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unfair Dismisal for my wife and now they are starting on my son

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  • unfair Dismisal for my wife and now they are starting on my son

    My wife worked in a care home and was fired on Monday for alleged gross misconduct by taking part in a post on social media about her work place, today my son has received a recorded letter saying that he has a disciplinary concerning him supposedly working off site and not returning when in fact he was sent home after being sick on site and his supervisor sending him home as the care home has a policy of any member of staff who is sick either before work or during work is not allowed on site for 48 hours. now I know my son is not perfect and has had time off because of a stomach issue that he is going to the doctors the most recent visit was for a blood test. the wording of the letter is that he has committed gross misconduct and breach of contract for walking of site and unauthorised absence. the letter also says that they attempted to contact him numerous times on the day in question but they neither tried to contact him on our home telephone or his mobile. we need help as I feel that my family is now being picked on by the employer because of my wife's dismissal on Monday. they have said he can have representation from union of which there are no union members in the care home or a staff member who are to frightened to go in in case they are next.
    Last edited by belgarion21; 25th February 2017, 12:36:PM. Reason: slitght changeto thread name due to typing error
    Tags: None

  • #2
    Re: unfair Dismisal for my wife and now they are starting on my son

    Originally posted by belgarion21 View Post
    My wife worked in a care home and was fired on Monday for alleged gross misconduct by taking part in a post on social media about her work place, today my son has received a recorded letter saying that he has a disciplinary concerning him supposedly working off site and not returning when in fact he was sent home after being sick on site and his supervisor sending him home as the care home has a policy of any member of staff who is sick either before work or during work is not allowed on site for 48 hours. now I know my son is not perfect and has had time off because of a stomach issue that he is going to the doctors the most recent visit was for a blood test. the wording of the letter is that he has committed gross misconduct and breach of contract for walking of site and unauthorised absence. the letter also says that they attempted to contact him numerous times on the day in question but they neither tried to contact him on our home telephone or his mobile. we need help as I feel that my family is now being picked on by the employer because of my wife's dismissal on Monday. they have said he can have representation from union of which there are no union members in the care home or a staff member who are to frightened to go in in case they are next.
    I'm afraid that this isn't going to be the answer that got were hoping for. Even IF they have the two years employment to enable them to claim unfair dismissal....

    You wife either did or didn't take part in posting about her workplace. If she did, especially given the work environment, it is not entirely surprising that this was considered gross misconduct. It isn't "alleged" - a hearing has concluded that it is a fact. Is she saying that it isn't a fact, and she didn't take part in this? What happened, and what was her involvement? Social media generally involves more than one person - who else was involved? Did the employer have a policy on social media (although that is not always helpful even if they didn't)?

    Whether there are union members in the care home or not, that had not prevented your son from being a member of one. If he hadn't joined one, and if no other employees are willing to accompany him, then he must attend alone. There is no legal right to have anyone else there. If his supervisor sent him home, then what is the supervisor now saying - that they didn't? Were there any witnesses to him being sent home who are willing to confirm his side of the story? Because if there aren't, it's his word against theirs, and I'm afraid that I wouldn't give much for his chances. If anything, depending on what happened in your wife's case, he has even less of a chance, because he wasn't in work for two days, and there does not appear to be any record of an authorised absence - so even if he was told to leave, there is no record of it? Does he not have to sign out, or comply with sickness absence procedures (like phoning in)? Is there nothing that evidences his side of this? Because if there isn't, then I'm afraid that he was absent, and the chances of the employer deciding it was authorised would seem slim.

    You may well be right, and this is a result of them now not wishing to have any of your family members on the site, but that is not an unlawful discrimination. So it comes down to whether either or both have the service and the evidence to go to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: unfair Dismisal for my wife and now they are starting on my son

      Originally posted by belgarion21 View Post
      My wife worked in a care home and was fired on Monday for alleged gross misconduct by taking part in a post on social media about her work place,
      Trying to clarify which person you are seeking help for as the reply you got appears not to necessarily start with your son. So, is this thread about your son specifically? If you need to have a separate thread for your wife then that's fine but as has been stated above, I doubt the social media issue is one that we are gonna probably agree with each other.

      today my son has received a recorded letter saying that he has a disciplinary concerning him supposedly working off site and not returning when in fact he was sent home after being sick on site and his supervisor sending him home as the care home has a policy of any member of staff who is sick either before work or during work is not allowed on site for 48 hours.
      Is there a handbook which would state the rules in regards to sickness? I know of a policy in which you would have to be clear for 48 hours after the symptoms ended. For example, you throw up on Monday at 09:30am and that means that providing you don't throw up again, the earliest you can return is 09:30am on Wednesday.

      now I know my son is not perfect and has had time off because of a stomach issue that he is going to the doctors the most recent visit was for a blood test. the wording of the letter is that he has committed gross misconduct and breach of contract for walking of site and unauthorised absence.
      Was the blood test in relation to being sick at work? If not then it maybe irrelevant. Did that blood test fall on a day when he was within the 48 hours?

      the letter also says that they attempted to contact him numerous times on the day in question but they neither tried to contact him on our home telephone or his mobile. we need help as I feel that my family is now being picked on by the employer because of my wife's dismissal on Monday. they have said he can have representation from union of which there are no union members in the care home or a staff member who are to frightened to go in in case they are next.
      I don't think your son is being picked on but there maybe some issues that might be an issue.
      Are the dates that they allege absence from work specifically related to the date of being sick?
      Has the supervisor confirmed that he was sick to the employer and was sent home?
      Did he ring up the day after being sick at work to state he was off work?(If not then he should have)
      Did he complete a sickness form on his return from work ie return to work paperwork? If not, why not and who should have done that..

      I won't comment on your wife's issues because there is so little stuff about what she wrote on social media. However, if she has admitted to something that was derogatory on social media then potentially it would have been sackable. To be blunt, one rule of social media, NEVER criticise your employer online. There's no reason to say on line: "bad day at work" or "one of those days at work" but anything more should be kept well away from social media.
      Can you clarify the issues about your son specifically and when is his disciplinary meeting? How long has he worked at the company?(plus the other stuff above.
      "Family means that no one gets forgotten or left behind"
      (quote from David Ogden Stiers)

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: unfair Dismisal for my wife and now they are starting on my son

        "Taking part in a post on social media" could be something as simple as liking another post or something serious such as disclosing personal details about customers etc... There's a degree of seriousness. If it is something benign like the former, then yes potentially an unfair dismissal, if it's the latter, then I am afraid there may be little chance of claiming it's "unfair" (assuming your wife has 2 years service). What would also be interesting is looking at what happened to the others who "took part" in this social media post.

        In respects to your son; if in fact a supervisor did send him home then he was following lawful orders of an apparent "superior" therefore I can't see how that could be deliberate wrongdoing in any way. I only see three explanations:

        1. There must be more to the absence than your son is letting on.
        2. They genuinely are bullying him or;
        3. They just want to get rid of him and he has been employed less than 2 years.

        Either way, you're son's days do seem numbered - if he has been there 2 years or more, may be worth going into a bit more detail and if it simply is that your son was asked to leave by a supervisor and he's submitted to disciplinary proceedings because of it, which leads to a dismissal he may be in with a shot...

        Comment

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