So today, I was pulled aside in work for an informal meeting regarding alleged misconduct, some notes were taken in regards to the incident and I was told that I would be updated as soon as possible - Two hours later, I was pulled aside again and informed that I would be suspended with pay, HR would be in contact via mail with full details, and I would be invited to attend a formal meeting. Alleged misconduct; It has been alleged that I was in possession of illegal drugs in the workplace, nothing was said about the use of said substance (herbal cannabis). After work, I had changed into my own clothes, left company premises after end of trading then proceeded to smoke my cannabis in the car park as I was leaving. Someone (management) caught onto this when they could smell cannabis and clearly see me smoking in the car park. As stated, at the time, I was off premises after my shift and not in company uniform or wearing a badge, etc. I've been told a customer has made a complaint about it, but have been shown absolutely no evidence of this complaint. I didn't even see a customer leave the premises from the point I walked out the door to the moment I headed out of the car park. The reason I have been suspended is because I was in possession of this throughout the working day (I prepared it at home, left in in an airtight plastic tube and stored it in my rucksack for the entire day), therefore, I am responsible for a breech in company policy for being in possession of illegal substances in my workplace. I told the full truth during my informal meeting. My arguement is that what I have done was completely out of character, my disciplinary record during my 2 years at the company is fine - no issues at all, and I'm reliable, and that while I don't justify what I had done in the slightest, I had not caused harm to any other persons or the organization I work for. I'm not looking for criticism or anything, I have a lot of remorse for what I have done, and know it was stupid. Some advice on what to expect, exactly how serious this situation/allegation is and how to act when I attend my meeting. Thank you.

deleted pending work decision.

Hi I need some help. I am currently a secure council tenant with £950 arrears. My rent is currently £49 per week. I have a court date of Monday 17th November for missed payments on a suspended possession order from late last year. I need to know what amounts the arrears need to be at not to be evicted and get another suspended possession order. My arrears if I kept to payments would have been £227 by 17th November.

Hi, I was suspended from work on the 3rd of October cuz one of my colleagues, who I tort of as my only friend, wrote a letter of complaint against me. I have known him for over a year now as we both started the company on the same day. I met him on the interview day. Any way since then we have become quite close in and out of work. We work night shifts in a warehouse. The day the incident took place, which was the 28th of September he actually complained to the supervisor that night requesting that I don't speak to him. The supervisor came over to me and said that he's having personal problems and that I should not tease him. So I stopped!!! Ther was 2 hours left of the shift. The next night I didn't say a word to him. I had two days of and when I came in that's when my supervisor suspended me and showed me the letter. I've had an investigatory meeting to establish what happened. It's been 7 days since the meeting and I'm still waiting waiting for the outcome. Please help!!!

Hi all. I'm hoping to get some advice housing benefit. My HB has been suspended for awhile (they asked for further info - which I've submitted), due to a change in circumstances (changes in income & work). The landlord (a housing assoc.) are now sending letters demanding payment, which I cannot afford. It won't be long until they start proceedings for eviction. Is there anything I can ask the local council in order to get the HB reinstated? Is there an emergency fund for this sort of scenario? I just need to keep the landlord off my back. The council are dragging their heels in sorting this out, whilst the LL is breathing down my neck! Thanks.

I'd be grateful if anyone could offer any advice on how to appeal. I was shocked to find my car had been towed. There was a signed posted which read 'No Loading' (as attached). It did not say 'No Parking'. But perhaps more confusing was that it gave a specific address of 'The whole Bay outside the side of number 54 Chetwynd Road'. I parked my car on Twisden Road - Chetwynd Road is the road around the corner. They are using 'The side of Number 54 Chetwynd Road' to indicate that this is the house at the end of the block on Chetwynd Road and would therefore have its side partition wall on Twisden Road. However, this is seriously confusing and when I'd seen the sign, it appeared to mean that you could not load at the side of 54 Chetwynd Road. I parked there as did two other unfortunate people who were also towed away. It was a completely wasted day as it took 7 hours to reclaim my car from the pound. I missed out on work and had to pay the council £265.00 just to get my car back which I can't really afford at the moment. Anyone who has been through this knows that you are treated as a criminal by Camden Council when trying to use your car even when you have made a genuine mistake. In this case I feel as if they are completely in the wrong and would be great to hear any advice from anyone who has taking them on. Many thanks! AP

