Husband got suspended

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Hi everyone

So my husband got suspended today. He is a security supervisor and works for an airline, he was taking his break in the main office, after his break he went out to observe the operation (watching the staff do their jobs, ensuring every desk is manned etc) when his colleague came down, he told my husband to take a 10 min break if he wants, as it had been hectic..and said he will watch the operation for a few mins as his shift was starting in 30 mins.. so my husband went back into the office and sat down for a few mins , checked his phone etc.

At the end of the shift, he was pulled in and told that someone complained about him sitting in the office doing nothing.

He was only in the office twice. Once for his break, and once for a few mins while his colleague took over. They have now suspended him.

I dont really know whats going to happen here on out, dont know if it would be unreasonable if they sacked him for sitting down for a few mins, while his colleague took over?

I dont know what to do now. I work but earn less than half of what he did. I work long hours in the office and hardly get anything due to lack of experience in this field- import/exports. Have 1 child and another on the way .. im so lost

Sorry for the essay

Don’t get ahead of yourself, don’t assume he’s going to be sacked. I assume he’ll have a meeting with his manager and HR? Is he in a union? It sounds like an extreme reaction from his supervisor though.

Sounds like a set up to me.

I'd think someone is gunning for him tbh.

Has he worked there more than two years?

after his break he went out to observe the operation (watching the staff do their jobs, ensuring every desk is manned etc) when his colleague came down, he told my husband to take a 10 min break if he wants, as it had been hectic..and said he will watch the operation for a few mins as his shift was starting in 30 mins

The action of the colleague sounds very suspicious to me, as though he's set your husband up. It sounds as though he sent your husband to sit down after telling his supervisors if they looked at that point they could see your husband was skiving.

Is your husband in a union?

Thank you for your replies. Yes i feel its quite an extreme reaction. You would think the managers would pull him.to the side and question him, tell him not to do this again. Not escort him off the premises and suspend him? (Its an airport so you cant walk around unescorted without an ID - Which of course they took off him when they told him he needs to leave now)

Hmm.. you seem right about the colleague.. very dodgy

He has recently become a part of the union. I understand that they cant save everybody, it depends on what points they have. I just think this is really really over the top!

I mean if there was more to it, id get it. We will have to wait for the letter to come thru the post now, see what allegations theyve put against him.

I worry he will be sacked because he made a mistake a year ago, which caused massive delays to a flight and was suspended then too. He admitted to it and it is totally understandable why he got suspended. He got told hes on probation now and not to make anymore mistakes..now this!

Thank you for your replies anyways though x

How long has he been working there?

Sounds very stressful, I’m very sorry this is happening.

So your husband has been suspended before and is still within the warning period from that last mistake?

It doesn't sound good to be honest.

I am not convinced that the other colleague set him up. I suspect your DH has fixed break times and should have stuck to them. I also suspect it was more than a few minutes. The other colleague might be getting disciplined too.

OP in the nicest way are you sure you're getting the whole story? Seems very odd that an otherwise good employee would be suspended on the spot for sitting down for a few minutes.

If he’s on probation he should really have done his whole shift rather than finish 10 minutes early but it’s too late to do anything other than learn from that if he does (fingers crossed) keep his job

Yes thats correct, he should have completed his shift. I wish he didnt do what he did now. Saw the email they sent him, accused him of spending most of the shift in the office rather than in the operation. Im sure theyre not basing this off nothing, so i dont know what to say anymore because husbands telling me he only went in there twice.

Told him to be honest with me so we can try to sort it, hes insisting he did nothing wrong. Hes worked there for 10 years, and a part of the union since last year. He has decided he is taking a union rep with him once he gets a hearing date. Thank you all for your replies xx

He should speak to his union, and get a copy of the code of conduct, staff handbook, disciplinary procedure, anything like that. Write down a timeline of what happened with times, any witnesses.

Do they have to zap doors witj their passes when they go in and out of rooms? If so, if there are logs kept (security dept?) that might prove he was only there for a few minutes, not the whole afternoon.

He has worked there for 10 years, made a mistake a year ago, was told he was being put on probation?

How long was the “probation” term for? Are you sure it wasn’t a level 3 or 1?

Yes so standard procedure at this airline is, if you make a mistake you get put on a probation period. If you make another mistake during that time, they can shaft you for it quite badly. I used to work for the same airline but as a check-in agent and was also on probation for making a mistake, and id been there 5 years. A lot of my friends have lost their jobs with this airline sadly.

Just a wait game now

Probation is 6 months or a year depending on the mistake you made

Maybe he's not telling you the full story OP.

He'll just have to let it play out.

when his colleague came down, he told my husband to take a 10 min break if he wants, as it had been hectic..and said he will watch the operation for a few mins as his shift was starting in 30 mins.. so my husband went back into the office and sat down for a few mins , checked his phone etc.

Firstly, your DH needs to become more of an independent thinker. Just because his colleague said he could go on his break early, it doesn't mean to say your DH had to. He could have said, no it's
OK thanks for the offer but I'll see my shift out, it isn't long to go.

Secondly, it isn't clear from your description if your DH was intending to return to his shift after that short break and whether the colleague was due to take over from him in 30 mins. That timing is important as 10 mins is quite different to 30 mins and again speaks to my point that your DH shouldn't have done what the colleague said, but should have completed his shift duties before wandering off.

Was his 'colleague' someone who had the authority to tell him to take a break??

Another angle here is that it may mean he is considered to be a security risk as it seems like he hasn’t followed the rules/set processes. This makes him vulnerable to social engineering by someone wanting to do something malicious.

Think about it from the employers perspective. He was supposed to be on the floor supervising and someone told him not to bother - how can he possibly know that he wasn’t being got out of the way so as not to see something. In this kind of role I would imagine he should only leave his role if told to do so by his direct boss.

My security experience isn’t airline based but in my experience those in security roles are held to a very high standard around things like this as the company has to be totally sure they won’t be tricked into turning a blind eye by a mate or another colleague. We’ve certainly put people in security roles through disciplinarians for comparable actions.

I'm sorry, op, but I would guarantee your husband is not telling you the whole truth about what happened. It's simply not logical.