Dismissed

[Jayfin]

Hi I've just recently been dismissed for absenteeism I was on stage two 17 days short off being returned to stage 1 .I've just had an appeal hearing against an unfair dismissal because my rep felt there was mitigating circumstance 1 being inadequate footwear provided which ended up with me having policemans heel and having time off , my question is are royal mail at fault for not providing me with correct footwear which led to me triggering stage 3 and dismissal

[fishtank]

my question is are royal mail at fault for not providing me with correct footwear which led to a stage and dismissal

That depends on what attempt was made to get you the correct footwear and what you did to bring it to the attention of Royal Mail.

[Jayfin]

My manager ordered me some new cat trainers in June but I didnt receive them till Oct or nov 3 or 4 months after he said he ordered them, and was off for 3 days in august with a heel injury , I went to my gp who said it was policemans heel ,

[fishtank]

My manager ordered me some new cat trainers in June but I didnt receive them till Oct or nov 3 or 4 months after he said he ordered them, and was off in July for a 3 days in august with a heel injury

Was it documented in your return to work interview that you believed the injury was down to wearing unsuitable footwear?
What did you wear after the injury until you received your footwear in November?
Did you ask again to be supplied with the correct footwear?
I'm not being picky but these are questions they will ask in order to move the blame onto you.

[Jayfin]

I understand fully those questions because I've been asked them at my appeal hearing , I had a cortoisone injection which is documented plus I brought orthotics insoles on the advice of my gp , yes I did keep asking my manager hiw long is it going to be before I get new boots the usual response was there on order , I carried on wearing myold boots that was issued to me until my boots arrived , I feel I've maintained royal mail standards on footwear and being punished for there ineptness ,

[Jayfin]

Point being if I wasn't off for that injury Iwouldnt have triggered a stage and not been dismissed , it seems to me if anybody is unfortunate to have a stage 3 royal mail will get rid of you

[bitchface]

Fail to see how you are feeling hard done by.It was not the footware that got you to the stage two in the first place.

[fishtank]

My personal opinion is you did what could be judged reasonable to ensure you were wearing suitable footwear,3-4 months is an unreasonably long time to wait for replacement footwear so yes i would say in this case i agree with your rep,there are mitigating circumstances that were not taken into account and Royal Mail are at least partially at fault for this period of absence.
This is only my opinion though.

Edit...ignore the bitch.

[Jayfin]

Thank you for your thoughts the bitch won't be laughing if he or she ever as a stage 3

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Fail to see how you are feeling hard done by.It was not the footware that got you to the stage two in the first place.

If RM have made an error is issuing a stage 1 by not taking into account mitigating factors - it has a direct effect on the stage 2 and stage 3 dismissal.

Of course as we cannot know the full history of the individual concerned, there MAY be reasons why it was not seen as a mitigating factor, but I can't think of any reasons off the top of my head.

[Himaggen]

Royal Mail will show that the footwear they supply to thousands of their employees is not inadequate for a proportionally very large percentage of them. The footwear supplied by Royal Mail is not designed according to your specific foot shape, condition or mechanics. Any medical condition which may be an issue for you should be referred to ATOS who will recommend a solution for your specific case.

That for you however would have been for the period since you reported the issue, not that leading up to it. You are suggesting that your in service boots from the time you ordered new ones in June up until your diagnosis in August was the cause of your injury. I think that you may find that very difficult to prove, though I would never discourage you from attempting to do so.

Also depending upon dates the period of delay could be considered as little as five weeks, (end of June to beginning of August), the 3-4 months is irrelevant to your case because your orthotics were providing the correct support from August.

Since you've been dismissed, It suggests that you've had your Stage 3, (with CWU Area Rep in attendance), and your mitigation has been heard and failed to sway the decision. Is there anything else we should know?

[fishtank]

I think even 5 weeks to source adequate PPE would be considered extreme.
Royal Mail have previous form for this.

As you will know, one of the announced austerity spending reduction measures was to suspend the provision of Uniform Clothing on 5 February 2007. Concerns were raised by the Health, Safety & Environment Department specifically in relation to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) because although Royal Mail's Head of Assets had stated that the suspension excluded PPE Clothing, sadly, confusion and general ignorance amongst local Royal Mail Managers of their legal obligations and an inability to know what is and is not PPE lead to wholesale non-provision of all items of clothing including PPE.

[travisbickle]

Thank you for your thoughts the bitch won't be laughing if he or she ever as a stage 3

So does stage 3 always mean dismissal?

[DGP1]

Thank you for your thoughts the bitch won't be laughing if he or she ever as a stage 3

So does stage 3 always mean dismissal?

No, not if you can argue that it shouldn't.

[Jayfin]

I've recently had my appeal hearing and I'm waiting on rm decision , cwu rep put the case to the appeal manager that my old boots had worn down I'd ordered new boots which took sometime arriving but in the mean time I had a foot injury and feel s this is a work related incident which rm should have investigated more at the time and it shouldn't count as an absence on my record which wouldn't have put me in the position I am ,