I have worked for my company 11 years. A year ago I took a promotion at a factory and it's a very stressful job and very demanding. I have made a number of mistakes that I have gotten away with in this past year. I think this mistake is the final straw. I was suspended today and I have a hearing on Monday with hr and the managers. I have figured this job is not for me and if I get to keep my job I want to be demoted and just be a normal worker like before. In all my 11 years I have never had all these workplace discussions and telling offs in the office untill this past year with this new job. The mistake that I made on the 15/8/14 I did not do on purpose. I felt under pressure and was doing two jobs at once. I was packing and then stacking. Each hour me and Another collegue was taking it in turns packing and then stacking. I was packing on the line as the next hour hit The other collegue told me its now my turn to stack. As I left packing for stacking the labels for the packets ran out. I rushed straight to the cage for the reel but the line was still running so all the packets were getting pushed off to the side then The other collegue was boxing the product off with no labels and the cases on the other end of athe line was stacking up on the line from the otherside. I quickly went into the cage and rushed getting the reel as there was pressure to keep the line running. The reel was the front one in the cage and visually looked exactly the same as the one which product we was using and it was on the same shelf as the reel that we should have been using in spec. I quickly rushed and took it over to the machine i rushed that much that i forgot to check the code inside of the reel. I felt like i was doing two jobs at the same time. At one point we use to have a machine minder whos sole job was to watch the machine and do all the reel changes and fix the problems because in rte packout the label machine goes wrong quite alot. But now they are on the line packing and stacking and there is nobody to take care and watch the machines so i would say there is no efficient care with the machines anymore. When something goes wrong the person who knows how to sort out the machine has to leave the line and there is nobody packing or stacking and the packets and boxes build up so you feel under pressure and rush the job, when there should be time taken to make sure everything is done correctly like making sure the reel is correct and checking the code. I am not in the union but I spoke to a guy from work that is I said if I join the union would he help me? My hearing is at 2 and I'm meeting the union guy at 1 and we will go over everything . I am no good at remembering things so I have written down kind of a letter with all my thoughts and opinions about what happend and what might have caused it. I deffinatelly didn't do an act of gross misconduct they are always cutting back on staff and it was an accident waiting to happen. I was signed off about the procedure of the reels but it didn't mention about doing 2 different jobs at the same time. Where do you think I stand?

Hi there, I would like just to ask what to do now. I am from the Czech Republic and was in Bideford, Devon, England last July 2013 and because of my temporary job I opened a basic bank account in HSBC there… Several days ago, I received a letter (not an e-mail) from the branch that due to inactivity my bank account will have been suspended on 7 August 2014. I haven't had the Internet Banking, I only have had my debit card. I came from my holiday and found the letter in the box on 5 August... Great! I contacted the branch here in the Czech Republic, but they sent me just an information, that they do only business accounts and could not help me. It is not possible for me to visit England now and it is very expensive to call to the UK. I just wanted to have this bank account for my next trips to the UK, and I said that at the branch in Bideford and the lady told me that it is not a problem, so we opened only the basic account for this reason. I was confused by the letter they sent me. Is it possible to leave my account suspended (frozen) until I go back to the UK? When I come to England again I would go to the nearest branch of HSBC and I would activate my bank account. I tried to search the internet, I even contacted HSBC via their contact form, but after I sent it it said "we cannot guarantee a response to all messages". How come? I hope you know more, thanks a lot! Aleš

