paulr

If they want you to attend a hearing they should send you a letter giving you time to prepare. Are you saying they just called you in over the tannoy ????

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

in a word... YES. what it was, were an investigation. they asked me to repeat basically word for word my statement, 19 or so daysafter i worte it while still in shock. when i didnt repeat or mention certain things, they jumped on it and started intimidating me like in a court room or police interview room. they reminded me several times that if i was lying or telling a different version of events, i would be classified as comitting gross misconduct.

they have just given me a half day holiday due to lack of work. i did ask for it anyways, as another 40-50 night workers got them too, hence why im writing this at 2.30 and not 6.30.

they have this thing, were if you have 4 seperate periods of sick time off in a rolling 12 month period/ or more than 10 days off in a rolling 12 month period, you fall into whats called criteria. for this you get a capability heraing, regarding your ability to come to work. ven though this accient is clearly not my fault, i still have to have this hearing by default, which will be notified via post. usually 24 hours notice is given. now as i had a serious car crash earlier this yeart, ive had approx 49 shifts off in the last dec. to dec. year, so i expect them to try throw the book at me for that also, even though the 12.5 shifts i had off with this accident at work were non related to the earlier absence. in a sence they bring up the past to ask you again why you were off (even though they know damn right) to see if your gonna change your story.

sometimes its as if they want to find a silly excuse to sack you so they can replace you with a european worker who cant defend his/herself and will not put up a fight, like im gonna!

andy

jaydut

As long as you didnt see the spillage and delibretley try to drive through it you will be fine I work in a large distribution centre also and see this kind of thing night after night.

Dont let them bully you and speak to an injury lawyer asap who if you ask should also be able to refer you to a lawyer who specialises in employment law as without a doubt you are being victimised.

paulr

Where i work we have a huge manual called "Conduct and Capability" which outlines procedures for everything from timekkeping to greivances etc,etc. You should have something similair. Have you read it or do you have a copy.

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

i dont think ive read it no. i believe there masy be a copy, but working nights it isnt possible to get hold of it as things like that are available through human resources during the day. and plus if you ring up h.r. asking for something they very rarely even call you back. to call my place now you get them automated numbers where you press option 1,2,3,4, etc. so its pretty pointless. probably all aimed at meeting targets, like who to sack next...

andy

paulr

It should be available for anyone to read and should be readily available. To be honest if you are facing dismissal you really need to get your act together. Dont you have mates at work on days who can leave it out for you on nights,wont your supervisor help out. Employees have a right to these things. Surely by now you should have gone in and seen someone. All very weird.

Fuzz

Just read all four pages...

What a grim job, is there really nothing else out there within your skill set.

I'd be fcuked if I'd work for any company that treated it employees that way.

Good money or not!

People in this country just don't stand up and be counted any more, and for it, they get walked over...

Andy

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

to be honest the shift leaders and senior shift leaders (ssl) (who conduct and run nights) have i in for all of us. its they way my place of work works. my ssl conducted this investigation and he was the one intimidating me. i havent really any comeback, as ive already put in two complaints aghainst him for bullying me and also refusing me right for a witness and goading me into arguments. he regularly stops the shift saying we must clean up in out own time, as the warehouse is now a self cleaning warehouse to save money on damaged products, ie we have two utilities who clean out the bins.

this is apoint i should have made regarding the spillage. if they were stil utilities employed to clean spillages and it wasnt out responsibility to report and clean them up, then this accident wouldnt have happened.

as it is i find im losing a the battle, but i cant afford to go to another job losing money everyweek, i have a mortgage and a car to pay for. i weas considering the steelworks via the mrs' dad, and also even the police force as a career move.

this company is so ****, that nobody in s****horpe wants to work for them, even on £20k a year wages and £16k a year on days. thats why the place is full of polish workers.

regarding calling them, ive tried this. i was told i need to wait untill the investigation is finished, that was adjurned on sunday night, and im still awaiting reaponce on whether disciplinary action will be taken against me. i personally think they are trying to scare me into not taking any action as im only 22 and rather naive with these things. but i wont take it. only thing is i dont know how to go about setting up legal actions against them, and currently im not in the best financial situation to be paying solicitors.

