Daughter received disciplinary invitation for Gross Miscinduct she's 16!!!!!

[UggyPow]

I am in shock - DD works for a small local business worked there for 14 months, bosses love her lots of promotions, training & development - keep talking about long term career to her & training options.
Out of the blue an email received inviting her to a disciplinary for gross negligence, in regards to care of the customers, it refers to policy & procedures which she has never seen & doesn't tell her what it is about, no investigation, nothing.
I have looked at ACAS & it clearly says to talk to employee first but does allow for going straight to disciplinary but says they must provide suffucient notice less than 48 hours given (Acas states 5 working days).
But it doesn't tell her anything about the situation or circumstances concerned.
ACAs clearly says as part of any investigation evidence must be gathered from all sides - this definitely hasn't happened as she has no idea what it's even about.
It also says the letter should clearly state what it regards to so the person can prepare.
Oh and email is signed cheers managers nickname
She gets her GCSE results on Thursday & is already incredibly stressed out with the Chaos of that.
Not sure what to do, worried if go in all guns blazing could wreck daughter's job which she loves but how they they call a disciplinary without telling the person what it is about!!!!!

I think you have a word with them and say they haven’t followed employment law procedures, and explain the above calmly. You say if they have a grievance they are of course entitled to bring it out but they should follow all procedures. You ask for a copy of the policy handbook. Can she think of anything she’s done wrong?

The only issue she can think of is where a customer tried to touch her & another member of staff inappropriately - I was actually there & witnessed some of it but the manager dealt with it so didn't intervene
Dealt with by senior manager at the time, a week later a man returned & they identified him as being the same man & he was asked to leave again by senior manager - he argued with the manager for ages saying it wasn't him, they stayed out of it. He did say at the time he would make a complaint.

If someone tried to touch her inappropriately they should have called the police!

I agree with above - calm polite e mail asking to be informed what it is all about and giving ACAS guidlines. Written in her name not in yours.

Where is her union?

She can take a silent witness into any meeting with her - make sure that happens. Is she part of a union? Might be useful right now. Make sure to tell her that if she is struggling in the meeting or isn’t sure what to say then to request a break.

Does she NEED this job? Let her be prepared to tell them to go fuck themselves if she feels she wants to.

Can she even join a union at 16??
No idea though anyway - just had a quick google & it would appear hospitality is USDAW or Unite

Is this a holiday job? If it is, easiest to resign.

If not, surely she will need an adult to attend any meeting with her for child protection reasons.

Other the other girl (she's 17) who has also had the same email there is only a full time member of bar staff & a Uni student.
The letter does confirm she can take a colleague or a trade union rep

Sounds very odd! Definitely wouldn’t speak with them but help DD send email

If this is all related to that incident I would cause absolute shit!!

2 young women are touched inappropriately and THEY are in trouble?

Is this a bad joke sent by someone she works with? - it was signed 'cheers - managers nickname'. Think you need to copy the email and go in to speak to the manager. If it is a holiday/saturday job I would suggest she resigns.

No its not a holiday job - but it is part time during term time - more hours in holidays.

She loves the freedom & independence that working gives her & I think she would struggle to get another job at the moment, however strictly speaking no she doesn't need to work.

I’d say go with her to the meeting. She is under 18 and could be accused of something serious.
Her manager sounds unprofessional signing it off with cheers, SMH.
The inappropriate touching should’ve been reported to the police.

I don't think its a joke there are 2 owners & a manager - the actual disciplinary letter is signed in one of their names but has been forwarded by the manager.

Sorry feel like I am drip feeding & don't mean to, but never actually posted before have just commented

I'd be tempted to get solicitor advice on this in terms of harassment, and be prepared to walk away. How much work can a 16 year old actually do, legally? Has her employer stuck to the rules?

I would go to whoever owns this place and unleash a mahoosive can of whoopass! Like atomic style, she is 16!!! 😲

Is it a joke? who would sign a letter like that with cheers?

Go to the meeting with her, but please don't speak to the manager as advised above.
She is effectively a working young adult, Mam shouldn't be fighting her work battles for her.
Advise and support of course, but you've no place to ring the manager up.

So they want to discipline someone who has worked with their company since she was 14.
Is this even legal? And in a bar / pub?

My dd has been working waiting tables at a pub/restaurant since she was 14. She's on the books etc so perfectly legal.

write a letter on her behalf (she signs) which points out that they need to do this procedure in a correct & LEGAL way noting that the way this has been done it could be seen as taking advantage of a young person & this process will & could be challenged on the grounds that they have not been informed of specific rules
I suggest contacting trade union & joining them I am fairly sure she will be able to

She can't take a 'silent partner'. She can only take a workplace colleague or TU rep. So get her to pick a colleague. This colleague can write notes and ask questions on her behalf.
But prior to this - ask for a copy of the disciplinary policy.
I can't believe they mean this at all. Gross misconduct is the big stuff like stealing or punching someone. The invite should really have given an indication of what it's about
Good work on the ACAS research. You can ring them too.

Is your DD definitely the subject of the disciplinary or could it be that she is being called as a witness as part of an investigation?

Please don't go in all guns blazing, to you she's a child. To them she's a working employee and adult the same as their other staff, if she were treated differently because she's 16 then it would be age discrimination.

There should have been an investigation, this doesn't necessarily mean telling her though it could mean looking at cctv and paper records etc. Taking statements from witnesses. She should be provided with a copy of this. The letter should state what the gross negligence incident is that she's accused of,if it doesn't she should ask them in writing to provide a copy of the investigation and the allegation in writing prior to the meeting. She is entitled to postpone the meeting by up to 5 working days until she can arrange representation and review the information.

She's an adult and needs to handle this herself but you can give guidance.

It may be that they are trying to fire her for gross negligence in order to sack them without notice to save money, in which case its unfair dismissal but its too early to know that.

Go with her.

She's 16, they can't restrict who accompanies her to a colleague or trade union rep unless they want to look like monsters. But you'd have to be impartial during the meeting and let her speak for herself.

Ring the ACAS helpline, www.acas.org.uk/contact