Hi all. Just wanted to share my story and gather any opinions or similar stories. So I have a dreaded "Together Mortgage" (interest only) which I took in Feb 2007. Like many other people I went through some financial hardship in 2008/9 when the GFC bit. I couldn't afford my monthly payments and so Northern Rock offered me a "mortgage concession agreement" for 12 months where as I was only required to pay a certain percentage of my interest only payments. I don't remember the exact amounts but let's say my payments went down from around £550 per month to around £250 per month. The agreement was that the £300 that I wasn't paying would accumulate in arrears until the arrangement ended (I extended it after 12 months for another year) at which point the arrears would be capitalised/put back into my mortgage for me to pay off over the remainder of my mortgage term. Great. This was a big help at the time. However...... When the 2 year period was up NRAM decided that as they no longer offer that same agreement I had to pay back all of the arrears (over £6k) immediately.!!! I argued this and they basically told me that as I had no proof of the agreement then they would take me to court and repossess the house unless I come to an arrangement with them to pay back the money ASAP. The agreement they came up with would increase my monthly mortgage payments from £400 to over £1000 per month...! I now live overseas and so don't have any paperwork to help argue my case, the judge wouldn't postpone the hearing so that I could be present and ruled in NRAMs favour. They won a suspended repossession order that would only be enforceable if i don't meet my new payments. (I managed to get them don't to £850 per month). I laid all of the money back early but the order still stands for a few years. I recently asked the for consent to let the property out while I'm away. The max rent I will get is £450, my payments are £670 and they want £750 to give me permission. They also told me that The £750 fee will be added to my mortgage balance... How can they do that if the no longer borrow money? This really annoyed me as they wouldn't/couldn't add my arrears to the mortgage as per their agreement...! Well lately I've been reading about the CCA issues with loans over £25k and I'm wondering if I may have a case for them to answer. Like I say, I don't have all my paperwork with me at the moment but I'm in the process of having it sent to me and I'm also going to apply for SAR. I'd be really interested to hear from anyone who has a similar story or even from anyone who could offer any advice. Cheers all.

Hi there, Just after a little advice. Last november (2013) my mortgage company applied for reposession of my property. I went to court and managed to get it suspended. I have now cleared the arrears as set out in the court order and have made 1 mth mortgage payment on time. I was just wondering if i can get the suspended reposession order removed or set aside or does it remain in place for the reminder of the mortgage. Also was wondering if i should start the ball rolling in claiming all the fees and charges back, i dont want to start to rock the boat with the mortgage company as we are just getting back on track.

Hi I am about to seek legal advice with my problem, but thought I would post on here first. I was suspended on the 8th July following an anonymous letter alleging inappropriate posting on a social media site, this hinges on privacy setting's, but I can prove that they where in place. My main concern is the process... I have been accused of gross misconduct and the disciplinary hearing is at the end of this month. The paper work says I was suspended on the 5th not the 8th, I had an investigatory interview on the 24th July, and didn't receive the minuets until the 16th September, to amend and return. Two days later I received the disciplinary papers dated the 1st Aug!! The letters also refer to our meeting on the 29th not the 24th.. I know it sees like picking at straws, but as the "person on the Clapham omnibus" it does seem a bit messed up, and something as important as this needs to be right. I have worked in my role for over 10 years, and its a local authority, and would welcome others thoughts...

I am writing on behalf of my girlfriend who got her car towed last saturday morning 7th June 2014. They told us it was parked in a suspended bay, but after reading several posts on this forum, it seems we may have valid reasons to appeal. We would be very grateful for anyone more knowledgeable about the law on this to advise us on our appeal before we submit it. She thought her car had been stolen and it caused a great deal of distress. Plus it was a huge inconvenience to us as we were due to go away for the weekend in the car. The car was parked on St. John's Hill in Wandsworth, London. They told us that the car had been towed because it was parked in a suspended bay. Later in the day I went back with her to where she was parked and took some pictures. I also include a scan of the PCN that was given to us when we went to collect the car. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0Vqw_YSKNY5RkJGMFBQQjE0Z0J1cGRjejhwd2R6dmpKTEV3/edit?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0Vqw_YSKNY5T3pXSVBjeVpYX0VuUFhaTHNrWGRjU0h1dEtj/edit?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0Vqw_YSKNY5UzdXQklpREptWXhkV0p5NldTclVCZFV2cDR3/edit?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0Vqw_YSKNY5Z3lrckNlQzZfSzZJai1fTVN1aDdmVUc4VFBB/edit?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0Vqw_YSKNY5X3NLemNOYjM4RTQ/edit?usp=sharing You can see that the suspended bay sign was several car lengths away from bay where my girlfriend was parked i.e. the empty bay in the pictures. This is pretty much how it looked when my girlfriend arrived to park. i.e. all the other bays that are closer to the sign had cars parked in them. My GF parked and left her car, walking in the opposite direction to the sign. There was no other sign on the other side of the suspended bay. She never noticed the sign in the photo, further down the road, so she had no idea the bay she parked in was suspended. I am wondering if we can appeal on grounds of any or all of the following: 1) It was not at all clear that the bay was suspended. The only sign was several car lengths away. No other sign on the other side of the bay. 2) Is the sign valid? I have read in other posts that sometimes the sign itself does not follow 'the rules'. 3) The sign says that the bay outside no. 97 is suspended. The pavement is quite wide and it is not clear which bay this refers to. Especially because the only sign was so far away from no. 97. 4) When we went to pick up the car at the pound in Mitcham, we were told that we had to pay £265 or they would not release the car back to us, even though I told them we wanted to appeal. I have since read in other posts that the this is not the law. Apparently, they cannot force us to pay to release the car if we choose to appeal. Is this true? 5) My GF was away from her car for approximately 1.5 hours. when she got back it was gone and no indication where or why. Can they tow it without any warning? 6) We notice the address of the suspended bay is different on the PCN to the sign. The sign says "no. 97". The PCN says "no.s 97/99". Do we have grounds to appeal? Should we use any or all of the above in our appeal? Is there anything else we should put in our appeal? We would be very grateful for advice on this. Thanks in advance.

