How can I handle being under investigation?

[Cryorcry]

I work as a mortgage/ insurance adviser for a high street bank. I gave someone an inappropriate recommendation for their circumstances due to a faliure to consider all the facts. I didn’t realise this at the time and it was actually picked up by our regulatory body.

At the time I gave the advice I was going through a very difficult period of my life. My wife had just admitted a long affair and my parents passed away within days of each other. This all happened within a month. Shortly after this I was signed off work because I wasn’t coping. I was signed off before any of this investigation came to light.

I know I ordinarily would not have made such an error. It was in large part down to my struggles. Would you mention that the personal circumstances had played a part or will it make no difference? My employer is obviously aware of what happened to me at this time. I also do want to take responsibility for what happened because I know it wasn’t good enough.

Whilst this is going on it’s all I can think about. I’m not sleeping or eating at the moment. How do you put it to one side whilst the investigation is conducted? I am very concerned I will lose my job. My employer is being very tight lipped about what is happening and when there will be an outcome.

If the error was picked up by your regulatory body were there any serious financial or otherwise repercussions from the error?

I would definitely be mentioning your personal circumstances at the time, if this was a one off thing and you immediately held your hands up and there were no serious consequences then I’d hope that you’d be given some leeway.

Im really sorry that you had to go through all of that, and are now having to deal with this on top of it. I know it’s not what you want to do, but you must force yourself to eat and take care of yourself.

If Worst case scenario happens and you lose your job due to this then you’re going to need to be in the best headspace possible to find new employment/take care of outgoings etc right away.

Wishing you the best of luck and outcomes possible

Yes there were serious implications for the customer. There has been a redress to compensate them as far as possible.

If I lose my job for gross misconduct I don’t think I will be able to work in finance again. I’ve worked in the industry since I was 16. I have no idea how I’d start over. Or if that would even be possible.

I’m still off sick with burnout and depression. I think because of that I feel like I’m ever more out of the loop than I otherwise would be.

All of this has happened quite quickly and I feel knocked sideways.

Are you under investigation by your employer or by the FCA? If it's the latter, there must be more to it as they wouldn't investigate a one off instance of poor advice/negligence.

If the investigation is by your employer, they will have insurance to cover exactly this scenario to compensate the client - in any regulated field, people will occasionally make mistakes - and the employer must be insured to cover the loss caused. I imagine they are just being belt and braces to make sure it's not a competence issue.

Please don't be hard on yourself. You are human and you made a mistake which is par for the course in any career. Which is exactly why insurance is mandatory in regulated roles. You learn from it and move on.

With regard to explaining your circumstances at the time, I would. It helps show that it wasn't a lack of competence that caused the mistake, but a symptom of a series of very unexpected life events.

Please take care and be kind to yourself. You made an honest mistake in your job, that's all.

HR person here.

Certainly mention the circumstances, show remorse (it’s clear from your post) and accept responsibility. Be prepared to accept consequences such as a final written warning, training, increased supervision, performance management etc. In fact - suggest these things and be clear you want to remain in your post but recognise the business will need to mitigate the risk of this happening again and you’ll follow all recommendations. You will need to be in a good head space to do this.

I would hope if this is a first “offence” they might be able to keep your job for you but it might be that on a regulatory basis their hands are tied.

Good luck, and try not to worry. You aren’t a bad person, you are human and made a mistake. No one died. X

@katy1111 the problem was picked up by the FCA as it was one of several files they pulled for review. I am not sure how it works but I believe they check a certain number of cases every year. The investigation is now being undertaken by my employer/ Compliance as the advice was unsuitable (and unfortunately already actioned).

Do you have terms and conditions that may refer to what constitutes warnings/dismissal (HR intranet pages?).

Yes but the wording is woolly and it seems like they can use their discretion over what would be given a warning and what would be treated as gross negligence. Which I can understand

That makes sense then. So it's your employer investigating, rather than the FCA (who just picked it up and raised it with your employer through their standard file checks).

I'm not an HR person but do work in a regulated environment and it really doesn't sound to me like a gross misconduct issue to me, unless it's happened multiple times.

Definitely tell them about your circumstances in the context. But it really doesn't sound like something you should lose your job over. Try to stop worrying as it is literally out of your control now.

@Merrygoround8 thank you. I really needed to hear nobody died. To me it feels like the world has come crashing down.

I know I am in a regulated role so the standards of care are higher. I just hope that in the end it can work out ok. I will certainly do as you suggest.

I absolutely do think that your personal circumstances should be taken into account as it really does seem like it was a factor here. You're human, you were going through a very difficult time and you made a mistake. As long as you have been open about what happened and they can't prove that it's a pattern of behaviour, I can't see how it could amount to gross misconduct. Is there any way you can get some support and advice from your industry's regulatory bodies? It seems unfair that your employer has left you on your own during the investigation process without support. I hope you feel better soon and that it's sorted out quickly.

Does any HR person know if I am let go for this how easy/ difficult it would be to find another job? I assume I could not work in finance again but would it make things harder in all other unrelated industries? I would obviously be honest about my mistakes.

Try to negotiate a good reference and you should be fine. I wouldn't be too detailed in my honesty - e.g. 'left due to family circumstances'.

