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!!!!!

She will likely be fine. I had a similar terrifying letter once with no clue of what it was about. In the end it was because I was in a conversation where another person was reported for saying something and I had to give my POV. I did and they said they would consider the disciplinary to me over and dropped.

They just need to hear all sides to tick boxes.

Your poor daughter, how awful for you all. Definitely go to the meeting with her, there's no way I would stick up for myself at 16 in this situation even though I was quite worldly wise and had even left home.

Small point but I suspect the Cheers Nickname signoff is an automated signature. Of course her manager should have removed it and added something appropriate before sending but it seems much more likely this was a mistake rather than an intentional slur. This type of automated signoff is very common (I hate it!).

OP - it’s highly distressing for you both. But it’s about your daughter and what she wants and not what you want to do . Ask, listen, respect, support - but don’t take over like a bull in a china shop. I would have been MORTIFIED if my mother had done so for my job at 16

Someone needs to go into that interview with her. It doesn't have to be you, and I completely understand why you would be hesitant. I think you should be the last resort. Someone from her union would be best. But if nothing else comes up then I do think you should go in with her.

Sounds like they are about to pull some shite on her that they know they wouldn't get away with if she were older. This is going to be tough on your daughter but at least it is a good opportunity for her to learn how to deal with these sorts of things. She needs someone there.

I don’t know how much time you have but if other members of staff are in a union join The same one as quickly as possible and ask for the union rep as the silent accompaniment. The first meeting should be a fact finding meeting.

I think regardless of what happens this is a moment she can learn from.

About sexual harassment and what to do. About unions and what they're for. About being very careful mixing personal and professional relationships (the bar owners are not family, they seem to not be friends either).

Having her mum go might be comforting but contacting a union is a skill.

The landlords saw the person who was touching her and spoke to them at the time. They made the decision to accept your daughter's identification of them at the later date based on her information but also their own recollection of the events.

Had they been unsure, they could have decided otherwise. They choose to believe your daughter's recollection of the events as well as their own and have since been challenged on it.

If it is a case of mistaken identity, they could review and apologise to the customer, citing that they have a duty to protect their staff from harassment and that there was no intended malice. They should attempt to verify that it is actually a mistake by reviewing CCTV before apologising. They do have the right to refuse entry, even if they are wrong.

They only way gross misconduct would come into this would be if your daughter deliberately tried to get someone barred from the pub on false and malicious grounds.

OP, this is a very good opportunity to teach your daughter how to deal with unfair /illegal situations at a workplace. As you say she strictly speaking can live without a job so the stakes are not very high even if it doesn't work out.
I would recommend to advise your daughter to go to a disciplinary hearing. I personally wouldn't go with her. Give her (preferably printouts) written notes on employment legislations you've already quoted here so she can have them in hand. Advise her to listen to what they say. If at any point of time she feels threatened or bullied she can leave and tell them she will take it further with a lawyer. Yes, not a lot of 16 yo would do that but the employer must know she has a family who can provide a lawyer if needed. Unfortunately it is likely this is not going to be the only employment problem she will ever have. It can be a valuable practice that will hopefully give her more confidence to deal with such things in future.
Prepare her psychologically so she doesn't feel too nervous. Explain the outcome doesn't matter that much in a grand scheme of things, she doesn't have 5 children to feed, but it is important to stand up for herself as an employer

When I was 19yo I had a similar thing happen to me. I was taken into a disciplinary meeting with zero notice, literally frogmarched from my desk and sat in front of 3 company directors on a public landing with people passing by.

I hadn’t done anything wrong. I’d met a colleague at lunch time and we’d been invited to another company depot across the road to watch a bit of a World Cup match. We went for 30 mins and left. But I mentioned this to someone in a company we contracted for which apparently gave a bad impression.

So total over reaction in their part. The meeting was horrible, I cried all the way through while they kept bullying me. But while it was horrible it totally made me stronger. I was so angry afterwards and determined not to be treated like that. Within a week I’d got a job working directly for the company we contracted for and left my old company in the shit as nobody else knew the software system I used.

It was certainly an eye opening experience but one which I guess has taught me a valuable lesson. Don’t trust colleagues, watch your back, don’t put up with shit, at the first sign of trouble start documenting everything, don’t be seen as a pushover.

I hope it goes ok for your Dd. Whatever the outcome she will be ok.

What happened? The meeting has happened now right?

Why do you day that @louisetrees ?
I thought the interview was due tomorrow?

it makes no sense they can bar who they like the brewery dont care unless its discrimination

how is that anything to do with your daughter i dont know

It is much better to speak to ACAS than try to interpret the guidance sometimes and I've just heard of ACAS making a call to an employer than changed the employer's approach ....

Does your household insurance have legal protection? Sometimes this covers help with employment issues. Worth checking.

What a horrible introduction into the world of employment for your dd.
Hope it was sorted..

@UggyPow Any news!? I hope you're dd has had a good outcome.

#your arghh!!