Suspended on full pay for an investigation.
Discussion
Hi I was recently taken in for a meeting at work ( I am a support worker) where I was told I was being suspended whilst an investigation took place. I have not been told what the investigation is about the only clue i have is it is over some concerns about my practice ( it has been 2 and a bit weeks since i was suspended) and i have been told i just have to wait until they contact me to come in for a meeting to discuss the investigation and tell me what I have actually done.
How long do things like this normally take? should i be looking for a new job?
Cheers for any help.
How long do things like this normally take? should i be looking for a new job?
Cheers for any help.
Depends if you like being paid to sit around watching daytime telly 
If you have no clues about what this is about, then I would be getting slightly upset at the reputational damage you are incurring while being suspended - no smoke without fire etc. Given it's a public sector sounding role, then I suspect there is nothing you can do about any of it, and it is simply a fact of life that you will have to put up with. Learn to live with the whole job and culture, or move on.
If you have no clues about what this is about, then I would be getting slightly upset at the reputational damage you are incurring while being suspended - no smoke without fire etc. Given it's a public sector sounding role, then I suspect there is nothing you can do about any of it, and it is simply a fact of life that you will have to put up with. Learn to live with the whole job and culture, or move on.
dabofoppo said:
Hi I was recently taken in for a meeting at work ( I am a support worker) where I was told I was being suspended whilst an investigation took place. I have not been told what the investigation is about the only clue i have is it is over some concerns about my practice ( it has been 2 and a bit weeks since i was suspended) and i have been told i just have to wait until they contact me to come in for a meeting to discuss the investigation and tell me what I have actually done.
How long do things like this normally take? should i be looking for a new job?
Cheers for any help.
Well if i was the boss of your employer - id be having serious concerns about the practice of someone in the company that would suspend an employee without explaining why they are been suspended - and not give the person suspended any opportunity to give their version of events.How long do things like this normally take? should i be looking for a new job?
Cheers for any help.
Whats annoying me thinking about this is that if you haven't actually done anything wrong - you now potentially have no access to documents/witnesses and other things that might actually help clear your name.
The other thing - is that even if something youve been involved with looks like it might have an issue or 2 with your involvement with it - there might be good reasons why you did something a certain way or took a certain decision.
Something to consider in the contex of putting forward your defence when the time comes...
Do you generally consider that you were doing a good job in your support worker role - are you happy that your "practice" was sound and without issue.
Are/were there issues at work that you didn't cause - but which caused you difficulties and problems in your role and which could lead to issues with work done - which weren't your fault - but yet can be traced back to you - so your now the fall guy for someone elses mistakes.
I mean - im thinking of situations where say - someones workload is too much for one person - and they can't get around to everything - so sometimes something like paperwork might not be filled out correctly.
So youve done the job extremely well under tough circumstances - yet you didn't fill in some paperwork to say the job was done - and in the modern way now - no paperwork means the job wasn't done even though it was doen and was done well.
One more thing - if you genuinely feel youve done nothing wrong - and further action is taken - i personally take the view that you should fight your corner and argue your case as to why you feel you did everything in your role as you were supposed to. Let the company put forward evidence and put forward evidence of your wrong doing if they have actually got evidence - and to be frank a comment along the lines of "concerns about your practice" would suggest to me they hadn't sufficient hard evidence on the day of your suspension.
Could be wrong though - but i feel if they had proper evidence - they would have explained to you at time of suspension what the issues were.
Might be time to get job hunting - if youve done something wrong - i feel the companies actions to date have laid down a marker for how the matter may be finalised.
However - if my gut feeling on this is correct and youve done nothing wrong - i personally would find it very hard to stay with the employer - the sour taste in the mouth might only be cured with a move to another job.
Sir Fergie
Thanks guys your posts have been extremely helpful. Iv contacted ACAS and the union and Im going to have some support from them. I dont feel like iv done anything wrong and to be honest even if i do not get fired I will be looking for a new job anyway. Whilst I was typing this post I had a phone call telling me Iv to go in on Monday for a meeting where I will be told what has been happening.
dabofoppo said:
Thanks guys your posts have been extremely helpful. Iv contacted ACAS and the union and Im going to have some support from them. I dont feel like iv done anything wrong and to be honest even if i do not get fired I will be looking for a new job anyway. Whilst I was typing this post I had a phone call telling me Iv to go in on Monday for a meeting where I will be told what has been happening.
Good advice given to others in similar situations is to treat this as very formal indeed. Ask them about your right to be accompanied by a Union representative, and to delay the meeting until such time as a representative is available.
Take along two devices capable of recording the meeting. One to place on the table and ask permission to record the meeting, and one tucked in your pocket recording it anyway. Take copious notes, writing at your own speed, and not being shy of asking them to repeat things.
G'luck.
Take along two devices capable of recording the meeting. One to place on the table and ask permission to record the meeting, and one tucked in your pocket recording it anyway. Take copious notes, writing at your own speed, and not being shy of asking them to repeat things.
G'luck.
If you wanted to play their silly game you could go sick and have it signed off by a doc. Stress would be a good one to play, they can't make you come in for the meeting whilst your sick.
This happened years ago when i used to work for a public sector company and one of the guys from the team played this card - played it for 8 weeks in addition to the suspended time, all full time pay. Eventually he was fired on an assumption and 'beyond reasonable doubt' and no hard facts, but had already lined up a new job for the following week as a contractor and was doing much better afterwards.
If you do go in on Monday though, wish you all the best and that it was a simple misunderstanding.
This happened years ago when i used to work for a public sector company and one of the guys from the team played this card - played it for 8 weeks in addition to the suspended time, all full time pay. Eventually he was fired on an assumption and 'beyond reasonable doubt' and no hard facts, but had already lined up a new job for the following week as a contractor and was doing much better afterwards.
If you do go in on Monday though, wish you all the best and that it was a simple misunderstanding.
It does seem quite ridiculous that a company would suspend you without any kind of insight into why...
I can only assume that they believe if you did do whatever it is they are investigating, then you wouldn't need telling. This is still a stupid thing to do and is assuming guilt before any investigation has taken place.
The only other thing could be that by telling you, it could provide you with an opportunity to hide or correct the action/s. Again, stupid and unlikely.
As others have said, seek legal and union advice.
Good luck OP.
I can only assume that they believe if you did do whatever it is they are investigating, then you wouldn't need telling. This is still a stupid thing to do and is assuming guilt before any investigation has taken place.
The only other thing could be that by telling you, it could provide you with an opportunity to hide or correct the action/s. Again, stupid and unlikely.
As others have said, seek legal and union advice.
Good luck OP.
The first step is to find your written Contract of Employment, or Terms of Engagement as they are sometimes called, and see what the written words say about suspension. This is IMPORTANT.
If you have lost your Contract of Employment you should make an immediate written request for your employer to send you a copy.
The contract will almost certainly set out the proper procedure for dealing with a suspension. If it doesn't then your employer may well be in breach of contract by suspending you, which would give you important rights.
As others of said, you need to be talking to your Union or a Lawyer about this WITHOUT DELAY.
If you have lost your Contract of Employment you should make an immediate written request for your employer to send you a copy.
The contract will almost certainly set out the proper procedure for dealing with a suspension. If it doesn't then your employer may well be in breach of contract by suspending you, which would give you important rights.
As others of said, you need to be talking to your Union or a Lawyer about this WITHOUT DELAY.
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