Firstly; The company and people involved will not be named and no indication as to which company it is will be given.

I am facing dismissal from a throwaway comment put up on Facebook.
My managers found out by someone telling them who I had added as a friend.
My settings are set to the highest levels of Privacy and nobody can access my profile unless I have accept them as a friend.
The comment in question is about managers using no swear words.
I was never given the handbook or policy so know nothing about these kind of comments being forbidden. I had NO idea that it was considered "Gross Misconduct" and I never mentioned the company in this status, neither have I ever had the company listed as my employer.

I am not a member of a union and will see CAB on monday but does anyone have any advice on this?
I find it hideously unfair considering I didn't know how serious this matter was and considering I have never stated who my employers are.

Funny, it would seem that in the case you are the idiot! If you wouldn't stand up and say something publicly, don't put it on the internet. Not mentioning your employer could serve as a small defence but if I were you I would be searching the NWN job section not bothering with the CAB.

There is no need to call me names. I came on here for advice, not to be insulted.
I'm already upset enough over this, do you think that comment has made me feel in the slightest bit better?

Simple truth is social networks are as useful as a chocolate fireguard if you want a private conversation, and the sooner people realise that the fewer of these events there will be. Don't say anything on a network you wouldn't shout in a crowded pub.
Once you press 'send', the comment is as published as if you placed an ad in the NWN - or left a message on someones voicemail.

Ok,
the fact is that I did not know that this was considered Gross Misconduct because the company had never told or shown me.
If I had thought for a second about it then I probably would have thought not to put it on but we all know how easy it is to type something on the internet. We don't sit and plan out and develope every tiny comment we make on here.
If I had known I would never have done it.

How did your company find out about it?

A colleague I had added as a friend went and showed them. They have admitted they cannot access my profile because it is private which means they have not been able to print anything.
They have also admitted that I have never recieved the relevant documentation telling me this is forbidden and how serious it is.

Except they can access your profile through your "friend" at work.

Proving it is not accesible to the public

I feel we are getting away from the point.
I did not know this was such a serious offence, I did not even know it was an offence.

Presumably Decarix you may have signed a contract, which gives you a form of protection.
Not sure how Gross Misconduct is thought of these days.I would have thought you should be given the
written warnings etc, then you would have a chance to find a new employer (perhaps with luck a simple reference even).

I agree with earlier comments, you have to keep thoughts to yourself these days...How many "Toxic e-mails" are made public?
I am sure you would have read some of the stuff posted by MPs on twitter are a source of humiliation.
Sally Bercow is a bit of a loose cannon for example.

Hope the news from your company is not too bad.ce

Seems the company are being a bit too touchy to me? Are you sure that is all you stated? If everyone got dismissed for saying that Managers are useless then job centers would be inundated!

This is why I feel it is so unfair. I said the managers comment then when someone asked why I said
"Because I am a *specific job role* and I keep being put on different departments so I cannot complete work vital to the smooth running of my department, then I get spoken to about why I am not doing the jobs for my department"

I never said which company it was for or which manager(s) I was referring to.

I'm here for advice, I wouldn't withhold anything. I can honestly say I didn't even use any swear words!

How long have you been employed by the employer?
Were you given written statement of the complaint against you before your disciplinary hearing?
Were you given the opportunity to be represented?
Were you given an opportunity to appeal the decision?
Is the employer a public body or a private company?
Were you already under a written warning for misconduct?

I would say that a private statement refering to your managers as idiots could ammount to gross misconduct if for example you made the statement to a client, but to friends and colleagues I'd say it was at worst misconduct. I think your employer has over-reacted, but the question now is what to do about it. If you have been dismissed then you may possibly be able to bring a claim for unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal, but they're unlikely to give you your job back so the best you'll get is a bit of compensation.

I have not been with them long enuogh for any legal standing or tribunals. 8 months.
I was not given anything before they investigated me, I have my disciplinary hearing early next week.
Yes to representation but I was not a member of a union before the start of this investigation so there wasn't much I could do about that.
A decision has not been made yet.
The employer is a shop commonly found on highstreets.
I have an exmplary record with this company and have even been praised by managers for my customer service and hard work and have been recognised in the company to become a manager "in 12-18 months"
My customer service has regularly contributed to our customer service weekly score to 70% and above. I have been rewarded twice for my skills and services to the company.

In the investigation I said that I would like all of this to be taken into consideration and they told me they can only use what is in fron tof them for this investigation. Nothing outisde of it.


They are saying that my friends are potential customers.

Practice grovelling over the next few days. Sounds like you have a good record,
and some managers have recognised that...Shame you can't use those details in your hearing
The panel will have your history though. Maybe in the right hands it will help.
Good luck.ce

Thank you all for your advice.

I don't think I have much chance, this is a very large company and it definately feels like they are bulldozing me.

All they needed to do was make sure I knew the rules and it would have come down immediately.

Sucks.