It shouldn't come to you being fired, I would have thought that the company bare some responsibility here too. Do they not have a second pair of eyes check on things before they go out the door? Anyway, worse case scenario, these circumstances are unlikely to happen again, you will take steps to ask for help if you ever feel overwhelmed and you take full responsibility. That should be enough.

Your current employer has skin in the game - and if you are dismissed they won't savage you in a reference because of this.

I would be very careful not to self flagellate when job hunting. You have absolutely no need to do this and you are framing what happened in the worst possible light as a kind of penance.

You are normally a conscientious hardworking employee with years of evidence of this. In fact, your only balls up happened during exceptional circumstances, which evidences your usual standard of work is very high. The error you made was thinking you could continue to deliver to the same standard when you were in fact extremely stressed - you should have sought time off and you didn't, thinking you could power through. That's what you need to learn from - that you're human, that you have emotions and that you cannot always be perfect.

If at all possible and there is a friendly face/senior manager at your workplace do you think they would give you a tip off as to whether you should resign before you are pushed?
I ask this because when I was in a similar situation a manager (not mine) "strongly hinted" that if I was to resign then I would get a very generic reference which would only say I worked there from X to Y and resigned. I actually stayed in the industry (also regulated but not by the FCA) and it didn't affect my career.
If it looks likely dismissal is on the cards then perhaps you should look at alternatives that are non FCA regulated and just say that your circumstances changed?

Hi OP. Sorry you are going through this stress right now.

I 100% agree with the above, that your main mistake was not recognising that the several exceptional circumstances that all compounded at the same time (2 bereavements and marriage stress ) were too much for you to carry on working as normal. The wording in the post above is perfect.

This waiting period is clearly very stressful for you so there is no shame in seeking support from your GP and possibly considering taking medication for anxiety to get you through. I have taken Sertraline at times of stress and found it to be hugely beneficial.

You are still a good person, simply made a mistake during an exceptionally difficult point in your life. Don’t be too hard on yourself and take care.

If you have a long unblemished track record as well then it clearly is a one off and you should try and remember this, we are human advisors not robots and sometimes things can be a matter of perspective.

I hope you are able to put this to bed soon and understand the wait to find out either way must be so hard with everything else going on.

I know it doesn't help in hindsight but when I went through a stressful time myself personally I worried about my brain not being able to function to the required level. I made sure I made detailed notes and needed to go over things multiple times to make sure I covered myself.

As to never working in finance again there are lots of roles available which are non regulated within the industry so there still could be something for you even if your worst does happen.

I don’t work in your field, but some question I would consider would be whether you benefited in any way from the deal, for example qualifying for a bonus or hitting your KPIs linked to pay. Also, was there any conflict of interest with the client and if so was it declared. I once discovered some fraud and all the employees transactions were examined.

No I didn’t benefit from it in anyway. The client has been significantly disadvantaged and this is my concern. I’ve asked for a meeting with my line manager on Monday so I can at least get a better idea of what will happen now.

I am a Compliance Manager (Mortgages), rather than HR. I would assume your compliance team will be reviewing your other files, do you know the outcome of this? Unfortunately, high street banks and larger networks tend to be more ruthless that smaller firms. Also, please remember that as Certified role within a regulated business, you can't negotiate a good reference, they have to provide a reference and they will have to complete this factually. I think your best bet is to very completely open and transparent, and offer to undertake any training or additional supervision they offer you.

@SarcasticMrKnowItAll thank you for your view it’s very helpful and what I suspected really. If I lose my job over this I am not going into another regulated role as I am clearly not cut out for it and the stress would kill me. Would a non regulated role still need as detailed a reference? Especially if not in the finance industry?

In terms of my other cases I have received all suitable grades on everything that has otherwise been checked. My only concern is that there may be errors (hopefully not as big but more admin related than anything else) during the same time period.

It’s a good sign that your other cases have been graded suitable, I hope they can justify it as a one off and keep you in your role. Can you be more specific about what the issue was?
if you apply elsewhere in a regulated role, they’ll have to apply for a regulated reference which will detail the events. If you apply for a non-reg role (in finance or elsewhere) they’ll just request a standard employment reference, at this point they’ll have more freedom to decide what to disclose, in this situation they’ll often just confirm employment dates and job title.

I haven’t been a mortgage advisor myself, but worked closely with them in a high street bank and I very much doubt you would lose your job. Definitely explain your personal circumstances, ask your union for help if you’re part of one. Let the bank follow their protocol, in my experience it takes a hell of a lot to fire someone for making one mistake.

@SarcasticMrKnowItAll It was not spotting that a client was vulnerable and was potentially making decisions they otherwise would not make.

I enjoy my job usually and am well thought of by my colleagues in Quality Assurance. The head of this department has expressed his support for me. However, this has bought into sharp focus the impact our decisions/ choices/ recommendations can have on clients and the fall out that can happen when we get it wrong. I work within the Equity Release sector which obviously magnifies these sort of issues. I’ve lost all confidence in myself and ability to do the job so maybe it is for the best if I move on to something less pressured.

I think the problem was I was just working on auto pilot and giving the recomendation based on the facts presented. There were signs of vulnerability/ inconsistency that I didn’t pick up on which would have altered the advice. Usually I would have picked up on these. Because my head was so full of my own stuff I didn’t. This is no excuse obviously and I don’t want it to sound like I am condoning my actions or the impact it has had on the customer.