Appeal/tribunal Does RM have a lone worker policy?

[Evilmunkee]

Having being recently dismissed for being assaulted in the street by a "customer" (he struck me on the arm from behind and I pushed him away in self defence, as I wasn't expecting it. before that he was shouting 'oi' at me and I ignored him), I have since being sacked for abusive/threatening behaviour and bringing the royal fail into disrepute.

I am currently appealing the decision as the RM failed ot carry out a reasonable investigation and I have clearly become the target of a campaign to get rid of me.

In his statement the guy stated that he was just trying to get my attention, but I turned around and then grabbed him, threw him to his knees and punched him in the face (the guy is 69 and it is written in the statement taken that he had no bruises or marks, I'm 6'3" and heavily built, so you can draw your own conclusions).

The statement the guy made was hand written and signed by a manager and not the customer!, also no follow up statements where taken from this guy to confirm his story. So their decision is based on this one false statement, and the RM came to the conclusion the he was just trying to get my attention and I was being rude and unprofessional for ignoring him, and that I am an aggressive thug who has no place in the royal mail, and that I had being trained in how to deal with difficult customers in my 2 day induction when I started. (I have no recollection of this as the induction was 8 hours in the mail centre, then off to the sorting office the next day for on the job training, (I have written evidence, and also a training log that was still blank 4 years later)), and also dealing with difficult customers is common sense and should need no training (what this guy is saying is that RM absolves itself of all responsibility for the training and safety of its staff)

I have asked for copies of the health and safety policy and lone working policy (yes it applies to posties as I checked), to ensure that the RM have policies to ensure our safety, however I have now received my date for appeal ( with 3 working days notice, not the 5 working days stated in the code of conduct), however they have not sent me any of the policies that I have asked for.

Do they even exist, if so why are they so scared of giving me a copy?
I ask as, when I had my conduct interview I asked for a copy of the code of conduct prior to the interview and the dom claimed that they did not have to supply me a copy, and argued the toss and only relented when I told him that the do as I had sought legal advice on the issue, even then he went away to check, and this guys reckons he's on the appeals panel so it speaks volumes of quality of management.

Either way its off to the tribunal for my day in court, as I have no faith in the appeals procedure, and I want to see if the dom is willing to perjure himself in court and thanks to the royal fail I'm now entitled to legal aid, cheers.

[liamlayor]

Go to Royal Mail Chat downloads and click on Conduct Code - see Sections 5 and 15 in particular I think you shoulld be given at least 5 days written notice and you are also allowed about 2 'reading days' to inspect any documents you may have requested, e.g from HR or Data Protection, or their evidence. If you don't get the documents you require by the time your Appeal Hearing is imminent, then you should request a postponement (in writing) explaining that you have asked for these documents from their own HR, etc. but that they have still not arrived. Once the documents arrive, you should still be given 2 reading days before your appeal is held. This is not a statutory requirement that employers must give you but it would be considered unreasonable of them by a Tribunal not to have let you prepare your case adequately.,

ACAS states (in its non-statutory Guide) that 5 working days would usually be appropriate, (for notification of a disciplinary hearing/ appealthough sometimes longer is needed.

[Indy]

Obviously I/we can only see this from your side but as I've said a number of times before it really really concerns me that customers that know what 'buttons to push' can make seriously malicious allegations to which a postman/woman has no or very little recourse.

I find it quite astonishing that a person can be sacked based on the allegation of 1 person and no witnesses. Is what you've posted the whole story? Have there been other allegations of 'physical contact' with the public? Is the DOM glad to see the back of you?

If you are giving the whole story and your appeal fails then this is surely a case for an Employment Tribunal.

BTW I don't respond to 'oi!' either nor do I have conversations through closed doors or upstairs windows or with anyone starting the conversation with "what the f*ck do you want'

[Indy]

Go to Royal Mail Chat downloads and click on Conduct Code

Just been reading through this and my God it sounds pretty well reasonable. Why then does it get used like a nailed baseball bat in our DO??

[flaminmoses]

90-1 days to get your et1 in
What have the union said?

[POSTMAN]

The statement the guy made was hand written and signed by a manager and not the customer!

Did you get a copy,if you did you're laughing.

[REDLETTER]

Why were the police not involved, a customer goes bleeting to a manager rather that the legal way!. Something smells!

Were you a target for RM already? More grounds for an ET if so.


Good luck what every way you go!

[flaminmoses]

win or lose the appeal id be looking into how to take the signature bit further.

[Evilmunkee]

Just a quick update.

This whole matter has been dealt with in an appalling way, the DOM just wanted rid of me for a long time, and he has seen this as an excuse, but he has gone about it in his usual manner (his way is the only way and b****cks to the procedures. As I have a clear conduct record, he's gone out of his way to dig up dirt by dragging up every little compliant ever made such as I posted letters in an aggressive manner (I still have not had that one demonstrated how that is possible yet) and has used that as 'clear proof of my aggressive behaviour and attitude', and the fact that I don't really mix with with everyone in the office (this is from a guy that in 4 years has spent less than a hour speaking to me). what that has to do with anything is beside the point.

Had my appeal meeting the other day. I think it went well, even though the guy appeals manager was not sent everything that was used against me by the DOM in question, such as statements made by managers about my behaviour and attitude (you'd think they'd be important considering they for part of the basis for my dismissal), and the fact that these statements the mangers wrote were all written in the week following my fact finding interview and not at the time 1 - 2 years earlier.

The DOM in question and the managers now have a lot of questions to answer, so it's just a matter of wait and see what happens, the appeals manager advised me to submit my ET form anyway as I can always withdraw it if reinstated.