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Posted By Dee
I would be interested to hear others opinions/guidance on the situation below.
Employee receives e-mail from line manager at 4 p.m. on a Friday informing of a meeting scheduled for the Monday re: problems and complaints received.
Employee, quite surprised about this, queries the alledged problems/complaints and is told 'oh no big deal, didn't want to worry you over the weekend'.
Last line of e-mail states you have the right to bring along an independent witness.
Monday morning, employee send line manager requesting meeting be delayed until later on in the week when independent witness available and given time to prepare and seek advice.
Request denied, employee now told that under the relevant QA section "at all stages the employee will have the right to be accompanied by an employee representative or work colleague during the disciplinary interview"
Therefore employee told, external witness does not fall into this category. At the moment, company has no formally elected employee representatives.
Employee now facing the prospect of a meeting not really knowing what is going on, not having faced this type of situation before and feeling backed into a corner.
Anyone any suggestions ? ? ? ?
All comments gratefully received.
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Posted By Alec Wood
Hi Dee,
Apalling conduct on the part of the manager, but not exactly uncommon. I assume that the company has no union or other representation of the workforce in any arena. We have no union here either, but we do have an elected works council and safety reps (RoES).
I would suggest that the disciplinary procedure be studied carefully for a way out. Ours specifies accompaniment in much the same words as yours, but we also allow "the employee shall be allowed time to consult with his representatives (and witnesses) before the meeting and to gather such evidence as may be necessary". It also allows for either party to call for an adjournment of the meeting if points are raised for which they were not prepared.
Your post reads as if the manager is instigating disciplinary proceedings against the employee without informing him of the substance of the complaints made against him. I would suggest that if the outcome of the meeting was to lead to a significant sanction against the employee, and it could be shown that the employee could have defended himself successfully against the accusations if better prepared, the company would be on shaky ground if it were to end up at tribunal.
I would advise the employee to be very carefull about his choice of witness too. He really needs someone educated and articulate, not someone who's his mate. Tell him to keep records of everything said and done in a diary so dates can be remembered, including printouts of any emails sent and received in relation to this subject. These should be removed from the company on a daily basis for safekeeping. I always advise everyone to keep a diary at work, you never know when you may need it.
The pendulum of power swung to far in the heyday of the unions and was rightly curbed, it's a shame that curb gave freedom to some unscrupulous employers who treat their staff like dirt.
Alec Wood
Samsung Electronics
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Posted By Karen Todd
Dee,
I think that under the Employment Relations Act, all workers have a legal right to be accompanied during grievance and disciplinary procedures by a fellow employee of their choice or by an official who is either employed by a trade union or certified by it as competent to act. So, I don't think it has to be YOUR union rep (as there isn't one) - it can be A union rep (so one from any union).
However, I suspect that they might try to say they won't accept this person.
Maybe some of the union people could better advise?
Karen
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Posted By jacq
Hi there, try and get your hands on ACAS Code of practice 1, Disciplinary and grievance procedures.
* Workers have a statutory right to be accompanied by a fellow worker or trade union rep. where they are required or invited by their employer to attend certain disciplinary/grievance procedures and when they make a reasonable request to be so accompanied.
* The statutory right applies to all workers.
* The statutory right to be accompanied applies specifically to hearings which could result in;
1) the administration of a formal warning
2) the taking of some other action (suspension, demotion, dismissal)
3) the confirmation of a warning issued or some other action taken (2)
* If the employer fails to allow a worker to be accompanied at a disciplinary/grievance hearing or fails to re-arrange a hearing at a reasonable date proposed by the worker when a companion cannot attend on the date originally proposed, the worker may present a complaint to an employment tribunal. If the tribunal finds in favour of the worker, the employer may be liable to pay compensation uf up to 2 weeks pay as defined in statute (Chapter II of part XIV of the Employment Rights Act 1996
Hope this helps
Jacq
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Posted By Allan St.John Holt
Hang on a bit, let's look on the bright side a moment. It doesn't actually SAY it's a disciplinary hearing, does it? We're all assuming that, but if you take the manager's Friday remark at face value, it could be just a preliminary walk over the ground.
Allan
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Posted By Geoffrey
Is this H&S or HR?
Reason I mention it is that you might not get the best advice on this site for non H&S matters.
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Posted By John Murgatroyd
Karen Todd and Jacq are both right.
When the employee was told: "at all stages the employee will have the right to be accompanied by an employee representative or work colleague during the disciplinary interview" his full legal rights took over.
The company is acting in breach of law. He can give them a chance to allow him to be accompanied, if refused he can leave and make a claim for constructive dismissal. Better to resolve it though. Mind you, a case not much different received a few hundred thousand...maybe in his best interest to string them along and then pull the cord tight. A contract of employment cannot overide law, if it attempts to do so it may well be void...hmmm
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