grievance followed by disciplinary hearing,Help needed please

[steveofadown]

Hi everyone,hoping for some help and advice if possible? I returned to work after holiday to be told "somebody has put a grievance in about you,

 

we will have a meeting now to sort it out,you'll need to get a witness" No notice nothing in writing.Went to meeting to be given an envelope which contained five screenshots from my facebook profile.some of them mentioned about how unhappy I was at work.

 

I asked them to tell me what I had done wrong? they couldn't answer me as to what I was specifically being questioned over.no social media policy is in place at work,my workplace is not mentioned or used anywhere in my profile,and only some family and some close friends know exactly who I work for.

 

they suspended me on full pay while they investigate.had a letter 3rd oct saying a disciplinary meeting was set for 10th oct,to answer to a gross misconduct nature allegation.

 

I wrote back and asked for all evidence,statements etc to be forwarded to me by return post.as of now 16.45pm still not had any response. what do I do now and what should I do at the meeting?

[ericsbrother]

if it is a disciplinary the letter should state exactly what you are accused of and tell you that you are entitled to representation or have a work colleague present. If it doesnt have that information you can request a postponement until you have been given those opportunities.

How long have you worked for your employer?

[steveofadown]

if it is a disciplinary the letter should state exactly what you are accused of and tell you that you are entitled to representation or have a work colleague present. If it doesnt have that information you can request a postponement until you have been given those opportunities.

How long have you worked for your employer?

 

Fourteen years

[rebel11]

Hi steve

 

Hi everyone,hoping for some help and advice if possible? I returned to work after holiday to be told "somebody has put a grievance in about you,

 

No problem with that.

 

we will have a meeting now to sort it out,you'll need to get a witness" No notice nothing in writing.Went to meeting to be given an envelope which contained five screenshots from my facebook profile.some of them mentioned about how unhappy I was at work.

 

If your having a meeting 'right now', how are you suppose to get hold of a 'witness'? I don't think you mentioning your 'unhappiness' at work on Facebook is an issue. You didn't mention the company.

 

Whose raised the grievance and what about?

I asked them to tell me what I had done wrong? they couldn't answer me as to what I was specifically being questioned over.no social media policy is in place at work,my workplace is not mentioned or used anywhere in my profile,and only some family and some close friends know exactly who I work for.

 

All sounds very lame. You should keep all communication in writing.

they suspended me on full pay while they investigate.had a letter 3rd oct saying a disciplinary meeting was set for 10th oct,to answer to a gross misconduct nature allegation.

 

Suspended with pay is fine - standard. They need to tell you specifically what you have done that they consider to be Gross Misconduct. That should be in the letter you received. So far it sounds trumped-up.

I wrote back and asked for all evidence,statements etc to be forwarded to me by return post.as of now 16.45pm still not had any response. what do I do now and what should I do at the meeting?

 

You are entitled to all the evidence that they intend to use against you. You should attend but ask them to postpone.

 

Here's some info:-

 

http://www.acas.org.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=1043

 

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3375

[Pusillanimous]

If they have no social media policy in place they cannot discipline you for a breach thereof. They could go for disrepute instead, which is usuallly covered in the contract as "shall work faithfully" or something similar.

 

You are allowed to express an opinion. Not liking your opinion is not misconduct, unless you expressed it offensively or it could be seen as libellous.

[stevemLS]

There is an implied duty of good faith, it does not need to be written into the contract.

 

If you have bad mouthed your employer on Facebook, in the public domain, there are numerous cases which suggest they can take action against you.