Dismissal

nile145

Can somebody please advise me, I was asked to look after upgrading some office equipment by my boss. She was approached by an outside company and she wanted me to look aftere it as I had previously ordered the office equipment and i had and signed the contracts for it.

I did and there is one item which the company says I did not have the authorisation to sign for? The company is looking to dismiss me for gross misconduct for failing to follow company policy. My boss has hung me out to dry saying she does not why I did it?

Do I have a case! There is at moment no issue with the other pieces of equipment

Bepolite

nile145 wrote: »

Can somebody please advise me, I was asked to look after upgrading some office equipment by my boss. She was approached by an outside company and she wanted me to look aftere it as I had previously ordered the office equipment and i had and signed the contracts for it.

I did and there is one item which the company says I did not have the authorisation to sign for? The company is looking to dismiss me for gross misconduct for failing to follow company policy. My boss has hung me out to dry saying she does not why I did it?

Do I have a case! There is at moment no issue with the other pieces of equipment

You are specifically precluded from asking for legal advice ('do I have a case' is specifically referred to in the charter as such) this does not bode well for your ability to follow policies!

Joking aside, get in contact with an employment law solicitor. I can't stress enough how helpful a good one can be regardless of the outcome and the earlier they are involved the better.

Might I ask what stage you are at in the process? Have meetings already taken place?

nile145

I have been told that a decision on what form of discipline I will face, will be made this week. I had already been given a verbal warning of it, but now it appears that, the verbal warning does no count due to the serousness of the issue.

I only found out on Friday, so I haven't been able to do much.

It may be important that when I signed the manager was out on sick leave and as such there is a history of me taking on some extra responsibility. If she had of been in I would have went to her.

Bepolite

nile145 wrote: »

I have been told that a decision on what form of discipline I will face, will be made this week. I had already been given a verbal warning of it, but now it appears that, the verbal warning does no count due to the serousness of the issue.

I only found out on Friday, so I haven't been able to do much.

It may be important that when I signed the manager was out on sick leave and as such there is a history of me taking on some extra responsibility. If she had of been in I would have went to her.

When you received the verbal warning - describe what meetings happened in relation to it.

nile145

I was called into the managers office and asked about what happened, there was nobody else there. I was informed that I was being issued with a verbal warning there on the spot.

There was no record?

Bepolite

nile145 wrote: »

I was called into the managers office and asked about what happened, there was nobody else there. I was informed that I was being issued with a verbal warning there on the spot.

There was no record?

Okay get a solicitor on to this ASAP, I'm assuming this is a small company without a dedicated HR department?

nile145

Thanks bepolite, but it's rather a large company with a large HR dept. that's my worry.

This issue arose in sept but this is happening now?

Will talk to a solicitor this week. Thanks again.

Bepolite

nile145 wrote: »

Thanks bepolite, but it's rather a large company with a large HR dept. that's my worry.

This issue arose in sept but this is happening now?

Will talk to a solicitor this week. Thanks again.

Well it sounds pretty poorly run (please excuse me being rude) given what you've indicated.

Each time there is a disciplinary you should be invited to a meeting, given your chance to put your side across and then a decision should be made. You should have the opportunity to see all the evidence against you before the hearing and cross examine any witnesses. This should happen each time save for circumstances where X action results in Y sanction unless there are mitigating factors. Example: in my place you got to a verbal warning after X amount of sickness unless your line manager is satisfied there is good reason.

If the sanction may result in loss of employment there is a very strict procedure that must be adhered to, a solicitor will advise you further, but it really helps to have one on board to guide you with how you approach the situation. Make sure you get an indication of cost before you commit - I'd say I want:

A consultation for 30 minutes
Access to call them during the meetings

I'd expect to get that for about €200ish all in on the basis if it goes to an agreement to part ways, or EAT that they would be employed to do the work, obviously for an extra payment.

If a business ever comes to an agreement to part ways the solicitor will make sure the company pays for the legal advice anyway as it would be ill advised to let an employee agree to anything without them getting independent legal advice.

I hope I've not cross the bounds into legal advice which I am not qualified to give.