Can making a huge mistake in work be gross misconduct?

[BumbleBumbleBumbleBumbleBee]

Mistake was found a year after work carried out. The person who made the mistake should absolutely have known better. It was signed off by others in the department at the time. Would this on its own be enough to be considered gross misconduct? A disciplinary hearing has been called.

It was an area I am qualified in but haven’t had any practical experience of until the case. I spoke to the person checking the file about the fact I hadn’t done a similar case “in the wild” before. But in theory I should have known

I was just about to ask if it’s law. What level are you? How junior / senior are you? What’s your team’s structure?

Was the knowledge gap because of something that you had failed to do, OP? E.g. a policy that you should have read but hadn't, or online training that you had been asked to complete but didn't? Or something that you should have known as a requirement for a professional qualification but had somehow missed or forgotten?

Or was it that your employer had failed to give you adequate training/induction?

If your supervisor had access to the same information as you but signed off the case regardless, then I think there definitely needs to be some accountability there. What's the point of having a sign-off process otherwise?

I presume that you didn't realise that you'd made a mistake at the time, and that you didn't attempt to cover it up? How did it eventually come to light? And what was the consequence for the client? Presumably your employer has some sort of insurance that would cover the employer for the impact of any poor advice that was given, but I guess that might be invalidated if the supervisor failed to do their job properly.

It sounds like a genuine mistake to me, and not something that I would consider firing someone for. Mistakes do happen, and this is even more likely if staff are new/inexperienced. Is your employer generally a fair and reasonable one? If so, I'd say that you'll probably be OK, but if not, all bets are off.

I think your best bet is to go in and be honest about what happened and why, highlight the fact that you got the work signed off by a supervisor as per protocol, apologise profusely for the error and show that you understand the consequences for the client and for the organisation, and explain how your learning since the incident means that this kind of error couldn't ever happen again. No point in beating yourself up about what went wrong, you're human and we are all fallible. Good luck!

Well, it depends on the culture of the firm and your attitude. It could be deemed as gross misconduct, yes. However, there might be enough mitigation to step back from dismissal in that you are new, it was signed off etc.

If it was very clear to me that you’d reflected and addressed the situation and can articulate what you would do differently then I’d be comfortable with a written warning. A lot depends on the culture of the firm.

I can't comment on your industry, but to answer your question this happened to a friend. He made an error, realised months later, corrected it and recovered all money lost as a result (it was incorrect invoices going out due to a spreadsheet error) and he made sure it couldn't happen again by changing the process and the spreadsheet.

They sacked him anyway. I thought it was totally crap of them but I don't think they valued him anyway and they took the opportunity to get rid of him.

So yeah, if they want to turn they can and there's nothing you'll be able to do about it, I'm sorry.

Were you a trainee or qualified at the time of the mistake?

If there was any financial loss the company would be insured

It was something that I should have known as part of my professional qualifications but had forgotten in the moment. I didn’t realise so no coverup. There was an annual review meeting with the client and colleague, it came to light then.

Qualified and had done a similar role in a different company for a few years before joining the new company.

I am just trying to work out what my options are. I feel like I’ll never work again.

Looking at ACAS advice, it's clear employers can give a warning and make sure employee is better trained in terms of knowledge gaps. They certainly do not have to dismiss on grounds of negligence. If they are still investigating, are you certain no other team members are involved? It seems unprofessional to just blame the newest member of the team. Most teams work as teams and accept work checking is important.

Others have said you should argue your case based on supervision and lack of checking and your own efforts to close the gap in knowledge. I think it would be unfortunate for you to be dismissed in the circumstances. However I don't know the culture of your firm. I doubt very much this is the first mistake ever made!

I hope all goes well for you.

Well firstly, your firm’s professional negligence policy should cover any loss, but without any detail it’s hard to know how serious the issue is. If you’re a junior or a junior senior associate, I would expect your work to be checked and the issue to have been spotted. If you’re on the more senior side then there is more of an onus on you to get it right, but it really depends on the facts.