Hi all, Looking for some honest advice, no judgement. I was suspended from work tonight - I work in a shop and the temperate in there was 32 degrees and the heat was making me feel sick and dizzy. I left the till and asked a colleague to jump on for 2 minutes for me. I went into the staff room and got a drink. While I was in there I phoned my partner to say I wasn't feeling well and I was thinking of telling my manager I needed to go home. I was on the phone to her for 44 seconds and then hung up. My manager came to the door and flew off the handle, started shouting at me, pointing her finger at me saying that she's had to have several conversations with me about coming off the shop floor without asking (not quite the truth but I'll get to that) and that I should seriously reconsider my position in the company - she said lots of other things about how we were all hot etc and then proceeded to suspend me. I rang my partner to say she'd need to come and get me as I was being sent home and then my manager started shouting at me again, swearing etc. She accused me of all sorts to the point where a colleague who had been stood by watching had to interrupt her and say it was best that it was left there and that I should go home. Now, to put things into perspective - over a month ago I was out the back sorting rubbish. While I was stacking pallets and sorting rubbish I was having a cigarette. It's a pretty common thing that most people do, including the assistant manager and supervisors. I didn't stop working to do it, I was constantly on the move doing the job. She came out then and told me I was a **** taker and that I really didn't want to get on her bad side. She then slagged me off to a colleague but I just let it all go and said nothing. She then spoke to me two weeks later as something had happened with a colleague and I took some time outside to calm down, spoke to my partner and went back in. Nothing was said straight away and then I was spoken to about it by her and the assistant manager. I apologised and since then made sure I didn't use my phone or take breaks when I shouldn't etc (not that I did anyway - it was a one off). Now I've been suspended and I really don't know where I stand - she's making out she's had all these problems with me when in reality, she shouted at me once and I didn't actually do anything wrong and then she spoke to me about the one off incident. Other than that I work my backside off and love my job. Being suspended is obviously never a good sign I just don't know how it will go - she doesn't seem to be a reasonable person and lots of people have had issues with her but sadly seems to make up the rules herself. Any thoughts would be appreciated, sorry for the long post.

Hi, On Saturday night we had an armed robbery at the store I work at. After the robbers had left I called the police. I went back into the office and there was change all over the floor, the loss prevention officer at my company has seen me picking up £3-4 in change and putting it in my pocket. I admitted to this. I have been suspended with full pay until my disciplinary hearing. He said he had called the police and arranged for a meeting on Thursday with them. What is likely to happen now? Should I resign? Am I going to get a criminal record? I've never done anything like this before and my criminal record is currently clean. I think I'm the only person who could have two guns pulled on me and lose my job in the same bloody night.

