work during the notice period despite the fact you are willing to do so and that this will be paid. They can't not pay you if you're willing to work it, well they can try but then you'd have grounds for a claim.

I would absolutely be taking the time to study for the specialist qualificiation - sounds win-win!

I'm quite sure MOD pay you your notice period, they do things by the book employment-wise even if their processes seem like something out of the dark ages!

Military bases are difficult for civilian staff who are used to working core hours and want standardised duties to a role spec. Mil are used to a much more fluid situation because that's their life not just a 9-5.

Not saying any of it is your fault, absolutely the converse. It's obviously been very difficult for you, but I am sure they will see you good in the end. If you highlight the difficult situation you've been in, you may find it sorts things out.

Bear in mind not to burn your bridges, if your DH is MIl you may want to get a job elsewhere in MOD-Land, maybe at a higher grade once you get your qualifications, as the lower grades are very often non-jobs. The higher grades get more meaningful stuff to do.

Thanks for the comments.

This was my third and final experience working for different parts of the MoD! Don’t think I’ll be applying again. I’ve noticed that jobs at MoD main rarely go external apart from a handful of E1 jobs. DE&S is always advertising but mainly for Bristol - and the T&Cs are worse than MoD main. Some very unhappy people working there and they’ve apparently lost 1250 staff over the past 12 months.

Looking at my previous PARs, I was always rated “Good” with positive comments. Don’t know how this experience went so wrong!

If you live miles away from Bristol, then this may not be relevant atm, but just as a general oberdation - I wouldn't write off DE&S as an employer, or as an organisation.

They have been through a tough couple of years of transformation that didn't land well with the old school Civil Servants but new recruits to the organisation from external are beginning to turn the culture around and making it a more viable employer. A lot of the leavers are retirees who don't want to move with the times. Well, you can blame them I guess, they don't like the PAR approach and don't want to change after 30 years doing things differently!

Subs Delivery Agency (SDA) is another 'youngish' offshoot from legacy. It's separate to DE&S but aligns quite well to their processes. Several colleagues of mine work up in Barrow and really enjoy it, and they are treated very well.

Stick with it, I know it's demoralising when you have limited options having to move around with your DH, but try not to be too discouraged. Hope your qualifications start to open new avenues for you.

Daisychain - thank you for your comment.

I have worked for DE&S before. I can’t say that it was a great experience but I wasn’t performance managed there and I got on okay. I wouldn’t completely rule out returning.

We are moving in 6 months so I’m looking at getting some part time temping work. But I think I’ll enjoy not working! I’m fortunate that I don’t NEED to work but I need to find something that I half enjoy eventually.

At the moment, I’m thinking of being a TA before I apply for a PGCE as I love my volunteering in a school. Or, as we plan to live in a commutable distance to London, working back in the City again where I got on well before.

Will just have to write off this experience as a blip.

Sounds like a plan, Polarbear, especially working in the city again as I remember you mentioning you enjoyed that much more dynamic working environment. Let's face it military is no bed of roses, so you're right to think of it as a blip, and no reflection on your personal abilities. And good luck doing the school volunteering, done a bit of it myself with the National Literacy Trust and it was very rewarding.

Btw DES does lots of sponsored initiatives such as schools STEM so if you did ever find a suitable role in future, they'd support that too. Mix bag of roles there, I grant you that lol

One of the senior officers spoke with me today to see if I still wanted to resign and leave the next Friday. I said yes as I’m sure my LM would seek to get rid of me under the managing performance process. And I’m still in my probation.

The money has been useful and maybe it could have been good to transfer to another MoD job down the line. And I’ve kind of got used to reading my Kindle all day!

But DH reminded me how much I hate it and how much I’ve cried. I’ve got an interview next week for the medical secretary bank at my local hospital so working part time will tide me over until we move.