Disciplinary action

allanb49

Hi there,
I have a Formal meeting tomorrow for my attendance in work.
Disciplinary action is being taken against me, in the 10 months i have been working for the company i have missed one day due to sickness and one day last month due to the bus not being able to get up to stepaside due to the snow and ice. Is this normal? Can i be let go for this or even have a mark against me?

patftrears

allanb49 wrote: »

Hi there,
I have a Formal meeting tomorrow for my attendance in work.
Disciplinary action is being taken against me, in the 10 months i have been working for the company i have missed one day due to sickness and one day last month due to the bus not being able to get up to stepaside due to the snow and ice. Is this normal? Can i be let go for this or even have a mark against me?

check your employee handbook about discipline procedures, but your absenteeism is fine, print the below off for them.
I doubt this is the problem must be something else, if you missed 2 days and they are holding a meeting, it must mean everyone else in the company has never missed a day.

http://www.sfa.ie/Sectors/SFA/SFA.nsf/vPages/Press_Centre~sfa-absenteeism-report-02-06-2008?OpenDocument

100gSoma

you should have taken a "Force Majeure" day if the buses could not make it up to stepaside. I think thats reasonable, i.e. its beyond your means to get into work on that day. As for one sick day, I have never heard anyone get pulled up like this for one sick day. Are you sure there is nothing else going on? sounds like they are looking for reasons to give you your marching orders.

wmpdd3

100gSoma wrote: »

you should have taken a "Force Majeure" day if the buses could not make it up to stepaside. I think thats reasonable, i.e. its beyond your means to get into work on that day. As for one sick day, I have never heard anyone get pulled up like this for one sick day. Are you sure there is nothing else going on? sounds like they are looking for reasons to give you your marching orders.

Force Majeure is an exceptional circumstance when you and only you could sort out an issue relating to your immediate family or friends. I.E child/parent taken to hospital etc.
Not bad weather.

This is just a meeting toi discuss your attandance, there is no indication that it could lead to further action right?

Most unions have agreed with the 3% target for attendance, do you have a record of going home early or comming in late, if not then I would say you are OK they are just letting you know what they expect and how they will be workinh with you to achieve it.

Of course this only applies if you place of work has a HR policey and not just an ad hoc version depending on how the boss feels that day!

HarryD

Your attendance doesn't sound bad to me. Not sure why they call a disciplinary meeting.

Recently my flight got delayed by 24hrs causing me to miss a day at work.
My manager told me to take a days annual leave for it which I did.
Is this normal practice ?

Wishbone Ash

OP - there's something fishy there. Most companies would be delighted to have only that level of absence. I say there is an alternative motive and bear in mind that you are not covered under the Unfair Dismissals Act.

wmpdd3 wrote: »

Most unions have agreed with the 3% target for attendance

I'd say it more like a 97% target for attendance!

HarryD wrote: »

Recently my flight got delayed by 24hrs causing me to miss a day at work.
My manager told me to take a days annual leave for it which I did.
Is this normal practice ?

Yes, that's what would normally happen in most workplaces.

wmpdd3

Oh yeah 97% attendance!!

sorry about that

AARRRGH

"Attendance" can mean more than sick days.

How frequently are you late/go home early/away from your desk for long periods/take a long lunch?

allanb49

Since you've all been really nice and helpful ill give a update on what happened.
Last month or this month when the snow and the ice was around i was trapped in Dundrum i know its not moscow or anything but all i have is a pushbike and the bus, for those of you in the sandyford area the only plausible way to get to Stepaside and beyond is of the 44 bus service. It was the friday of the week of the snow anyway and i had spent the previous thursday taking over two hours walking from Work to home hurting my ankle on the ice. So the next morning i get up a hour early just to check the CIE website and AA roadwatch, the 44 bus service was having difficulty getting up the hill in sandyford, i confirmed this with my uncle and mum. with no way to get up i rang my manager told him i couldnt make it up due to the bad weather and he was fine with that. I then rang the head office as is policy if you cannot get to work and let them know. That was the end of that till last monday.

Got the call for the meeting, Was just told for my attendence and left to sweat it out for a week.
Come saturday the meeting was at 1pm so i went in early as not to be caught up in any traffic due to the protest made it in for 11am. at 12.40pm i went down to the office were i was promptly told he's running an hour late come back then. 1.50 pm i get a call saying can you come over for 2.15pm so i do,
In the meeting i'm asked why i didn't make it to work that day. I give the same reasons as above, don't drive, rang manager, buses not going up there. Was then told the buses where going up :S that if they wherent i should've gone to a different shop and told one of the other in that shop to go up, Asked could i not have taken a different bus, Told the roads werent that bad as they got into town ok and that this isnt scotland or moscow. Was also asked if i could walk to the bus stop from my apartment to which i replied yes and told then you could've got the bus?????

I pointed out that i had only ever been sick the once and was sent home by the manager that day and am always in half an hour early and to wmppd and Arrgh ive never left early always till the end of day. And since the shop is so quiet and no where to go and usually only me there i havent gotten what could be considered a break since i started in September.
Just had to get all that off my chest being bugging me and also told me i could have told you all this on the phone which bewilders me completly in the end i was told don't do it again and went on home, But what was really the point in all that messing?

Was then sent to another shop on monday and tuesday after opening up for the first 3 hours there and sent another girl up and sent to another shop cause and this is the reason "they dont want me there on my own" even though this friday im on my own all day?

Also discovered that said coordinator rang the shop in Dundrum the day i called in and asked where the manager of that shop lived, She said Dundrum and then said to her where does he think he's living in ****ing moscow? Something about that annoyed me and will bug me for a while.

End Rant

and thank you to all that helped and said stuffs

Kristopherus

Well, that is some shower of fcukers you are working for. Absolutely no right to haul you over the coals like that. That borders on bullying. However , with your short working record, you are stuck between a rock & a hard place.Hang in in there for another 6 months or so and you will have the law on your side. There are strict procedures to be followed in any disciplinary action & the law comes down like a ton of bricks on the employer. And I can tell you that from the info you have given, the correct procedures were not followed.

allanb49

A year in april woo. Ah well at least i have something and a roof over our heads

Jimdagym

Kristopherus wrote: »

Well, that is some shower of fcukers you are working for. Absolutely no right to haul you over the coals like that. That borders on bullying. However , with your short working record, you are stuck between a rock & a hard place.Hang in in there for another 6 months or so and you will have the law on your side. There are strict procedures to be followed in any disciplinary action & the law comes down like a ton of bricks on the employer. And I can tell you that from the info you have given, the correct procedures were not followed.

Although i agree with you completely, the company did not break any disciplinary guidelines here as no disciplinary action was taken. OP was asked to come in for a discussion, and he discussed. There is no mention of verbal warnings or anything.

wmpdd3

I know you probably know this, but you shouldn't let them get away with not getting your breaks. More and more retail places are pulling this one/resorting to this one. Its dangerous and will only result in bad moral. If there are other staff around try get your breaks the more you let them away with the more they will take......

And it seams like a managers venting anger resulted in a discussion about nothing, were notes taken? did you or them have a witness? were the notes filed in your personnel file?

Looks like the pressure the company is under is festering through the business. You were right to get a second opinion on the matter as your company doesn't seem to have the most organised HR set up.
Hope it all works out in the end..