I have been working at [company name removed] Glasgow since September and, since the very day I set foot in this company, I have been lied to, misled, treated as if I was nothing. Double standard is very rampant in this place. But today they crossed a line that upset me very much. I realised this morning that my bag was moved without my knowledge and without my consent. I did not know where it was moved to and I began to worry about being stolen. I always put my bag at the same place every morning, like everyone else at my workplace (including my team leaders and managers). I have a locker but it is too small to put my bag in it. I made a strong written complaint to my supervisor regarding the displacement of my personal belonging at work. the operation manager assistant asked to have a word with me. He then told me the following : - my email to him was out of place, - he asserted that if my bag is too big or my locker, I had to bring a smaller bag, - he said literally "when your bag is on my "floor", I can do whatever I want with it" (the fact that he said "I" instead of "the company" and "my floor " instead of "the company floor" distressed me and intimidating a lot), - He then was unable to tell me who displace my bag. I became very upset. I told him I disagree with him. I pointed to him that all the staff on the floor leave their bag at the same spot as mine. some staff bring large suicase and leave them at the same spot as mine. After my bag was removed from the spot, other people put their bag at the very same spot and they did not encounter any issue. I told him that if the company wanted me to move my personal property, they simply had to come and see and notify me of their request I told him that if the company wants me to put my bag at a specific place, they should inform me and every other member of the staff in an informal way. It came to a point when I felt that I was talking to a wall, I just stood up, told him that there was no point continuing this discussion and I left (i was very upset and I was shivering at this point). I felt like he had absolute power over me and my property. I felt threatened. I went to complain to my direct team leader and ask her to talk to him about what happened and that I was very unhappy about the situation. The operation manager assistant later asked me to come again for a talk, this time in a meeting room. Once I came to the meeting room, I find myself facing him and another supervisor. He then stated that he was starting an investigation about my behaviour. I felt like I was been ambushed. He told me that my behaviour was threatening. I asked him towards who. He said nobody in particular, which was a contradiction. I asked him how my behaviour was threatening as I left the discussion. If my behaviour was so threatening, why did they not call security ? Why did they not call the police ? I requested several time to have my direct team leader present so I would not be alone during the discussion. They finally agreed to bring her. I explained to him that I had felt very much distressed by his attitude towards me and I had felt threatened. Especially since I have had a long history of grievance about abuse of power and failure of the company to communicate properly and effectively with the staff. I explained to him all the issues of the past and the several instances (pointing the fact that despite talking about those issue with my team leaders and sending several email, nothing was done). I have been suspended with full pay until the end of the investigation and he told me that i can face disciplinary. I am distress of the fact that, after the incident, he was the one handling the start of the investigation, despite an obvious conflict of interest. During that situation, I have been unable to speak to HR despite strenuously requesting to. I was escorted out of the building as if I was a common criminal. My work email have been rescinded despite the fact that this was my only channel of communication with the company. I don't have any contact from the company to who I can talk to except a mobile phone number from a HR I tried to reach without success. I feel very lost and don't know what to do. Any advice please. Sorry about this long post which may looked confused. But I am in a state of panic and I do not know who to turn to or what to do.

I have been employed with this company for approx 2.5 years. Today I was called into a meeting and told I am facing a diciplinary hearing Monday for excessive internet usage. Now I do use the internet at lunch times, social networking sites etc are blocked so normally news and shopping (amszon) we are allowed online at lunch btw and I generally have a busy day with little time to play online otherwise in any case. I do sometimes leave the browser open in the background if I forget to close it after lunch, but this does not explain the "evidence" of what I apparently am surfing at work. I have yet to receive the full file, but from what I can gather and was confronted with, my PC is accessing the home page (I see no other pages listed than home) of an adult website even when I am nowhere near my PC. I can prove on several instances that I was nowhere near my PC when I "accessed" this site and for about 15 occurrences actually have photos on my phone that proves I was out of the office. I have no doubt once the full file has been received that I can disprove more of the allegations. However, it is a website I did visit a few weeks back on the company laptop (no porn it is a forum) in my own personal time (stupid I know, my PC was defragging and working like a three legged donkey) but I have never ever accessed it on my work PC during working hours knowingly. My question is, where do I go from here, what do I need to do to prove that on a regular basis my PC was doing its own thing, and how is it even possible that my PC is accessing websites without me knowing it and being my the PC? The browsers are Google and internet explorer, and I counted about 270!!!! connections in one single day! I am dumbfounded as that is a forum I use yes, but on my phone (smart phone which connects to the work wifi yes but that should not tie back to my PC, and I do not use it apart from sometimes at lunch on my PHONE not the PC, in any case I would have thought it be automatically blocked as we cannot even access something as basic as hotmail from the work PC) I am confused and worried, if anyone has any advice, then please help me out here. I have already checked my browser history and found none non work related access in my history in Google during work hours (I checked under settings, and web history) but my ie is set to delete history, cookies etc on exit, so had no luck trying to access those entries. Thank you in advance.

