QLD Stood down and been asked for show cause notice for being late

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foxdie222

Active Member
14 June 2022
5
0
31
Hello fellow members,

I have been stood down from my position and asked for a show cause notice by my employer to convince them why they shouldn't terminate my employment.

Reason is I was late to start by 10 t0 15 mins on 15 different occasions over a period of 3 months. This has not affected business or my colleagues in anyway and I have always made up for this time by working through breaks. Also, please note that this concern was never mentioned to me before during the period of three months by my manager either verbally or via formal warning. I rocked up to work one day and was told to pack my stuff as I was being stood down. Also, it is worth to notice that everyone else in my team always usually start late (5 to 10mins) as the culture is very laid back and no one else was stood down or warn but myself. It gives me a feeling of being victimized as my manager and I had our differences on certain aspects.

I have read few articles online which gave me a ray of hope to fight (as below) but I would like your opinion as to if I do have any right to fight and challenge and if yes on what grounds ? This has affected me mentally.
 
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Nighthelyn

Well-Known Member
24 September 2014
103
12
414
Sydney
Dear foxdie222,

It is hard to make an assessment on your situation without more information. You should get legal advice or consult e.g.
call Fair Work Ombudsman or see if you can contact a community law centre for assistance. Here is another link - Legal advice from the Workplace Advice Service | Fair Work Commission.

Before you consult, have with you answers to the following questions that I expect they would need:
1. What type of organisation? Is it big or small? Do they have any formal way of handling workplace dispute?
2. What is the nature of your employment? Have you been in the organisation long (no protection for staff working for too short a period, see fair work website for more details)?
3. What is the outcome of the showcause?
4. Can you prove any of the things you said? (Laid back culture, everyone else in your team also late, you were the only one in trouble due to lateness, nothing on record that says you were not given warning of your performance etc)
5. What do you have in writing? Are you sure they can’t later say you were dismissed due to a geunine redundancy or some such (easier if there was no contradicting paperwork)?

Also - you should know if you are dismissed and you consider taking action e.g. unfair dismissal claim, you have a short 21 days to apply.

Good luck!

-Nighthelyn
 
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