suspended from work

[desperate]

Hi there, Neil has been working very successfully at a local soft furnishing shop for just over a year. He has done very very well there and has been made senior sales assistant. He has also had a commendation from the managing director of the company for stopping a shop thief form getting away with his loot. He has made friends and has always received very high marks on his appraisals. He is never off sick and works as many hours as they ask him, sometimes up to 60 hours a week. His boss has often said how hard he works and are there any more like him at home He has also never been in any trouble there, a massive achievement given his history, exclusion from every school he went to and no qualifications

 

Unfortunately on friday he was involved in an altercation with another member of staff, an asperger young man. The other person swore repeatedly at neil and in the end he resorted to swearing himself. This was observed by three witnesses. sadly all this happened on the shop floor. The manager has said that he is not interested in who started it, they both swore, a fair comment, and has suspended both of them on full pay until a hearing next week. The manager expects both of them to be sacked.

 

Does neil have any rights, given that he is autistic, and has never been in any trouble there before, no warnings of any sort and he admitted he was wrong, apologised and said he would ensure it never happened again. This shop is his entire world, he even spends his days off there.

[Clare63]

Oh dear Desperate, how awful.... I am thinking hard what to say, I used to be a Union Rep for 3 years so feel I should have some answers for you. Is Neil a member of a Union ? he will certainly need some help with this and it is the law that he should have someone with him at the hearing, if he's not a member of a Union how about the CAB. Considering his work history and how well he has done and been thought of, I would have thought this incident may warrrant a written warning, sacking seems far far too harsh. if I can think of anything else I will post back.

Good luck

Clare x

[pearl]

desperate, how about the NAS Prospects service, even if it doesnt operate in your area theres a helpline. Its on the NAS website.

 

What a tragic situation for both Neil & the other young man, surely, surely with his fantastic work record they can sort something out? He most definitely needs an advocate who understands autism.

 

Really hope it works out. <'>

[Tally]

I agree it is not acceptable to swear on the shop floor, but the events leading up to him swearing are relevant, as is his excellent record so far, and the fact that none of the witnesses were bothered enough to intervene.

 

If he's not a union member, definitely contact the CAB and Prospects. And perhaps now would be a good time to become a union member. They may be willing to help out even if he was not a member at the time of the incident.

 

I wonder if he could write a letter pointing out how out of character this incident was, and what strategies he will use to prevent it recurring, such as walking away from the shop floor is a colleague starts to shout abuse at him. Point out how ridiculous it would be to let such a good member of staff go over a one-off incident which will never be repeated. But I would seek advice before writing an admission of guilt or an apology.

 

Where I work people have got away with fighting on the shop floor, going AWOL for up to a week at a time, repeatedly, and driving the forklift unlicensed. What your son has done is really not that bad.

 

He should be entitled to have a representative with him at the disciplinary hearing. This could be another member of staff, but in the case of a learning disability, they would struggle to disallow a parent to attend.

[baddad]

Hi desperate -

Sorry to hear about neil's awful situation <'>

Don't have any real advice to offer, but I guess the reality is it's going to depend on the manager and company policy... if there is a definitive policy that abusive language/swearing is a case for instant dismissal, and that is strictly enforced by the co H/O the manager may not have any options whatsoever, regardless of his personal feelings on the subject or Neil's work record to date.

I think during the suspension period the best thing is to find out exactly what the disciplinary hearing entails, what the companies written policies/procedures say about such hearings (witnesses/records/support etc) and what the written policies say specifically about this type of conduct and 'instant dismissal' procedures. All of this information should be in his contract of employment and/or employees handbook. Hopefully there will be some room for manouvre/individual consideration, and his work record to date would seem to indicate if that is the case that a written warning would seem more appropriate.

It's possible the manager is being a bit of a ********* and playing the 'heavy' and that things aren't quite as black as they seem. I hope so.

Very best

 

BD

[hev]

has there been any more news?what day is his hearing?

[desperate]

thanks for all your words of help and advice. We don't know what the day of the hearing is yet, Neil should hopefully get a letter through the post today. I hope it won't be long, it certainly should be this week. The shop is Neil's world, he even spends his days off there, so not being able to even set foot on the premises is having a massive effect on him. We even spent his holiday touring other ......... stores across England to see how they compared to his!

[SallyAspie]

Had his employer made 'reasonable adjustments' for him under the disbility discrimination act. If they had failed to make a reasonable adjustment that would have prevented the incident then dismissing him could be illegal. Check out their websit for further guidance.

[lynda4]

I'm so sorry to hear this {{{{{hugs}}}}} to you both. My sons have also been dismissed through things which related to their ASDs, so I do feel for you and your son. You need to look at his contracyt of emplyment, it should say on there which things are classed as "gross misconduct" and therefore they're able to sack him without giving him prior warning. In our case, two of the jobs weren't worth fighting for but we dug our heels in over the 3rd job, more for his reputation than getting the job back. I rang the area manager and talked to him, reminding him that they knew ds had an ASD and explaining how this action of his came about in that context. He got a full apology, offer of reinstatement and a good reference and has since moved onto another job in a different company where he's well appreciated and he's very happy.

 

I think it does depend on the size of the company and how strongly they stick to their company policy, smaller companies can be more flexible, thogh aren't necessarily any more understanding! Try giving Disability Rights a ring for their advice. They've been very helpful with us on an educational matter. They'd prefer to speak to your son directly but if he's not good on the phone or couldn't explain himself well to them, they would be able to give you general advice or info, not specific but probably enough to sort you out. If you were to continue needing their help on a more detailed and personal level, they'd send you a form for your son to sign, officially allowing you to act as his advocate with them.

 

http://www.drc-gb.org/employment.aspx

 

Hope you manage to get this sorted soon xx

[desperate]

Hi all, Neil got a final written warning yesterday at his disciplinary meeting. Its to stay on his record for a year. He has also been told that he will be given much more training in how to work alongside his co workers and given strategies in what to do when he feels that stressed again. He is also being given a mentor who is going to report regularly on how he is coming along.

I just thak god he wasn't sacked.

[oxgirl]

Hi all, Neil got a final written warning yesterday at his disciplinary meeting. Its to stay on his record for a year. He has also been told that he will be given much more training in how to work alongside his co workers and given strategies in what to do when he feels that stressed again. He is also being given a mentor who is going to report regularly on how he is coming along.

I just thak god he wasn't sacked.

 

 

Oh, that's great news, desperate, I've been thinking about your lad. <'>

It sounds like they really want to help him and work with him and, hopefully, he'll really benefit from the input their giving him. What a relief for you all.

 

~ Mel ~

[pearl]

Oh thank goodness, what a huge relief for him and you.

Sounds in the end like they have handled it well.

[baddad]

glad things have worked out OK. Awful way of getting it, but that extra training and stress management strategies sounds like a real result

 

L&P

 

BD

[Tally]

I'm so glad he got to keep his job. That is the most important thing. It doesn't sound as though he would be planning on applying for other jobs within the year anyway.

[lynda4]

That's really great news! and that they're going to try to put strategies in place so it doesn't happen again. I wish him the very best, for a long and happy career there