just a quicke for now. if i am suspended from work until a formal disaplinary hearing takes place can i be signed off work by my GP for stress ? i know i should of gone earlier but if i did i would have been todl that when i go back i would only be allowed to do my contracted hours which is 3 nights aweek, i normaly do on average 5-6 so would of been loosing 50% wage.

Hi All, Apologies for the long post but I would like to convey all the details. I have been with my employer (a major car company) since Jun 2011. Recently I attended an international 3-day training course to showcase some of the new vehicle. This is an event that has been held annually for over 15 years by the company but the first time anyone from my department has been invited. To cut a long story short, this was a driving event and I don't drive. For all delegates there was a mandatory breathalyzer test for anyone driving in the morning, though there were mixed messages as to whether non-drivers where to be breathlyzed. My director told us that anyone who fails this test will be subject to dismissal. Upon arriving at the location, a barcode tag to verify the persons license and information was given. As a non-driver my card was hole-punched so it could not be read by any of the staff organising the driving of the vehicles. I asked the person stamping the card if I was to be breathalyzed and he laughed and say no, because I don't drive. Rather than take this as read, I then asked the trainer for my group if this were true and he said yes I would, so I went with this answer. The night before were lunch was served there was a themed party with an open bar. I have never been breahtlyzed before and so was very concerned about this but on the same vein, I wanted to enjoy the party and so I had a few drinks. Prior to this, I had rang the police who couldn't give me any advice on breathalyzers and consulted 1 website and two iPhone apps to estimate what I could drink and how long it would be in my system, as I have no frame of reference aside from what would give me a hangover and what wouldn't. I am 6'6" and weight 99kg, I also drink frequently enough to be able to take my ale. The consensus from the three calculators was that I could drink 6 large glasses of wine (2 bottles) and sleep it off in 10 hours. I therefore erred on the side of caution and drank 5 small glasses of red wine and have half a regular strength lager, with dinner. I woke up having had 7 hours sleep and felt a little tired but otherwise not hungover in the slightest. I was breahtlyzed at 9am and blew 0.02% into the machine, promptly shat myself and spent literally the last 3 days panicking severely. I contacted our director and told him yesterday, who then advised that I speak with my manager. I did this this morning and was suspended immediately for Gross Miscconduct - Serious breach of company rules/policy and Wilful failure to carry out a reasonable request. I prefer to expect the best, prepare for the worst and so have begun searching for other employment already. What are your thoughts on this? Aside from a penalty (which dozens of others I spoke with have paid without disciplinary action for similar circumstances) there is no other history of people being dismisses for this. My argument is simply that although I did drink, there are other factors that could influence a breathlyzer and my score was low enough to warrant those factors being present. Thanks in advance. I am not a reckless person and have a perfectly clean slate with this and all of my other employers.

MICRO LEND Micro (Unit 3, Colindale Business Park, 126 Colindale Avenue, London, NW9 5HD) http://www.oft.gov.uk/news-and-updates/press/2014/11-14#.UyMMQfl_t8E Good news one of the worst most aggressive and abusive lenders has finally had its wings clipped by the OFT. Without giving too much away the evidence the OFT has is so overwhelming that closure is a certainty pending any miracle. It is fantastic news that these companies are now suspended from operating in examples such as this. A big thanks to everyone (You know who you are) that also stood witness statement against these less that desirable characters.. If anyone is interested the local news paper in the area this company traded are interested in hearing anyone with horror stories to add to their portfolio. Please contact: Mr Daniel Obrien (Whetstone & Barnet Press) daniel.obrien@nlhnews.co.uk Charlie

