employment law queery

[timber]

i have recently attended a disciplinary at work,and tomorrow i am attending a grievance hearing chaired by the same guy who chaired the disciplinary,someone told me that this is not right that both hearings although different should be chaired by the same person as there could be a conflict of interest,does anyone know if this is true?

 

[Marvin Waggler]

Seems a bit odd having the same person at both hearings, have you tried the CAB??

 

[timber]

dont have much time,i should have sorted this earlier,the second hearing is tomorrow (Tuesday)

 

[Neil ofthe nene]

Given that the chairman should be an impartial arbiter and facilitator of the meeting you should be Ok. Or is it that the chair is also judge and jury? I would have thought you could request a different chair given the circumstances. It's in the firm's interest as well so as to avoid you taking legal action should bias caused by the previous meeting become an issue.

 

[badpegpicker]

As long as the person who held the disciplinary hearing isnt the one that you had the original geivance with (I.E if it was a situation between you and your boss that started it all, and he was the one to hand out the *******ing) then it should be ok.

However, that sort of thing only tends to happen when the company has an official HR department.

One of my old work places did the "dirty" on me and I had a final warning by the head of HR. 2 days later and I had sent them a letter making an official complaint stating that I felt the warning was a bit harsh (due to my personal circumstances at the time) and they sent the same bloke up to hear me out!!!
Needless to say I wasnt happy and after a week of trying to sort it out, I walked.

My last place was a bit of a mare when it came to things like this, cos there was just me, 2 other lads and the boss in the company. So if you got a *******ing, that was it......!!!

He was always up for a debate, and it was generally sorted out over a cup of coffee rather than making things too official.

I know you say its a bit late, but a quick call to the CAB in the morning could be well worth it mate, even if you can only sound them out.

 

[badpegpicker]

Timber,


Just had a word with my better half, who used to work in HR.

As we have limited knowledge on the situation (I.E we dont know how large your company is and if you have a proper HR department) its difficult to know what your companies own policies on this are.


She has reccommended that you have a look at the ACAS website:http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2174


On there you will find a free phone number. Give them a call mate.

She has also mentioned that if you really arent happy with the situation and that you need time to find out your "rights" so to speak, then you are able to postpone the meeting until such time that you are clear in your mind that everything is above board.[:T]

Its also well worth seeing if you have a copy of your companies policy and proceedures. READ them! Make sure you go in knowing how your company is supposed to run things, as if they slip up, you can pick them up on it. However it also helps you to NOT slip up and end up being picked up on something[]

Good luck mate, hope that helps a bit[:W]

 

[badpegpicker]

Just to add, their numbers are as follows:


Helpline numbers

Monday - Friday 08:00 - 20:00 - 08457 47 47 47
Monday - Friday 08:00 - 20:00 - (Minicom users) - 08456 06 16 00

Saturday 09:00 - 13:00 - 08457 47 47 47

 

[the lake lady]

i had the same problem where i used to work i wrote to them asking for someone else to hold the meeting and i was done but i left before the meeting. a little bit of advice for you attend all the meetings and if possilbe take a union rep with you as they will know all the laws and most bosses dont like them.