Preventing serious career damage for the repairman who did a bad job

When maintenance technician John admitted making a mess of an important repair job he believed his fate was sealed.

Facing a gross misconduct allegation, he contacted our Employee Support Centre to query if he had any chance of keeping his job or if it was better to resign after 11 years’ service.

John was asked to fix a broken conveyor belt at the distribution centre where he worked, and he assured management he had done the job.

But the machinery broke down again immediately when restarted, causing a delay of several hours in processing orders.

A colleague called in to do the repair was scathing of John’s work. 

John was subsequently challenged by management, admitted he had rushed the job because he was stressed at the time and ‘probably did make a mess of it. John was suspended from work.

John later attended a fact-finding meeting as part of a disciplinary investigation process.

He was shown pictures of his substandard work, and John admitted he had been having a tough time and had done a poor job.

John was aware a former colleague dismissed in similar circumstances did make a claim for unfair dismissal, which proved unsuccessful.

So, when John was invited to a disciplinary hearing he feared the worst.

When John first spoke to our trade union representative he told him he had drafted his resignation letter and would rather leave on his own terms  than be sacked.

Whenever an employee admits an allegation that can amount to gross misconduct and can lead to dismissal, our trade union reps are always keen to understand if there are any mitigating factors that could lead to a lesser, or no disciplinary sanction.

There was mitigation in John’s case, in terms of his mental health at the time caused by personal issues, remorse he had shown and long-service and exemplary work record.

John said he would willingly accept a final written warning. Confident in how our trade union rep would present his case after discussing it with him, John decided not to hand in his resignation and instead attend the disciplinary hearing.

He exercised his right to be accompanied at the hearing and our trade union rep acted as his companion.

Prior to the hearing our rep drafted a statement of case, which detailed the main points in response to the allegation, and he shared it with John to get his feedback.

John was delighted with the statement and approached the hearing with the confidence he could get an outcome that would allow him to remain in the role he enjoyed.

Our trade union rep presented John’s case at the disciplinary hearing using the prepared statement as the basis to do so.

He told the meeting John acknowledged what he did, regretted it, apologises wholeheartedly for actions that were completely out of character, and had taken appropriate learning from what occurred which should provide an assurance he would not be involved in similar matters in future.

Our trade union rep said what happened was unintentional and an momentary lapse in a long an unblemished work history, caused by extreme stress and personal issues for which John had sought medical support and treatment. Details were explained and evidence provided.

John had provided our trade union rep with details of how he genuinely thought he had identified and fixed the fault, and how it was an easy mistake to make. This was explained and used by our trade union rep to assert John made a genuine mistake, which was different to an act of gross misconduct.

The statement of case detailed and referred to John's exemplary work record, positive performance feedback and appraisals, a medical report from his GP highlighting his mental health struggles, his long service and remorse, emphasised the mitigating factors in the case, and how employment law makes clear dismissal should not be an automatic sanction with a finding of gross misconduct

The disciplinary outcome letter later posted to John mentioned the severity of the allegation, but confirmed the disciplinary hearing chair was persuaded by the mitigating factors and decided a final written warning was appropriate.

If you are facing a gross misconduct allegation or any type of disciplinary allegation at work and you need the help and support of one of our experienced, dedicated and skilled trade union reps, contact our Employee Support Centre or call us today for a free initial consultation on 0333 772 0611.