verbal warning question

[tjacksonpfc]

hi i recieved a verbal warning yesterday at work this is what i need some advice about.

bit of info about it. i clean in a school and for a few months, i have had trouble with 1 particular classroom which i have complained about to my boss about. we only work 2 hours a day and a few times i have spent 2 hours doing this one classroom then had to work late to finish the rest off. we dotn get paid overtime for this as we are expected if we havent finished in the 2 hours for what ever reason to carry on and finish.

we have a new headteacher at teh school been ther for a few months. she went round this weekend with the site manager lisiting problems with the cleaning of teh school one of which was this classroom which on friday had the tables covered with kids work so i couldn't clean it properly as we are told not to move work on teh tables.

i went into work yesterday and recieved this verbal warning as did the other cleaners but the thing is it was given to us typed up on a piece of paper stating the problems and we had to sign 2 copys we kept one and the other is kept on our file. My way of thinking this is a written not a verbal warning. when i tried to speak to head teacher she was convienantly busy until it was my finishing time when i said i wasnt staying.

can anyone advice me the best course of action to take on this and wether we have all been given a written or a verbal warning as stated.

thanks if youve made it to the bottom of this and hope it makes sense.

Sorry that you are going through this.

What does the letter say? If it says verbal warning that it what it is. Unfortunately, it does need to be written as otherwise there is no record of you having received a verbal warning. From the schools perspective, the head may leave and then there would be no record of what has happened, this is why a copy will go in your file.

Most companies now use the terminology of stage one, stage two, final warning rather than verbal, written and final written to avoid this type of confusion.

If your copy does not state verbal, do not sign until you have had this clarified.

For what it is worth, it does not sound as if you have been given the opportunity to give your side of the story - did you have a meeting where this happened? If not this is probably in breach of the process and you should have also been given the right to appeal against the decision. All of this should be raised as soon as possible with the head - if you cannot get to see her, put it all in writing to her.

The standard disciplinary process is available on the ACAS website.

HTH

hi bellie thanks for the response

yes it does say on the form verbal warning. so at least it seems that is what it is then.

we didnt have a meeting my boss spoke to me in one of the rooms and said that she had, had a meeting with teh head teacher over the weekend and this was when the complaints were raised. She then gave me the forms and said this is what teh head teacher asked her to do no discusion just a case of sign this and if youve got a problem go speak to the head.

ive tried again this morning speaking to the head or making an appointment and she is busy all day which is a first since she arrived. so dont no where to go from here she knows that none of us can afford to just quit the job. so kind of got us over a barrel.

is there anyone else out there with experiance of this type of situation?

So you've had no notice of a displinary meeting, and no opportunity to put your case forward and no information about the appeals process? Please take a look at the ACAS site, you mihg tfind the goverments website useful too. They set out waht are the basic legal requirements to do with everything with employmeny including displainary.

Once you've done this make a note of all the occassions you can remember you hae raised this with your boss and write down the reaponse. Bascially write down everything you feel should ahve been taken into account.

BTW how long is the verbal warning in place for? It should state this to.

The make a meeting with the head and present your case, firstly asking about the appeals process if not stated in the letter.

HTH

hi lovebeingamummy, i had no notice at all of a displinary meeting. i have however managed to getting a meeting with the headteacher today. I dont no how long the verbal warning is in place for there was no mention of that at all i didnt even no there was a time limit for it. i have taken a photo of our work checklist of what we have to do in case it happens to disappear.

i will update as to what happened today when i get home.

Surely the verbal warning is from your boss - in response to the head teacher's comments?

So it's your boss who is at fault for not following procedure?

If that is the case the best you can do with yout head teacher meeting is explain quite clearly (with examples) how cleaning all but one of the classrooms is no problem - and ask her to check the problem classromm every night on her way home so she can monitor the issue?

Good luck with sorting this out.

it sounds like they are both at fault - the supervisor says the headteacher told her to issue the warning.

agree though gagarin, tjacksonpfc you will probably have to address the two things separately - the obstacles to you doing your job with the ht and the way the warning was issued with your boss.

well latest updateis i went in for the meeting with the headteacher, and she wasnt even in school today.

the problem is i report to my boss and she says she will deal with it but it never happens so my boss is part of the trouble. Thats why im am seeing the headteacher about it aswell.

A Verbal warning must be put in writing. 1; state the reason 2; lenght on your record (usually 3months) 3; your right to have it deleted when it expiries, request a letter to confirm it.4; details of further sanctions if you don't improve x x x