i,ve been charged with gross misconduct under the health and

[Cliff Clavin]

i have said i noticed the tyre was hissing and drove back slowly to the office ,but the tyre was shredded by the time i got back.

that doesnt sound good mate, you either park up and phone or change the wheel.

Phone, but when it can take three or four hours for a mechanic to get to you it can be tempting just get back as best you can.

Fair dues mate, but if theres a spare on the van it should have been changed.

RM can also use external companies, RAC,AA and local contractors to tow the vehicle back to yard if no spare is onboard.

[barneyrotts]

hi this is no joke,i wish it was.my only real defence is i have been persecuted by my manager for most of the 8 years i have been at this office and all my grievances have been ignored,that is why they are so chuffed that this has happened.i am literally going to beg to save my job!!!!!!!!!,and say sometimes we make the wrong decisions when under pressure.i have even had my overtime altered by this particular manager on more than one occasion,i have approx 5 grievances still outstanding from 5 years ago to the present day and they tell us royal mail is against bullying!!!!!!!!!.

[krussel]

Ive had a few slow flats over the years and have managed to get to a garage forecourt to pump it back up and limp it back to the office. Never shredded one though

I think they will just give you a temp ban from driving. Ive never heard of anyone getting sacked (in my area) for a simple mistake.

[barneyrotts]

where i am the management seem to use the conduct code for everything,so i,m pretty scared to say the least.

[Eric Cantona]

Your DOM should have a phone number in every van in case of a breakdown, we use the RAC at our office to change wheels. Find out if the vans have phone numbers for breakdowns, if not use that against him and blame him. Simple! also say you were ringing the office and nobody answered the phone.

[Eric Cantona]

Your DOM should have a phone number in every van in case of a breakdown, we use the RAC at our office to change wheels. Find out if the vans have phone numbers for breakdowns, if not use that against him and blame him. Simple! also say you were ringing the office and nobody answered the phone.

By the way they should issue van drivers with phones to phone in breakdowns, that's another you can throw at them..

[spen]

if you were on collections you would have a p.d.a on you which can be used as a phone

[smileski]

barney, this dosen't have to be the end of the world.

1. talk to your union rep( if your not in the union, join!), if you don't have a rep or they/you don't think they can handle it, get in touch with your area rep straight away.
2. explain everything honestly and truthfully to your rep.
3. start to put your case together, i would not advise lying/changing your story.
4. do not go sick with stress( unless genuinely suffering from stress)
5. i was hoping to see that you had a good relationship with your manager, but it seems that it isn't great, use this to your advantage. Managers that are over keen to sack an individual often make mistakes in the agreed procedures.Make sure your rep is fully aware of your history of grievance with this manager.(if this gets mentioned a lot during the case the manager dealing with it will get twitchy)
6.So back to the actual event itself, make a big play on the fact that you drove the vehicle back to the office for the good of the company, you believed that get the van back to the office would make it easier to be repaired and that you didn't want to fail the dispatch.( a puncture that didn't look too bad, but got worse on your short journey back maybe a good angle.)
Explain that you feel very silly now and acknowledge that it was a mistake.
make sure you actually apologise for the mistake during early investigation.
7. What did you think you should have done when you noticed the puncture?
have you ever been told what you should do?
is there evidence of the company telling you what to do? ( ie training record, signed by youself)

Hope some of this helps mate, good luck!

[Izzy]

I'm sure I've signed something to say I've been told that drink-driving, mobile phones and illegal tyres are instant dismissal.

[SexyLegs]

1yr reprimand tops, don't worry!

[Pat Ostman]

The fact that you were not suspended is also a good sign in my experience

[barneyrotts]

hope so because i am bricking it,my life is in one persons hands.

[jonsboys]

i have said i noticed the tyre was hissing and drove back slowly to the office ,but the tyre was shredded by the time i got back.

that doesnt sound good mate, you either park up and phone or change the wheel.

Phone, but when it can take three or four hours for a mechanic to get to you it can be tempting just get back as best you can.

Fair dues mate, but if theres a spare on the van it should have been changed.

RM can also use external companies, RAC,AA and local contractors to tow the vehicle back to yard if no spare is onboard.

Correct me if im wrong, but you must be trained to change a wheel! If you change it and then it falls off or the van falls on you and you were not trained, its as bad as driving with the tyre flat, the above mentioned! A person changed a wheel the day i was off, wheel fell off on me, luckily i was coming into a yard slowly, and it didnt fall off when i was doing 60mph just mins earlier!

[jonsboys]

Your DOM should have a phone number in every van in case of a breakdown, we use the RAC at our office to change wheels. Find out if the vans have phone numbers for breakdowns, if not use that against him and blame him. Simple! also say you were ringing the office and nobody answered the phone.

IIRC has the pda not got numbers for this exact occurance built into them?

[barneyrotts]

i have never been told where a phone number is to contact in emergency or what to do if you have a blowout.