im in a very nasty circle currently and im trying to get the hell out of there to be honest. i hate it with a vengeance but like everyone else there your trapped as the money is good. i have no idea whether im gonna have a job come this time tomorrow, im going to work every night not knowing where my position is within the company.

i could try ringing up h.r. tomorrow, but the chances are i wont get through to anybody, and if i do i will be promised a phone call that wont become. what im waiting for is an answer to the investigation. if they dismiss me then i will be claiming against them for wrongful dismissal and also lost earnings due to the accident in the first place.

i can see from a person looking in on this situation, how terrible it looks and how much of a farce it is, but i can honestly not see a way through all the politics at the moment. put it this way, if i had been there say 15 years and was on personal terms with managers etc, none of this would have happened. all the shift leaders and senior shift leaders, warehouse managers, office staff, they all stick together and back each other up, even if that means false statements going in against somebody. this has already happened to me and ive had to accuse my senior shift leader of lying as he claims i said something i didnt, in this case he claims i said "i didnt move the truck" when the other 5/6 statements say "i did move the truck".

honestly the company (which i will still not name) is terribly corrupt. the managers etc see ganging up on the little people like me as a way to promotion. ive been there nearly three years, and have been trained on one other job than what i was employed for. some polish employees who have been there 5 months have ben trained more than me as they started leaving for feel of being "victimised" for being foreign. so now all the best jobs are going to the foreign workers.

i can even handle that. i go to work do my job, and come home and forget about it. at the end of the day it pays my mortgage and the bills. any other similar job in this area pays around £6-7p.h. not £10p.h. plus what im on now.

as people have seen i can draw and have a talent there, but nothing in this area regards jobs is available. im lucky i take to things quickly, im learning about engines etc, so i could do one of many jobs inc, mechanic, artist, architect, accounant, all sorts like that. but i cant afford a big drop in wages as the missus is only temporary at the moment.

the circle continues...

andy

Fuzz

Kick your missus into permanent work and get your *** outta there I'd say.

Life isn't about earning the biggest buck

70 years of happiness is worth a dam sight more than 70 grand in the bank, a nice car and a nice house !!

paulr

Good luck anyway. I know where you work and people tell me the pay is good,but hell you have to work for it.

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

i dont mind working hard for a good wage, but the job is impossible to do in the times you are given if you do everything by the book. then when you break a rule they wonder why.

they sacked several people last christmas as they refused to work boxing day night. i have to work it again this year on single pay. if i dont like it, i get dismissed, pretty simple.

fuzz, its not a case of having spare money, the wage me and my girlfirend earn means we get by ok. were not well off by any means, and a drop in wages doing another ****ty factory job would mean sacrifices, like comfy toilet roll, and my subaru. this is why im looking at a longer term option maybe at the local steelworks or a career in the police force. something with potnetial to further myself.

unless something to do with art/graphic design turns up. i cant even move away as my house is in the middle of being decorated at the moment.
andy

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

yet another update on this saga.

i have tonight a capability hearing (friday morning 1am). this is due to me having more than 10 days off in the rolling year. even if the accident wasnt my fault, its still gonna happen and i could recieve a formal written caution... 1st nail in the coffin.

then to make things even worse, at break time at 3am this morning i got another letter. A ******* DISCIPLINARY. im being serious, they are disciplining me. worse still its on monday afternoon at 3pm outside normal working hours with the warehouse manager... the biggest cheese in scunny. this spells trouble on two counts. one a disciplinary outside normal shift hours is notorious for dismissal, and two, normally a lowly shift leader does it, with witnesses on both parts.

i have the head of human resources, and the main man of the scunny warehouse doing mine...

my crime, and i quote from the letter, "alleged that you failed to follow safe working practises thereby dendangering oneself/others".

this is the biggest pile of **** ive ever heard. how the **** can i be endangering others when i didnt even expect to skid on a spillage that shouldnt have been there...

needless to say im registering with a union today and im having a representitve there on my behalf to fight my corner. im also goin to the c.a.b. asap to register a complaint and seel legal advice. im now pretty sim being victimised and made an example of to others, which is not right.

im right in the thick of it now, and come monday afternoon may not have a job over christmas with a mortgage to pay.

any genuine advice is greatly appreciated, THIS IS GETTING TO BE REALLY SERIOUS **** NOW.

fuming andy

EP82

It's terrible whats happening..

