Disciplinary Hearing postponed.....

[BangHeadBrickWall]

Hi, I’ve name changed and will try and keep this brief....
Dh had a disciplinary hearing yesterday, which got postponed the night before.
He had sent over his defence and statement the day before, received acknowledgment then an hour or so after received another email saying they have postponed the hearing.
He asked whether they could delay the start in order for them to have time to read through the document, then hold the hearing in the afternoon of yesterday. Finally he got a response saying they have to reschedule but unsure when, all down to the size of his statement.....

Honestly, this has been an unbearable time. They were quick to call a hearing and gave DH less then 48hrs initially to prepare. This was then moved to yesterday after dh requested more time. The first date was the week before last. They have said that due to holidays etc, they are looking at a reschedule the week after next.

We’ve had 4 weeks of hell. My dh is falling apart with the stress. I am trying to support him and carry on for the dc so they are unaware. Now we have at least another week of waiting.

Just don’t know what to do.

Well postponing it the first time at your DH’s request sounds reasonable, and if he has given them a long statement the day before, postponing it again seems beneficial to him as well, to be honest. He’ll get a more constructive and ‘better’ hearing if there has been time to read and consider everything he has put forward, rather than if they launched into it having not read it, or skimmed it. All that would happen is it would have been adjourned.

I get that it’s awful, but the postponements seem reasonable and are also in the scheme of things not massively long. If people are on holiday they’re on holiday.

Is there anything particular about his case or the process you’d like advice on?

If they have to postpone then it could be the issue is not as cut and dried as they first expected. I used to take notes in disciplinaries and they would sometimes get postponed if new evidence came to light that hadn't been expected as it would need to be investigated for the hearing to be fair.

As an example, Bob works at a supermarket and ate a slice from an out of date cake waiting to be disposed of. In that company that is seen as gross misconduct and a sacking offence. However there are a lot of things that could arise to make it not so black and white such as his manager saying he could have a slice or it was seen as custom and practice in that particular branch or Bob had never been told it was gross misconduct to do that.

Thank you both for your comments.

It’s a huge complicated mess. Dh is in his notice period and just wants to resolve these false allegations. HR messed up the investigation process by not telling dh exactly what he was being accused of, not gaining his response to witness statements, which were full of discrepancies with conflicting information. They didn’t even notice them or explore them further, despite some being blatantly obvious. They also know that one of the witness’s told a 3rd party about the allegations who is a friend of dh and called him telling him that he was about to be investigated. They have also told everyone in dh’s team details of his medical absence, which only hr were aware of.

The investigator did not remain impartial, asked leading questions and even put words into people’s mouths and made assumptions.

Due to dh’s work stress he was signed off at the start, as these allegations literally broke him. He has an employment barrister that guided him through constructing his defence. It shows it all to be a total balls up.

I’ve called ACAS who said it should never have got to this stage, which is why the investigation should have been handled fully and remained impartial.

Has he spoken to ACAS? If not, call them as soon as you can. They are free and can talk through the legalities and best practice etc. Best of luck!

Thank you all. I haven’t had anyone to talk about any of this with.

Dh is concerned how can they revisit the witnesses involved fairly after they’ve been manipulated by HR’s mishandling...that’s if they decide to reinvestigate, or able to?

Just to play devil’s advocate here..how does your DH know that the witnesses are being or have been manipulated? If he has only had 48 hours notice I assume he hasn’t read transcripts of interviews? I’m only saying that because if your DH will be interviewed, with a solicitor, he will have the chance to address all the points (or he should) though if he accuses HR of mishandling it may come across as paranoid (for instance, leading questions may be “fine” ie not inappropriate and not putting words in someone’s mouth, for instance).
I hope he gets it resolved (I’ve previously had a lot of HR involvement in previous work) and while it’s undoubtedly a nightmare usually the truth and fairness win out.
Sorry you are going through this and hope the solicitor helps to resolve it all.

Sorry that I’ve not been clear, they allowed one postponement for dh to address all the evidence and statements.

Ah right. Probably my fault. I think it’s common for people to give what seems to be contradicting statements if they are responding to questions rather than writing out a statement for instance. HR should have challenged the witnesses on any apparent inconsistencies.
Was your DH working his notice already and this accusation has come during that period? Is it something HR has misconstrued because he’s leaving? Sorry for the additional questions- just trying to think of things the solicitor could consider looking into.
Has he got another job lined up?
Again sorry this is such an anxious period for you.

It is stressful but there is nothing you can do about the postponements which don't sound unreasonable.

Will this go over the end of his notice period though? He doesn't have to attend once he's no longer an employee.

Is he a professional though who could lose his reputation?

Btw, he would not normally be allowed a solicitor at the internal hearing.

HR have no obligation to tell him the allegation during the investigation period, it's usually to protect the investigation.

Usually evidence bundles from both sides would be exchanged at least 5 working days notice before the hearing. It's unreasonable to expect them to read in the morning for an afternoon hearing. What they read might effect their approach or case. The people might not be available that afternoon.

Hr have not followed correct procedures. They invited him to a hearing initially with less than 48 hrs. Then dumped huge amount of evidence on him. They didn’t follow Acas rules in the invite to a hearing, where they advised what the misconduct was and what the possible outcome of the hearing could be. They asked him to send documents at 3pm the day before the rescheduled hearing which was due yesterday.

HR surely should have told witnesses that they had to be confidential?

It feels like a complete shit show handled by a bunch of clowns.

Dh is a professional and has a long notice period. Accusations are concerning events over 3 years ago, and one more recently. He has a new job which is the reason he has handed his notice in.

I've never heard of 'bundles being exchanged' in an internal hearing. I usually just ask the person to submit anything they want to be considered by a set time before the hearing. And anything the employer has should be sent with the invitation.

48 hours is a perfectly reasonable time for a hearing in fact, though they may have internal processes that say it has to be some other time period. But this is irrelevant as they agreed to a new, later, date so he had more time. He has not been disadvantaged by the first date.

They didn’t follow Acas rules in the invite to a hearing, where they advised what the misconduct was and what the possible outcome of the hearing could be.

They don't have to follow ACAS guidelines (not rules). Is there an internal procedure and are they following that? Is it contractual?
Anyway, it is normal to say in the invite what the misconduct is and what the possible outcome could be - in fact those are rules under the doctrine of natural justice.

They asked him to send documents at 3pm the day before the rescheduled hearing which was due yesterday.

Yes, and really they should have been prepared for that. But obviously they weren't or they got more than they expected and couldn't get through it all. It is important that they read it properly.

HR should have told the witnesses to keep the investigation confidential, and they probably did, but people will talk - t's up to the company how they now deal with that.

I'm not sure what you want from this thread? Hasn't your barrister got any opinions on this?

Sorry, I thought this would be a place where I could get some support. I’ll get it deleted.

You are getting support but you haven't asked much really?

People have sympathised and explained the process. The employer hasn't really done anything wrong.

It is horrible to go through. I'm a bit surprised they've not dropped it as he is in his notice period, unless he's in a regulated role?

How long has he left on his notice period?

Just under 4 months.