Seemingly major problem at work...

Affliction said:
Quoted from the UNISON website:

Eligibility
# In order to qualify for legal help you need to: Have been a UNISON member at least 4 weeks before realising you need legal help

One would imagine that if I join now and DO need legal help, waiting 4 weeks before requesting it is probably too long a period?
Any Leagl Eagles on here?
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Correct you cant join, and if your a teacher its NUT you need to be a member of. Unison dont represent teachers.

What will happen.. imo! is that this will go to LADO.. it depends of the outcome of that, they may decide to drop the matter and lift the suspension. Alternatively they may decide that this needs further investigation, - should this be the case you will be notified in writing of the allegations. You will have the right to be accompanied to any investigatory meetings and I advise that you do this as it can be daunting and esp as you have no Union representation.

They will consider the answers you have given them and dependant on that and any other information/evidence available to them they may decide to escalate the matter to a disciplinary hearing.

One of the outcomes of the LADO could be that there requires police investigation.

But like I said.. your not in the know at the moment, hang fire and if you have done nothing wrong you shouldnt have anything to worry about.
 
my old german teacher got suspended for supposedly hitting a kid. he was always a nutter (german) and a bit unstable but we couldnt imagine him ever hitting someone.

in the end it turned out the kid was lying. all the school would have had to done was ask the other kids what happened (took them 3 days to do this... after which every kid pretty much said the other kid was lying

but instead of using common sense and doing that, they suspended him and his name got dragged through the dirt by the local papers.
 
I don't know why everyone seems convinced this is related to an allegation made by a pupil.
If Affliction is an IT Tech at the school I would think it is far more likely to be something related to email or internet/network "abuse".

Let us know how you get on.
 
Sorry to hear about all this. Hope its gets sorted ASAP for you. Surely you should be given the opportunity to appeal, but as you stated, they wont disclose the reasons behind the suspension :S?
 
Affliction said:
Unfortunatly, I'd imagine they're more likely to believe the kids accusations over the staff members plea of innocence :(
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They will suspend you on the basis of an allegation, they can't take it any further without evidence.
Lopéz said:
I don't know why everyone seems convinced this is related to an allegation made by a pupil.
If Affliction is an IT Tech at the school I would think it is far more likely to be something related to email or internet/network "abuse".

Let us know how you get on.
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because it's in a school and the most common reason for this kind of suspension is an allegation by a pupil, it's a messy game though. My dad was the target of a false allegation by a group of girls who he'd given pap marks to, initially they'd got their stories straight so it seemed really bad, they completely withdrew all their comments when they realised how serious it was, unfortunately that was after at least 2 weeks. My dad was offered compensation and his job back but I think he only worked until the end of that year and then gave up teaching. He'd been teaching for over 30 years.

I think it can frequently be a case of a "joke" going too far, because once the pupils have said something if it turns out to be a false accusation they themselves will be suspended or expelled, so obviously they're going to be scared about coming clean.

All the best mate, I'd hold back on any contact with the school until you've got a union rep accommpanying you, you want to make sure they're doing everything right by you as well as by the pupil (if that is the case)
 
oneale90 said:
Sorry to hear about all this. Hope its gets sorted ASAP for you. Surely you should be given the opportunity to appeal, but as you stated, they wont disclose the reasons behind the suspension :S?
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There will be silence during the investigation, he'll get all the details as and when it's appropriate to.
 
Thanks for the advice all :)

I got a letter this morning, unfortunatly it didn't reveal any new information :(

It's essentially just a long winded version of what I was told on monday, confirming I'm suspended for 4 days with full pay, while they conduct an investigation.

To quote from the letter:
"The suspension is a precautionary measure and is not a disciplinary penalty and is in place pending the investigation of a serious allegation made against you."
Yay.

Meh, time to contact CAB :(
 
Right,

My mates the HR director within GM, and he said its illegal to suspend someone without them knowning the reason for suspension, BUT he has said that it must be a really serious allegation dude...

He said you are entitled to call the School and press the matter home that you want to know why you are suspended without being told the reason and stay on the line untill someone has told you...

Stelly
 
Affliction said:
To quote from the letter:
"The suspension is a precautionary measure and is not a disciplinary penalty and is in place pending the investigation of a serious allegation made against you."
Yay.

Meh, time to contact CAB :(
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Some stupid attention seeking little girl probably.
 
I would have called the school already but from the sound of it even your line manager / boss would not be allowed to speak about it to you, like you said he was ordered to escort you off the premises the other day.

Liam
 
It sounds like school policy to me, but I would certainly investigate further to see if it is actually illegal or not, maybe when you call CAB they would be able to tell you?

Liam
 
And nothing at all springs to mind? No matter how trivial?

I'd be keeping my ear to the ground, surely you're on good terms with colleagues who might be able to tell you something off the record?

Good luck.
 
Just noticed as well, on the direct.gov website:

Suspension from work

While the disciplinary or dismissal issue is being looked into, your employer may be able to suspend you. You should be told why you are being suspended.

If your employment contract allows you to be suspended without pay, your employer can do so, so long as they are acting reasonably. If your employment contract does not say that your employer can do this, your employer may still be able to suspend you, but with pay. To make it clear that this isn't a punishment, the suspension will be on full pay in most cases.

You keep your employment rights while suspended. If you don't get the right pay you may be able to make a claim to an Employment Tribunal for 'unlawful deduction from wages'.

While suspended, you may be told not to talk to other employees, customers and/or suppliers. If this stops you defending yourself, it may be grounds for appeal. It is up to you whether you listen to this but your employer may take further disciplinary action if you don't.

[[Page Link]]
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