But if your aware of what the outcome may be i'd get on the job hunt straight away. I work in a factory in Doncaster which has a pretty decent sized warehouse i can pass on some details. They are always looking for English workers, you might even land a team leader role yourself.

I also know they are desperate for engineers, so if your mechanically minded and can proove it, it might be worth speaking to them about it. You can't be any worse than what we have at the moment.

PM me if you want some info.

Another way to look at it is if you are with head honchos they might see another side of the story, they aren't power hungry or atleast shouldn't be and i wouldn't think they would sack someone to impress.

Good Luck

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

such is my lack of regard and respect for anybody in management, i believe the above to be false. if anything its more true the higher you go. its a shame such a great company with 200 years of history is in scunny at least, run by such a bunch of useless power hungry *******.

its very rare that anyone higher than a picker started out at the bottom like i am and worked their way up. nope they come in straight at the higher jobs, pretend what they are doing and go right in for the promotions, when they are clearly better equiped people "in house" for the job. example being i have been there longer than my surrent night manager. he started out as a shift leader, didnt know what the **** to do, sucked some management ****, and hey presto, 18 months later still hasnt a clue but has had 2 promotions.

its a lose lose situation working at my place. i have ben on a job hunt recently anyway, but nothing come any where near as close for the wages. i simply cant afford a significant drop in earnings. im on around £20k a year now, i could maybe go as low to £16-17k with sacrifices.

what sort of job do you do? could you pm me some details please and let me know what the shifts/wages/people/job in general are like. i wouldnt even mind commuting...

andy

Fuzz

*******. ....

Definite case to take to court this one.
Screw the *******s for every penny.


Andy

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

right im absolutley stumped. no idea what to do. ive just rung up gmb to ask to join. this takes around 1 month to go through. thats no good for me, as i need representation for monday afternoon. i could speak to the citizens advice bereau tomorrow if i barge in there. i could try acas for some free advice. any ideas people, this is proper upsetting me now. i dont even wanna go to work

andy

DCI Gene Hunt

Be cool about it....... let them spell out exactly why they believe this disciplinary action is necessary, sit there quietly, make NO comment, do not verbally agree with them or infer you agree with them, take an independent witness in with you..... and let them show their hand be polite, and leave....

You then sit down with a nice cup of coffee and decide whether you agree with or dispute what they are saying!

As before 'keep quiet' & 'DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES AGREE WITH OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYTHING! just say that you are disappointed with their findings..........

agent003

If they ever come to read this you are fooked as they will just say youve taken time off to chase loans and buy your scooby

I hope you are enjoying your new motor by the way

SJ_Skyline

Smells like constructive dismissal to me

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

i dont follow...

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

thats fair enough mate, but im worried because the guy chairing the hearing can dismiss me there and then, if he believes there is a case for gross misconduct. yeah if i got sacked im allowed to apprel, but its christmas, and i have bills to pay. i could still be without a job for weeks on end until legal advice is sought.

im not able to have a union representitive there as i have only just joined, so a work collegue seems my only option. i am however considering legal action tomorrow when i have finished work. its bad enough them saying it was my fault, but they havent presented any evidenece/proof to completement their allegations. all i got was a letter saying id breached safe working practises.

now as far as i know im entitled to a copy of every reconstruction picture taken, every witness statement taken, including the false one by the polish employee, and anything else relevant to the inverstigation and accident.

when i go into work this evening i will be approaching my senior shift leader to ask for copies of thses, and if refused will be mentioning all of this tomorrow to a solicitor. im upset it has got this far, but i have a very clean past at the sompany, and have never had any form of warning before and have a spotless record. whether this is taken into consideration i dont care, it still doesnt detract from the fact they are looking at an easy way to dismiss me.

my only regret in this is that im wasnt already a member of a union. but in a month or so time if this is still niggling along i will have two fronts to fight the case on my behalf.

my worst fear is being unemplyed over the festive period. if id have known work were going to be as nasty as this towards me i would never have even considered getting a new car. so agent 003 thanx for the constructive comment my way...

i just hope these commissions im doing on here could keep me going if i do indeed get dismissed and are out of work until any appeal is forthcoming. theyre simply trying to be arkward with me and i know it. if this was in summer time when the warehouse is at its peak, nothing would have happened to me, and i know this from seeing other accidents/inncidents.

as far as legal action, im doing them for unfair treatment/possible dismissal depanding on mondays outcome, lost earnings, victimisation, personal injury to myself, health and safety issues at work, false statement against said polish employee... the list goes on and on.

i suppose for the neutral this is an excaeelent read, but i hope this doesnt happen to anyone else.

andy

SJ_Skyline

constructive dismissal

Even if you come out of this the other side still in your job there will be such an atmosphere that you will find it very hard to continue in the job. It really sucks and from what you've said on this thread you are the injured party. You have to keep reminding yourself and them that the company's negligence caused the accident in the first place and that you are the victim here.

