disciplinary hearings

[c0nfusedasalways]

last year I received an e-mail from my employer inviting me to a disciplinary, the meeting was for the following day and was a week before I was due to give birth. I requested that the disciplinary be postponed as I didn’t have enough time to deal with the allegations and I obviously had more important things to deal with.

the disciplinary hearing was moved to the end of my maternity leave 2 weeks before I was due to return.

Also, the second disciplinary invitation letter is ALOT longer than the first with added offences that they’d cooked up while I was away.

I have asked for them to move it forward to when I return which is 2 weeks later but they are refusing to do so. My documents are all on my laptop back at home, and i’m currently up in Scotland with my parents until the end of my leave.

They won't reschedule to my suggested date because they’ve reschedule once already and ‘can’t delay the matter further’

Are they correct in refusing to move the date for a second time given the first two times were pretty unreasonable anyway? And would it still be considered the same matter even though the two letters are so entirely different? Tia

Op
I think it all depends on how long you've known about the date for the revised hearing . If you knew about it for months and then took a holiday expecting them to move it nearer the time then yabu. If they just dropped the date on you recently then that's different .
In my opinion though it sounds like they intend on firing you though as they don't want to postpone and have you back in for a week or two and then leaving you go. Far clearer from their point of view if you never officially return. I could be totally wrong though but just wanted to prepare you for the possibility.

Are you in a union?

If not ACAS would be a good starter for advice.

By all means you can refuse to attend on the date they have given - but by all means they can progress and go ahead with your disciplinary meeting with or without you there.

I know this isn’t massively helpful or what you wanted to hear - good luck either way! Not a nice situation to be in.

Is it likely that you'll be fired? Might it be better to resign?

When you're on maternity leave, you can be invited to a KIT day, but you are not obliged to attend. Therefore,I don't see how you can be forced to attend a meeting when you're on maternity leave. Ring the Maternity Action helpline for specialist advice. Pregnant the Screwed could also be helpful.

You need legal advice if you have not already had any.

Their problem is that demanding you attend work while on Statutory leave of any type puts them in legal quagmire. The disciplinary process has to be fair.

As pp point out they are going to go through the process. If you think they want to sack you (not making any comments on what you are accused of) you need to think about an exit plan.

If you want to stay I would write to them and make a formal grievance complaint that you are currently on Statutory Maternity Leave untill date X and that you are being discriminated against on the basis of pregnancy. And again ask that the meeting be moved to a date after when your leave ends.

If you want to go the unfair dismisal route allowing them to mismanage the process is to your advantage.
Ditto if you want them to just pay you to go away.

You should understand how the process works before you go to the meeting.
turn turning up "under a best effort" with the baby in tow and let them present their evidence of their investigation, dont argue or rebut anything and ask for time to form a reply and an other meeting be scheduled may be to your advantage

Will you still be on maternity leave for the current date? I know you say it's 2 weeks before you return but people often say maternity leave when they've tagged annual leave onto the end.

No, they didn't set a date for the hearing when it was postponed the first time around. Just that it would be dealt with on my return. I've only been informed of the date now. Whilst i'm still on leave.

I am considering turning up with the baby, I wouldn't have any other option anyway.

after the hearing, do you know if i would I be given a chance to put my evidence to them at a later date?

Yes, it's actually annual leave at the end of my maternity leave but it was booked way before the date of this hearing was set.

They're expecting me to attend the hearing before my annual leave starts and maternity ends. So basically I come back to work for a few hours to attend the hearing and then leave for annual leave. when my annual leave was agreed to run consecutively after my maternity leave. (have this in writing)

Surely you will need your evidence at the disciplinary?

no you won't be able to submit evidence after the hearing has taken place, but instead of attending why don't you just submit your evidence in advance? That way if they make a decision in your absence they can take your submissions into account. Or ask if you can attend remotely.

Your job should have a policy document on how the whole process works. So from initial complaint to appeal and being let go (and everything inbetween). If you dont have this ask for it. Make sure where possible you follow your obligations and use your rights.
(check when they were last updated)

The first thing i would do is do a seach on here for similar threads and get legal advice asap.

https://www.acas.org.uk/disciplinary-and-grievance-procedures

anyway think of this as a mini trial
Your employer has to be fair so you have to be given time to mount a defence.
firstly would be the investigation (on their side) part of the investigation could be asking you and others to questions. But you are not "defending" yourself.
So you need to know if the meeting is at the investigation stage.

if its a full disciplinary then they present the evidence to you (the letter may or may not have all the relevant details).
Even if they have investigated your actions you may not made aware of other information gathered you should be given time to question the factual nature of what is presented.
you have a right to have time to gather evidence (if needed) so if say you can prove something but can not do that in the meeting it is only fair that are given time to produce your evidence.
If not they have failed to be fair.
This will be very process driven.
Companies sack unfairly, but the sacking is deemed ok but how the organisation did it was wrong
So if they had followed a fair process they would present their case (anything not in the letter or the letter itself) and then schedule a second meeting to give you time to defend.
Then they need to meet to discuss your defense and reach a decision.

If you have a defence I would let them present everything before replying to anything.

But you should reply so that your evidence is recorded or make sure that the meeting notes that you will have evidence within a short period of time or that what was said was new information and you want time to review it and be given time to prove your case.

This will be new to you so make sure that you have someone (other than baby) in the meeting with you and before it happens get some professional advice. With it you will have a better outcome overall even if you have to borrow to fund the advice.

Again be realistic about what you want as an outcome and what the company want.

https://www.acas.org.uk/settlement-agreements

Ignore any guidance where people are telling you to quit. Do not quit. Get the payout.

It's quite common for people to get pushed out after maternity leave, so anyone in an interview will realise you have been screwed over.

They cannot compel you to attend a disciplinary meeting while you are on maternity leave. They should look at alternatives such as having the meeting off site or at your home, if appropriate. They could, in theory, go ahead with the disciplinary hearing without you, but they would risk any dismissal being unfair and any other decision being unreasonable because you haven't been given a proper opportunity to present your case.