O/T help with work suspension

Yeh a couple of people suggested I did this yet I had a feeling it wouldn't be as simple as that

 

It's not a long time compared to the NHS. I've had colleagues suspended for up to a year and in my experience the average time spent from suspension to conclusion is around 4 months.
Hope you get sorted sooner rather than later because i've seen the negative impact this has on people.

 

Sorry tyke. For some daft reason (again) I thought I'd replied to someone else. I've edited my reply. No comfort. But best of luck with your case. Some companies don't realise the stress it puts people under and in a lot of cases don't even care . Hope yours isn't one of em.

 

It seems very odd behaviour and doesn't seem to be the normal course of action from a reasonable employer. What does your staff handbook say? How serious were your breaches of procedures? Have you received a written warning? Your employer should have within their conditions of employment and staff handbook a "Grievance Procedure', you may wish to start this if you are confident enough. Alternatively if you think that they are embarking on a process of 'constructive dismissal' you should say so in writing as part of your notice to commence the grievance procedure. If it's that bad you need a good employment lawyer, if you do then I can put you in touch with one.

 

Out of interest Donny please. was your wife in the union. In which case the union would stand costs if unsuccessful. Or did the solicitors take up a no win no fee case. Assuming it was an industrial injury claim case.

 

She was a member of Unison , so they took her case up as a matter of course.
Thompsons sought Medical tests and recommendations and thereby put the NHS in
the position that they had no alternative but to admit liability.
Just remembered , as part of my home insurance policy, my monthly payment
covers me for up to £100 k of specialist Legal advice. That might be another
option that TOT could look at.

 

Went to see Malcolm foy solicitors last year in Doncaster , they offer a free 30 minute consultation meeting . Or try and join a union who could help you . Good luck

 

I’ve dealt with things like this from both sides of the table, as a generalisation:
Every employee should be given or made accessible the companies grievance procedure, usually this is given either in hand book or your told where it is at the point you start a job.
Your employer has to by law follow the procedures set out
The law states ‘reasonable time’ for both investigations and resulting disciplinary meetings and any outcome, unfortunately though it is not specified how much time is reasonable as it depends on case by case.

Forget Unions or Citizens Advise at moment go straight to ACAS they will advise and help you and have far more power

 

Ok thanks. They are the solicitors for GMB as well. What I was questioning I suppose was whether they would have taken up your wife's case. If she had not been in the union. As a private case. I'm guessing that you could possibly join the union with an outstanding injury claim but not a disciplinary. Still guessing on that one mind.

 

My wife tried a 30 minute free Solicitor for a basic Maternity case, they said she couldn’t do anything, we went to ACAS and won £13k

 

Sounds like good advice that mate. I genuinely thought ACAS got to to deal with industrial issues.(pay bargaining etc) Looks like I need to brush up on that area.

 

ACAS are an arbitrary provider, they don’t actually have any powers to force companies to do anything they recommend BUT if it went to court, the court will nearly always side with their recommendations as they are not supposed to have a side.
In our case ACAS told us what to do and why, it was rejected again by the company, then one phone call from ACAS resulted in a full pay out.

I have also dealt with them from a HR perspective where we were the company and even though they told us we were wrong found the info and the way they explained really useful.

 

Cheers guys think first port of call is ACAS then appreciate everyone's input it's good to get different options

 

If its not Gross misconduct as you say it wasn't ,it is incredibly difficult to sack someone in this day and age if your full time
you are almost certain to get your job back if you were sacked and appealed or get a large cash payout if you take it further and they are well aware of this
these days they "manage" you out of your job if they are trying to get rid of you, try to wear you down pick you up on little things all the time till you've had enough and leave by your own accord.

 

The process I believe should be 1st a verbal warning 2nd a written warning 3rd a disciplinary meeting which you are entitled to take someone in with you.

They finally should also offer a personal improvement plan and if you fail to achieve the right standard then they have followed procedures and can terminate your employment. If they don't do any of that I believe its unfair dismissal and you can sue their ****** off unless you have no contract, you are freelance or self employed or gross misconduct can be proven.

In you contract there should be a disciplinary procedure that they must follow. Good luck.

 

Exactly what happened to missus mate. Tried to force her and others out .New manager couldn't keep her mouth shut and bragged about how she was brought in to get shut of the older end. Accused them of not following nursing guidelines and put em on disciplinarys. But those guidelines allowed companies to put their own in place. Our lass showed em a copy of minutes provided 2 yrs before and showed em it was the company guidelines they were following. The person who was asked to take on this case for management was actually so disgusted at the companies tactics. Left the company within an hour of dismissing the case as no case to answer to. B'stds changed the locks to his office same day. Nothing but contempt for such companies. B'stds got most of what they wanted as most of those affected couldn't work under duress and left. I only wish they would have brought constructive dismissal cases against them. B'stds.

 

Hi mate feel free to PM me and I can have a word with you tomorrow - I will need to know the name of your employer and check that I’m not conflicted first ( I act for both companies and employees) cheers

 

This sounds exactly like what they are trying to do. Be courageous and tackle them head on, I had a similar situation a few years back and although it was a cast iron case it cost me over £10k to get my justice. So try not to go down the legal route if possible as that in itself is incredibly stressful and expensive if you lose. Tell the employer that you know your rights, you are entitled to take a friend/person with you to help guide you (and it provides a lot of moral comfort believe me) just make sure they know all the details of your case. MAKE NOTES on what is said in your next meeting or better still ask them if you can record the meeting. (You can't do this secretly by the way).
I wish you the very best of luck and it may be worth quietly looking for a new position elsewhere as it sounds like the lot you are with at the moment are pretty toxic and ask yourself, do you still want to work there knowing what they are like?

 

A little trick I learnt years ago take a note book and pencil and go through the motions of asking questions... How you spell their name name are we agreed on the time etc... Slow the meeting down ... To your pace repeat their questions... Say things like . so let me get this clear your saying... And your name is so and so right... One moment please I just need to be clear about this... Whilst it's good to take notes it puts the management on the back foot that said you might not take the notes . but they don't know that.. Bet you they then either become wary of what they say or bring the meeting to an abrupt halt
Yes you might come across as a smart Alec but at times it's like having some one in there with you .. Never ever took a union official in with me just my note book... If they stood up I stood up.... Eye contact...
They called me by my first name I answered using their first name .. Most don't like that... Think I only ever got one written warning... Which I held my hand up to at the time

Before anybody says anything .. I could and can be a pain in the Ar5e if I know I'm right....

Jedi 1 and myself were very militant at one time weren't we Trev.. Pmsl...

He's never been the same since he fell out of a tree picketing... In Huddersfield I think it was.. pmsl

 

Add to this count to three before you answer anything and speak very slowly and deliberately ask them to repeat themselves and/or ask them to explain the question