A Strange One,

[Donetello1561]

Question is basically what disciplinary action can be taken for the following?.
I booked my two weeks holiday a while ago with work and for some bizarre reason I put down the wrong month when filling a holiday request sheet in should have been 3/08/18 to 19/08/18 instead I had put 3/09/18 to 19/09/18.
Work had planned a job in for me and my colleague between 6/08/18 and 8/08/18 which needed two people they had to cancel this and reschedule for the Monday I returned.
I have already apologised to all involved at work for the massive blunder.
Today 22/08/18 I have received a letter saying I need to travel to Scotland where my firm is based from Yorkshire to attend a disciplinary meeting on the 24/08/18.
In the letter it also states they could not contact me on the Friday,again this is correct and due to my works phone iPhone 6 suffering temporary lock ups,they have been advised previously about this but deny they have any record of the problem.
The third issue they have is that I was out shopping on a work day,We have a lot of home time due to lack of work recently,and I assume they now want us to sit in the house all day waiting for the phone to ring.
Have they followed any guidelines here as there is no mention on the letter of any possible action to be taken,and obviously I’ve had little time to prepare for this or ask anyone to accompany me.
By the way my work college goes golfing when we have no work.
Sorry for the long winded message.

[-SharonA-]

Disciplinary action!!! What kind of work do you do!! I have never heard of anyone being reprimanded for writing down the dates of their holiday incorrectly. And I have chopped and changed many times.

[tonyav]

A new one on me to, Sharon.

[albaqwerty]

Just maybe it's not you being disciplined but your colleague who goes golfing and they want your input?

Just saying.

I agree with Sharon and Tony tho, disciplinary action for wrong dates for holidays? Nonsense!

[Cloverjo]

I assume it we'll say in your work contract what their guidelines are regarding disciplinary action.
Just tell the truth, you made a blunder on the holiday request form, you've apologised and hope to move on.

I can't imagine they'd expect you to sit at home waiting for work. Being available by mobile phone should be acceptable. Are you being paid for your time 'on call' or is it a zero hours contract?

[Calibax]

Leaving the facts of the case aside, the meeting should be held at a reasonable time and place giving you sufficient notice to prepare your case and to arrange someone to accompany you if wanted. Two days notice for a meeting in Scotland when you are based in Yorkshire would not seem to fulfil this.

[MallyJ]

Make sure you have discussed this with your union and if worried ensure you have a rep with you at the interview...tho', if you were to be told off, you should be told that you can bring someone with you.

[-SharonA-]

So basically you are saying you took unpaid leave. No one knew where you were and you never called in. Uh oh.

[jno]

I guess that's their position, SharonA. (I'm not clear which Friday they couldn't contact him, the 6th to the 8th was Monday to Wednesday.) Compound errors, then, but I'm surprised anyone would call a disciplinary over it.

Yes, if you've got a union, speak to them.

[BLHC]

You don't say if you advised them of the error prior to taking time the time off. If not, and you didn't contact the office then you just didn't turn up for work and they are justified in taking action.

[Peter Pedant]

it seems pretty obvious you booked and took the holiday and came back to some dissatisfaction
when the time comes -do the obvious explanation
oops or very oops - I did this myself ( different outcome)

not being available -
recollect when you gave notice
the day - the weather - the circs - etc
and insist you did as you said

ask for a copy of the works disciplinary code
if they have one - it has to be accessible

state you dont know the terms of the charges
unless you do of course
adn taht you havent been given time to prepare

ALSO ask if you are allowed to take someone - the answer should be yes - and make sure you take on ( ACAS advice )

go to a citizens advice
and or ring ACAS

and good luck

[Peter Pedant]

start here
http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1774

right to a copy of their disciplinary procedure is s3 employment rights act

and they have to warn you if they are going to fire you

( some time since I did this - retired for seven y)

[Donetello1561]

Ok thanks to all who have responded,
So they tried to contact me on Friday the 3/08/18 at around 11am,when they did not reach me they rang my colleague,they were calling me to ask a question about the jobs they had booked in 6/08/18 to 8/08/18.
The penny dropped with my colleague who said to them
He’s off next week so why have you booked a two man job in,they looked at the holiday planner and said no he’s booked 6/09/18 to 19/09/18.
My colleague then rang me on my private phone and said they had tried to contact me and explained I had put September instead of August on my holiday sheet request.
I rang them back immediately and apologised profusely for the massive blunder on my behalf,she said the job would have to be cancelled and that was more or less it.
I returned to work Monday 20th and was advised by email that Val wanted to see me up at the office.
There was no mention of any action being taken over the situation until the letter arriving on 22/08/18.
We do Local Exhaust Ventilation testing,extraction systems for chemicals,fumes etc.
Work has been very slack for the last few months and if I do go out I always take works phone out with me,and in the past have answered many issues they have called called about.
This is the first time they have had any problem contacting me,I’ve a suspicion they may be looking for a way to get rid of people without paying redundancy payments due to the lack of work.

[Peter Pedant]

and so what happened in the end ?

[Donetello1561]

So another letter has been delivered with the decision.
They found me guilty of the first point taking a period of holiday days without prior permission,which I had already admitted too and said it was a big mistake entering the wrong month on the form.
The second and third points,of not being contactable during work hours,and being out shopping during work hours have been dismissed,as the person who recorded any reports of issues with phones has since left the company,and they also said there is no record of missed calls to my phone on that day.
The third one personal shopping during works hours when we are at home without work seems to have been dropped altogether for some reason and hardly mentioned.
The first has resulted in a formal hand written warning to stay on record for 12 months.