Hi, I am looking for some advice, I was brought into my boss's office at around 5pm and told due to my poor performance recently I will be having a disciplinary meeting the next day at 8am and I can bring a colleague if i want to ect. After reading up on-line this should of been done in writing and within a reasonable time frame. So I emailed my boss and asking for it to be in writing and within reasonable timeframe, I got an email back next day at around 8am with a PDF attached stating what its about, and date of meeting which was on 25th. Everything was going okay the next day, And I was trying my hardest to make sure i was trying my best. One thing that was odd I was made to sign an confidentiality agreement randomly and he said its for a customers pci compliance we all must have one signed (I had signed a none-disclosure agreement when I started anyway). However when I was being suspended he mentioned that I have now signed a "agreement" and to not do anything to harm company/sabotage ect.. (I would not do this anyway...) While I was on phone to a customer I get told to put them on hold and to come and sit outside office on chair for 5 minutes. I did that then I was brought into his office and told "You are now being suspended for gross misconduct for accessing another employees email, there will be an investigation and we will contact you. Do not try to access any systems, customer networks, or call any customers ect or try to sabotage anything or we will call the police. Do you understand?" I said no and he said "Basically get your stuff and leave." so I did and said bye. I have not accessed anyones email either and he hasn't gave me any information I have aspergers syndrome and this is causing me stress as I don't know when im coming back or if its on full pay or its not in writing, so i don't know what will happen next.. This is really unfair. I have had nothing in writing yet about the suspension or anything. (I was suspended Friday). Could someone please give me advice on what to do next?

My first post here as in desperate need of advice. I am at this point £750 in rent arrears which have mounted up over 4 years. I had a suspended possession order in court when arrears were £875 in October. Up to 2 weeks ago I kept to the £56 weekly rent but have slipped with a gambling addiction problem and not paid in last 2 weeks. I get paid weekly of £175 each Saturday and will definitely make a payment 1st thing Saturday. I can't pay £168 this Saturday in one go (2 weeks missed rent plus current payment). I need help urgently as can't face life on the streets. I also owe 2 years council tax which hasnt been paid and various other debts which haven't been paid in years. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi everyone I need help!! The other day one of my two owners came over to my work from the warehouse and told me the shop isn't making much money. I asked what I should do and explained all the things Ive been trying to do to get more customers. She then said that as Im the manager it is my job to know what to do and then said that If I don't know then I shouldn't be there. She then made a phone call to who I think was the area manager and said to him "where are you working tomorrow,,,,,, No I haven't yet but I will be. She then asked me why the promotional leaflets that were sent to me haven't been delivered to customer houses and said that the other owner told her I was going to deliver them on my day off. I asked if I would be paid for this and was told no. After this she then began to look at my sales and I had sold an item for £600. She then looked at my till sheet from the week before and there was only £580. She asked me where the other £100 was and I said that it can only be £20. She then told me to stop treating to her like an idiot and I said that perhaps I have cashed up wrong and the remaining money will probably in the till and I hadn't cashed up that day so if she checked it would probably be in there. I asked her to cash up and she refused, at this point I felt like she had made her mind up. She then asked me what I have to say at this point I said I don't know what you want me to say and she then asked me for my keys and suspended me. A few days later I received a letter saying the reason for my suspension was theft and they had written statements from customers, receipt books and stock control as evidence. However no evidence has been supplied to me. The following day I received a letter to come in the next day for a disaplinary hearing which I could not attend as I cannot travel to the warehouse. She has now rescheduled this for next week. On my letter it does state that the owner is the complaitent and will be chairing the hearing which I thought would be byased against me. I need help because of this and that I find it a bit of coincidence that one owner told me if the shop doesn't start making much money then they will shut the shop and I will be first to know which he said with a smile on his face. I feel I have been treated unfairly as I was made to work on my own, I was never provided a seat to sit on or given any breaks, however they only paid me for 8 hour day and I was there 9 hour. Also when I was on holidays and off sick other people were there to cover me one of which has his own job on the side doing the same thing. There was also the fact that when I did return from time off items were taken to other stores but not put in the transfer book. I have felt like I have been bullied and feel they are intimidating me as from what I've explained and when they changed my hearing date both the owners came to my house to deliver the letter instead of just posting it.