Best of luck tomorrow

DCI Gene Hunt

I'd rather not be reading this TBH, especially at Christmas..... but an old boss of mine once said "worrying! whats the point of that, it wouldn't change the outcome of anything" and it's true it doesn't.......

If you get the bullet tomorrow you look for and get another job, won't be easy, may not be as well paid, but you'll get off your **** and do it.... so don't waste too much of your life worrying

agent003

This is true.... worry about it and you get the bullet twice.

You've got to convince youselfe that you are being honest and truthfull before trying to convince others

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

thats it, they havent mentioned anything about the spillage, more condeming me for my actions leading upto the accident and thereafter the accident.

trying to do me for excessive speed, which i proved wasnt the case, then for not reporting the accident properly, moving my truck out of harms way, even driving home after the accident. they said as i was in shock i shouldnt have driven, but nobody advised me no to. theyre even saying i refused hospital treatment. i simply didnt. i said that i knew what injury i had sustained, and that my personal g.p. would be of more help than a nurse, considering it was a bump to a previous injury.

they have not accepted any liability for the spillage being there, only the points that intimidate my side of the story. one of the best parts was, when the accident happened, EVERY SINGLE TEAM LEADER and shift manager was upsatirs in a board meeting! not one shift leader/supervisor of any kind on a shop floor thats 600,000 odd square feet in size. all there was were a couple of trainers, there for the puropse of the new polish workers. now if that isnt negligence towards the whole of the workforce (as these meetings take forever) then what is.

how can they possibly say it was my fault. i reported it to the first person i could. the main witness behind me went straight past, without blinking an eyelid, and didnt even report the spillage even though he drove over it more than i did and knew it was there. secondly he didnt report the accident, thirdly he put in a false statement against myself, which can be proven, as the electronic voice system used in picking can pinpoint where you have gone, at what time etc.

but they dont mention any of this, they seem content on scaring me and making me out to be the giulty party whereas they can do nothing wrong. but when i seek legal advice, if possible i will go public, and make as much press over the matter as possible, within legal restrictions.

the only reason im on here talking about it is there are a lot of wise heads who have offered me excellent advice, which in turn is much appreciated.

all i can do now is go to work tonight, keep my head down, as for copies of all said documents regarding the accident inc pics, notes stetements etc, and wait until i see a legal eagle tomorrow to see what my options are.

andy

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

why would i need to convince myself. if im spouting the truth there is no convincing needed. i natirally worry about silly things, so when something like this pops up, al hell breaks loose. at the end of the day i shouldnt have to try convince my employers it wasnt my fault, if they had have said "yes, we should have had the spillage sorted etc etc blah blah" then there wouldnt have been any of this.

andy

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

ive had a read of that constructive dismissal and it does make a lot of sence. im currently looking for another job, not related to the accident, but because im sick of the treatment levels of the staff, this scenario highlighting that.

andy

agent003

I dont need to tell you that if you were that convinced you would of not come around here seeking other peoples advice.. right?.. so its as I said

If you are are sure that you are in the right then say no more and go into that office with the absolute attitude that you are going to come out of it on top.... If they smell the slightest bit of fear on you m8 you are fried for sure

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

point taken. but i was asking advice as others on here (possibly yourself included) may have been in a simialr situation. not because im looking for people to believe me. i am very sure of my honesty on this matter, asking the advice i was, was for the reason on how to present my case, and if therefore punished for something that wasnt my wrong doing, advice on what to do afterwards.

sorry to be such a burden

as said i shall see what is said come monday, or even tomorrow when i seek advice on a legal stance. comments appreciate agent003 even if we dont get along

andy

agent003

Naaa... We get along like a house on fire ( not the glass one )