AWOL

Stan44

I am working in a call centre and have been put down for AWOL on sunday, which is a sackable offence. I rang in an hour into my shift to say I was unwell. Surely they can't dismiss me for this???

Any pointers folks??

Nevyn

Get in touch with hr, can you prove you rang in?

Stan44

I can.... Im gettin to have a meetin with my supervisor when I go in this evenin at 8pm. It will be up to her if I get dismissed or not. I've had a few other minor run ins with her before. But surely she cannot release me from the company??!! I will be appealin if it the worst does happen

Miskatonic

Stan44 wrote: »

I rang in an hour into my shift to say I was unwell. Surely they can't dismiss me for this???

If you're sick you're supposed to call in before your shift is due to start. If you left it for an hour after you were supposed to be there then maybe they do have grounds to put you down as AWOL?

ash23

What does it say in the employee handbook? I know in mine it requests that we call when we are due to start. If we don't call when we are due in then we get into trouble. Texts and leaving voicemails are also not acceptable. We have to speak to someone senior, not a colleague etc.

If you were late calling in or didn't abide by the terms in the "rulebook" then you may well be given a warning.

jawlie

Stan44 wrote: »

I can.... Im gettin to have a meetin with my supervisor when I go in this evenin at 8pm. It will be up to her if I get dismissed or not. I've had a few other minor run ins with her before. But surely she cannot release me from the company??!! I will be appealin if it the worst does happen

That depends on how long you have been working for them. If you are with that employer under 2 years they can dismiss you.

If you are there longer than 2 years, and if there is a previous history of not turning up to work, and they have discussed it with you beforehand, and if they have given you the appropriate opportunities to rectify the problem, and they have given you the appropriate warnings, then they can probably legally sack you.

Even if they sack you and you make an unfair dismissal case, remember that the Employment Appeals tribunal usually rules that both sides have to pay their own costs, so you could end up spending more on your legal bills than they may award you. If they don't make an award in your favour, you'd still be liable to pay your legal costs.

seamus

Simply not turning up for work would be considered "gross misconduct" in most work places and as such could lead to instant dismissal, depending on the company. It depends on the company, but in my experience most companies will mark you down as "absent" if you haven't arrived into work or haven't rang in within 30 minutes of your shift starting.

How strict they are on timekeeping depends on the type of work, but callcenters rely heavily on logistics and one set of operators relieving the previous shift, so good timekeeping is very important and that was probably explained to you from the start.

Unless you were hit by a car on your way to work, there's not really any excuse for ringing in sick an hour after your shift has started.

If you've been working there more than a year, you can make an appeal for unfair dismissal, but if you've had previous "run-ins" with your supervisor or otherwise been warned about your timekeeping or work before, then I wouldn't waste your time.

Ring in an hour *before* you start next time.

LegacyUser

Having worked in a call centre myself I would say you don't have a leg to stand on. They are all about call tiime, wrap up time, statistics etc. Don't know about your place of work but from my experience we worked within teams and our bonuses etc depended on everyone elses time keeping, calls etc meeting deadlines. So in these terms it's not as simple as just "missing" an hour. This would affect the whole days stats plus you didn't allow them time to get a replacement.

Agent J

1)How long as you been in the the job?

If its less then 3 months then you can be let go at will.

2)There should be some sort of disciplnary procedure. Find this and read it carefully.

ie verbal warning, written warning then after 3 warnings then firing.

This probably will warrent some sort of warning but if you dont have anything previous then i cant see it being a sackable offence.

CDfm

Believe it or not call centre work needs a certain level of skill

it would really depend on the type of centre and whether you are good at what you do

if it is sales related and you are selling then i would see no problem

so it would be looked at versus your overall performence

seamus

Agent J wrote: »

2)There should be some sort of disciplnary procedure. Find this and read it carefully.

ie verbal warning, written warning then after 3 warnings then firing.

This probably will warrent some sort of warning but if you dont have anything previous then i cant see it being a sackable offence.

All companies who operate disciplinary procedures include a clause which allows them to bypass the procedure where an instance of gross misconduct has occured. Most companies reserve this for things like theft, assault, etc, but the company is fairly free to define "gross misconduct" in its own terms.
If the company operates very tight shifts with handovers, then being AWOL could easily be a sackable offence.