Admittedly, that there’s a disciplinary isn’t reassuring. I once made a mistake which cost our client £50k. A junior colleague was the one who made the actual mistake. I spotted it but as the partner on the file signed it off, I assumed it was fine and didn’t say anything. Things were awkward with the client but no one was sacked or disciplined over it. As it has reached a disciplinary at your firm, it suggests a much more difficult culture which isn’t supportive.

It won’t be the end of your career though. Many many lawyers have made mistakes.

Can you get help from a union or your professional body.

There have been plenty of MN threads where similar things have happened and everything has been ok. Some posters said they had lost thousands and thousands.

How do you think you've been viewed generally? If they are happy with your work otherwise then that would help.

I’m also in law and quite senior. Most lawyers have made mistakes over the course of their careers, some considerably worse than others. I think from your description this sounds very much like a mistake of whoever was supervising you assuming you are an associate (possibly junior to mid level?).

I regularly pick up and expect to pick up very material mistakes from my junior colleagues. It is literally my job. I can delegate the work but cannot delegate the responsibility for the work.

I would focus on the fact that you had a knowledge gap (can happen to anyone), you didn’t conceal the mistake, you sought supervision and it was signed off by supervisor. Since identifying the issue you have addressed it by seeking out training opportunities in this area. In that context it doesn’t sound like gross misconduct.

it would be far worse if you tried to hide the mistake or if you were a loose canon firing out advice outside your expertise or without the knowledge of whoever was tasked with supervising you.

If they try to get rid of you, they will likely offer you a settlement and if they do you will make sure you get a normal job reference as a part of that agreement. You will have to get your confidence back but honestly a knowledge gap can happen to anyone - hopefully very rare at a senior level but far from impossible in a complex area.

I'd strongly suggest getting union support, they can advise you and ensure you are treated fairly. Good luck, it all sounds very stressful.

I've just walked out if an R&D employer - dinosaur behaviour.

Anyways @BumbleBumbleBumbleBumbleBee I recently attended a neeting and heard feedback by researchers to a customet about the hydrogen economy and couldn't believe the gaps. I said nothing at the time but messaged the researchers and pointed them to what was missing.

The point is we all only know what we know. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Your work is supposed to be checked to pick up gaps, this isn't just on you, but you are easy to blame and make pay for the consequence!

Sending you best wishes, I hope it goes OK. X

I'm slightly confused.

Did the audit fine the error or did the client point it out in the review meeting?

Also, when did the additional training take place? Before or after audit? Before or after client review?

If you did the training before both and didn't flag it at that point, I'm think dismissal. If after, you could argue gross negligence.

So you are saying everyone was aware of the speck inc those that signed off the work, right?

How would those signing off work, depending on what the work was would be aware that what they could not see was completed to spec??

If you’ve been there less than two years I would expect to be fired.

Yes. I do expect to be fired. How can I find work again after this? Any experiences?

At annual review my colleague found it strange that the client had been advised option A instead of option B. The case was then sent to compliance for an audit. (I wasn’t told this was going on until compliance had reviewed the case and found we should have considered and ultimately recommended option B). I have then since attended training on option B. Hope that makes sense.

do you have under two years in the company? If not and no unfair dismissal rights if they fire you, so if it comes to it would focus on negotiating an exit to seek for it not to be mentioned in a reference.

What is your sense of how they view your overall performance in the organisation?

Depends. You we'd to give more details.

But for what you've said so far, no. I'm not a fan of GM being used unless it's for something very serious. Where are their control procedures to check such incidences.

I know it's different but in finance gm would be stealing money, not say using a wrong spreadsheet.

I suppose it’s more akin to giving a client the wrong financial advice rather than usually the wrong spreadsheet though.

It sounds as though you were still learning and someone had to check and sign off your work. In which case I would expect that the person who signed of the work is equally culpable

In my organisation (also highly regulated) gross misconduct is things like intoxication at work, fighting, abusive behaviour, serious and deliberate dishonesty etc.

A genuine error, made in good faith certainly wouldn’t meet the threshold, although an attempt to cover it up might.

If you’ve been there less than two years though, they can fire you at will. It doesn’t bode well that you seem to be being lined up to take the blame either.

How did you score on your last appraisal? Do you think they want to get rid of you?