I work in a shop where each night that I work, I gather up the unsold newspapers and process them. A colleague asked me if I could get the tokens out from a certain paper. I have done this for 3 days now. I have been caught out as I as for an envelope (wish kept my mouth shut) never gained permission from anyone above me. I did blurt out a name when I was asked did I get permission. I was bloody stupid and have no reason why I did this. My manager is disappointed with me for lying and breaching trust. I was never caught taking the coupons from the paper or handing them to the colleague. The area where I do the papers is in the staff area and no CCTV cameras. I am suspended on full pay and not allowed to visit the shop or contact any colleagues. The thing is sometimes, we have papers in the staff room - esp during the weekend as sometimes we receive more papers than supplements (have to insert the supplements ourselves) and cannot sell these to customers. Sometimes these newspapers have other coupons like 'free bottle of pop' '2for1 at Alton Towers' and these coupons are torn out by colleagues, and probably without permission. The same applies to the customer magazine (paid for) and have them in the canteen and coupons are torn from that. There have been other colleagues that have been ripping out these coupons recently in front of me. I did mention these names to the manager that was gathering up facts. Not too sure what is going to happen to them. I am not benefiting from these coupons at all. Colleagues rely on me. I am very worried that I will get dismissed for this. I don't feel I can carry on with life and want to end it. I feel I have let myself down. It's my 2nd suspension in 3.5 years. The first one was adding too many loyalty points to my account. I did get a FWW for 12 months. I am in the union and will be contacting her. I am on annual leave as from tomorrow for a week til 19th Jan. If I am dismissed, then its unfair as colleagues have been ripping out coupons from various sources for years and never been caught. I am surprised with that as one colleague ripped out the same coupon from 10 magazines for £1 off something when this particular product was down to £1. I have never ripped out any coupon before this episode. Any advice please?

Hi there I have had a letter from Transcom asking for £47.35 for Ebay fees. This is from ages ago when we sold a car. I couldn't remember how long ago so I foolishly logged into my old Ebay account. Can this logging in trigger Ebay to know that I am still around? My last feedback was from 2009 so around 2 years to go before statute barred. How likely am I got get someone knocking on my door etc for this amount? I have read of harrassing telephone calls but thankfully we have changed our number a couple of years ago so should be ok. Many thanks

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated........ a week before Christmas I was suspended pending a disciplinary hearing. I work for a financial brokerage business, and one day I was on my own at work as my colleague was off. I had to take care of some business, and up to did my job to the best of my ability however on a couple of specific parts of the business did not follow a procedure set out. It was not uncommon for this to occur as it can be rectified. The problem started when I suffered a serious computer system problem, this occurred at the point at which I was looking to rectify my procedural short comings. This problem lasted for around 30 mins at in hindsight the worst possible moment. It was at this stage I realised that I would more than likely have to take a loss on such transactions. I had only the day before been told of a payrise as a result of my good performance, so when I encountered this problem I literally froze and panicked. I and my family have experienced a period of huge financial stress over which time I have been on medication for depression, so the payrise was a huge lift, the shock of the incident coupled with my concerns over the payrise led me to sit and stew over this problem for much longer than I should have. I spoke to my colleague over a recorded line to discuss the business and implied there were no problems, but I was still in a period of distress so to speak. I finally rectified the issue before the end of the day so that there was no exposure, but the loss at the end of the day was quite hefty, at around £15k (around 50% of the revenues for the month). I then came clean, but after working one more day, and a couple of days off received a call notifying of the suspension. I have had a fact finding meeting and awaiting a date for a hearing. I know that I could have handled better, and have always admitted to such, but argue the system malfunctioning led to the initial problem, but there is a procedural shortcoming up until that point, something that i would argue and can prove would have been dealt with. The company are accusing me of not following procedure, lying in telling the client of a different transaction than executed (something that has been done by myself and my colleague previously) and misleading the company. The latter which I can offer the excuse of shock and panic. There was no real intent of wrongdoing, but i fear a gross misconduct charge. I will appeal if that is the case, but not sure how effective such will be, i fear they want rid of me so the appeal will just be a process that they have to adhere to. I have been with the company for 21 months so unfair dismissal is not an option.... please help, more than anything just want someone to say, I have some sort of case and hope!!! thx Phil