So one of my close friends, who shall remain nameless, was contracted at a company (UK), that shall remain nameless, has been sacked for improper use of equipment. The allegation was that she had used a group shelter to keep her and her groups equipment dry while running an activity... To me this is a good idea. To the manager, it was not and she was dismissed on the spot with no disciplinary, no formal warning. Does anyone know of any trade unions for outdoor workers? Now, having a mother who is a trained union steward for the Royal College of Midwives, and baring in mind that union stewards know the ins and outs of disciplinary procedures etc, etc. I asked for some advice on behalf of my friend. Just as a note for anyone who may come up against this, I am aware this is a page for freelancers, but you may end up taking a contracted position at some point. If you are given a disciplinary, you should have it in writing, with all the allegations in the letter and a set date a time. This written notification should be given to you in due time, ie, not with an hour to go. You should be given at least 24 hours notice before disciplinary action. At a disciplinary you should have the person who is disciplining you (there may be one or two managers, if you feel intimidated, ie, the entire management team is there you can ask some to leave if not comfortable). You can have a union representative, along with a union rep, you and the manager are both entitled to have a witness there who are allowed to take notes. A disciplinary is about an isolated issue, they are not allowed to bring up previous off the record chats theyve had, any previous warnings you may have or anything that is not in relation to the allegations on the written notification. Eg, if you are being disciplined for inappropriate language, they cannot bring up the equipment you broke while dicking around a few weeks ago. The only evidence, such as statements must be written and presented at the meeting, they cannot produce them afterwards as they may be fabricated. They must be signed by the person that wrote them and must be dated. They must also, upon request be able to give you a copy. If they refuse, its against the rules and regulations. It is a DISCUSSION from BOTH sides. I cannot stress this one enough, I was subject to a disciplinary at my weekend job while i was at college and i was shouted and sworn at by the manager and not allowed to offer my defence. This caused me to get up and leave the room. You can leave if this happens as you have sufficient grounds to. You may also refuse to enter if there is not witnesses, independent note taker etc. Take notes yourself as well as the note taker. You must be given time to explain your side, its not a bollocking, which is a common misconception managers seem to labour under. Its a discussion and action plan. It may end up in a dismissal but thats all down to circumstances. Be honest, admit if you cocked up, but dont admit what you havent done, stay rigid on that. Basically guys, even if you are contracted companies will still treat you like youre freelance and drop you for little or no reason. Make sure you know youre companies disciplinary procedures and make sure as hell they follow them. If they dont theres always the grievance procedures and if you feel like youve been mistreated industrial tribunals generally do quite well for making sure youre treated properly.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 23:50:59 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015