Disciplinary Advice

[Nibble]

I agree, I admit me being late, is not acceptable, And i should of done more, earlier to make sure I was not late. I feel I do a good job, I get my head down and get on with it. not one to normally kick up a fuss, just like to be treated fairly.

That's fair enough and I wasn't suggesting otherwise, didn't mean it to come across any other way. From experience if I were in your shoes the only thing you can really do now is put the disciplinary behind you and try and get as much "clean time" under your belt as you can. A good few months of unbroken punctuality and "head down and on with it" attitude will probably make all the difference. Sometimes you just have to take your medicine and crack on.

 

[Publius Ovidius]

OVM...outside vendor maintenance
ECAB...emergency change approval board

 

[piersa]

I dont see it my self, other then in this instance regarding the outcome of the disciplinary. But other memebrs of staff have pointed it out.

as for being bad at my job, I have the best AHT in my team, My after call work is slightly higher then the team average, but this reflects my AHT I Guess? I suppose other people just do most of it during the call, where I tend to do mine after. Get on with most of the bosses, Theres a couple who 'have it in for me'. My brother use to work here, and he was a right little shit, And the bosses to 'have it in for me' are his old bosses.
I have done nothing wrong to them as far as im aware.

It sounds like you are working in a call centre? If so, there are many other similar jobs around. I would try and get another job and then leave.

 

[Carrot Cruncher]

If you live in Southampton, NEVER rely on public transport. It is by far the sh**est of any town and city I've ever been in, including European backwaters.

 

[Bowers-sfc]

Yeah I do work in a call centre. I know i could, but I dont want it to come to that, I know there comes a point where enoughs enough, but this job suits me down to the ground right now. monday-friday, 8:30-5. I dont plan on staying here long term, but I didnt want to leave in the near future.


And yes, I do liver in southampton. agreed, its proper shit. unless you want a bus to thornhill

 

[OzMike]

Leave for half an hour earlier than you think you should, works every time.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I wouldn't bother (yet) with submitting a grievance. Just read your company's disciplinary procedure and appeal against the decision.

 

[worthingseagull123]

This is why I work in the public sector. You are treated more reasonably, like human and not like crap.

Good luck with your case.

 

[Surf's Up]

I wouldn't bother (yet) with submitting a grievance. Just read your company's disciplinary procedure and appeal against the decision.

This, it sounds as though you have a reasonable chance of getting the warning reduced to a written warning. You'll need to get your appeal in soon (there will be a timeframe for doing this) setting out clearly the reason/s why you are appealing and you should also have the right to be either represented or accompanied by a workplace colleague (unlikely to be by a trade union in your case, but check anyway) at the appeal.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

But they have followed their procedures. There is nothing that says they can't go straight from a stage 1 to a stage 3 if the offence is deemed sufficiently serious.

 

[Surf's Up]

If he's been given a final warning for the same thing he originally got an informal warning for (ie continued lateness) that is a further act of minor misconduct and does not justify jumping a stage in the procedure

 

[Northstander]

Ahh I see! I have not double checked it, Just what somebody told me. Thank you for clearing that up.

Thats the right, the handbook states 3, And also states that poor timekeeping is Misconduct.
The written warning, is for a period of 12 months, I have no worries of this being a problem and causing me to get sacked, Its just that I, and people I work with, feel I am being treated or punished differntly then to others who have had the same issue.

word of caution, do you colleagues have proof of this or is it what they heard and feel this needs to be challenged? What I mean is do you know each individual circumstance as I would assume outcomes have to be decided on individual circumstances

 

[happypig]

Edit, read before you post.

 

[raba]

If the incident of lateness was in a very short period of time after the verbal warning then employers will often skip a disciplinary stage.

Get your appeal in & hope for the best.

I live in Southampton & am lucky enough to live on the Bluestar 18 route!

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Out of interest how late have you been?

 

[Bowers-sfc]

Hi huys, appeal is in and now my union rep has also sent a letter of support for my appeal.. here is the email

Dear *****,

I have written this email in support of a union member that I assisted in representation my reason for doing this is that I believe that the severity of the award is not a fair decision for the individual I was representing.

My reason for supporting the appeal by ***********is the remark by the chair that the outcome (Final Written Warning) was to ensure consistency with other cases dealt with by in similar disciplinary meetings.

Surely the consistency should be that each case is “dealt with on its own merits” and not “with the results of cases being a similar award”. This in effect means that consistency is being dealt with fairly but without a negative effect for individuals as in this case.

It was my understanding during the meeting that while the case was dealt with on its own merits that “the result” was the area that consistency was being looked for in this case.

In this case I believe that a Written Warning would be have been fairer if a Stage 2 written warning was given rather than jumping straight to a Stage 3 Final Written Warning.

********* had made improvement in work and time keeping but there was a lapse due to public transport and which he has looked to rectify. By bypassing the stage 2 I believe that the award outweighs the offence in this case. Taking into account that ****** was on a verbal warning. There were two separate issues one being the timekeeping and the other being an instruction being not followed.

I understand that it is not for his Team Leader to keep chasing him to make up time, however because he was having problems with remembering these issues surely he could have been assisted by management adjusting his schedule. His memory lapses were a known issue and he could have been assisted to rectify this problem without it being brought to a disciplinary meeting.

It is for these reasons that I fully support his submission of an appeal.

Your truly

normally about 5 or 6 minutes. on 2 occasions its been 15 minutes. in total, over the 2 months since my verbal warning in september, it adds up to 6 times. Agian, i know this is high but I belive I done what i can to rectify.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

memory lapses? if that was one of my staff they would be remembering their requirements PDQ or else...

 

[Willy Dangle]

I haven't read the whole thread so forgive me if already mentioned but this is how it rolls:

If your company deem the offence to be serious enough they can skip a stage. For example something that is deemed as Gross Misconduct (Gus) can go straight to dismissal after a hearing, there is no need for any previous stages with this offence.

Given that you have had a verbal warning I would suspect that your company deem it to warrant Serious Misconduct and they can enter whatever stage they like for that but it would be unlikely to ever be straight to dismissal.

You can appeal any form of disciplinary decision but you run the risk of a more serious outcome should your appeal fail.

I also have to be blunt and say that as an employer myself I don't care what hassle people have to go through to turn up when they are contracted to do so. I pay them to be on time and expect them to do so.

It is unfortunate about your bereavement and any employer should be supportive and understanding during these times.

From what I have read your the company are following the correct process and you would have little grounds for appeal. The question I would ask is what has happened to other / previous employees who's timekeeping was an issue. If you are being treated differently against a previously set precedence then you would have some grounds for appeal / grievance.

The company has addressed the issue with you and given you time to improve and you haven't and that is the bottom line.

Good Luck and get an early night.


EDIT EDIT: Just read your Union letter above and it wont stand up in my opinion. It is standard and typical Union nonsense, the reason I say this is because if you had been treated differently and inconsistent then they would be offering up a standard letter saying it's unfair because a precedence has been set. Tit for Tat, your company will have a legitimate rationale for their decision.

As you have appealed they could reject it and move you to dismissal, most companies would not do this and would just uphold their original decision but they are within their rights to do so.