I would say that you colleague is after your job ! why dont you just take the comment off of FB ? unless your colleague has already printed it out.

The comment was taken off before the investigation began because another colleague who actually IS a friend warned me. They have no proof but all they need is other peoples word against mine.
They have two different peoples statementss saying they saw this comment on my facebook.
They havent printed it off because they can't access it! Because it is not publically open!

This sounds like a very popular supermarket that I am familiar with. They are allegedly a vengeful employer and apparently have a poor attitude to employees. Their union is hopeless as well.

I cannot say who it is for fear of getting in more trouble.
A union may have been mentioned when I joined back in december but **** if I know! I never got any paperwork or anything to tell me so! Just like I never got anything saying I couldn't do this.
No union will take my case because I need to be a member before the investigation started, not half way through.

But your colleague that you had added as a friend could have printed it off, as all friends that you have added see and have access to your profile.

Try taking the company to an industrial tribunal on the grounds of wrongful dismissal.

If you work for who I think you do, the union would be rubbish anyway. I think you will just have to take this on the chin. Perhaps kick the 'friend' in the groin as well.

Seriously, if you post on the internet it's a matter of record, If you want to "socialise" get a mate, go down the pub, ring someone up. WTF is this obsession with face book and twitter ??

It's called evolution. Perhaps you still swing from the trees and beat drums to communicate?

Hopefully you posted from your home computer and in your own time. Suggest you contact ACAS who will give good advice. Email HR explaining you did not receive the booklet at induction and request a copy. This will establish it was not provided previously and will also assist CAB in assessing your case. At any hearing you are allowed to take a work colleague or legal rep. If you contact the union rep working on site they may agree to sit in with you. Otherwise take someone you feel comfortable with, it will give you confidence. Good luck.

Wrongful dismissal will go nowhere at all.

You do not qualify for such legal protection until you have completed 12 months with your employer. Until that time, you can be dismissed without reason (but not without notice) - as long as they do not discriminate on grounds of race, gender or disability.

In the case here, the difference between gross misconduct and misconduct is whether or not notice will be paid.

Not so.

You may take a work colleague or qualified union rep; there is no entitlement to take any legal representation. This was confirmed by recent case law.

There is no need to call you names ?? ..... well that's what you did on Facebook to someone else is it not ?

Facebook?..........nothing but trouble.
I hear almost every day of the problems crate by it.
Some have even ended their lives because of comments on it.

It's a great medium for keeping in touch people and the benefits far outweigh the "problems" with it. I type problems in inverted commas as aren't the problems with the people that use it rather than the medium itself.

If it wasn't, Google wouldn't be about to release their own version.

Good point and therein lies the problem - as highlighted in this case??
Only trouble is that those affected are often not the "misusers".

It's the same as many other media. For example people use the telephone to harass others and paedophiles use the postal system to send perverse pictures to each other.

Both actions affect other people negatively and are criminal acts yet I've never heard anyone suggest that either medium "is nothing but trouble".

Just a figure of speech, but it seems that every day I hear of problems caused by comments on Facebook, either with people I know or in the news.
This is not so of other mediums.

i thought that was changed to 24 months many years ago?

I didn't call anyone specifically names. In fact the person who took offence to it was not the person the comment was about.

Proving that it has been misinterpreted and that it doesn't directly relate to any specific person.

I know they did not print it off. The company are having trouble getting hard evidence because they cannot access my profile. Suggesting...it at least has some level of privacy and is DEFINATELY not publically open.

It's a bit harsh I know, but I think your best strategy is to be sacked with your dignity and integrity in tact. Take responsibility and apologise, and don't make excuses, and you might even escape with a final written warning.

Whilst you're right that your settings did not allow it to be seen directly by the public, anything you post on Facebook has the potential to be seen by anyone else given the viral nature of how information can spread on the Internet.

I might have thought this incident last month should highlight that one should use Social Media with a great deal of thought as to what and to whom they post.

I agree with Simon here and perhaps it's best to chalk this up to experience and walk away.

Best to be dismissed than resign?
Dismissed means I will get help should I not be able to find a job but resigned will mean I don't have such a problem getting a job.
"why did you leave your job?" "fired for gross misconduct" doesn't sit well with a lot of employers

Before doing anything, seek legal advice, CAB or whatever and being humble is your only defence at this stage. You are right though, some shop mangers are idiots, but you were stupid to iron your dirty washing in 'public'. Your 'friend' deserves a slap as well, the scab. If you get sacked, make sure you go public and name the grass as well.

Although you have already learned the hard way, never type anything in an email, forum, Internet site that you are not prepared for anyone to read.

I'm off to CAB first thing tomorrow.

To be honest, the comment was made because I had spoken to the managers involved and aired my frustrations to them and they just carried on doing exactly what I had the angst with and didn't offer any solutions and it felt like they had ignored me and didn't care about what I was saying. This amounted to frustration which I had to put on facebook so people would agree with me.
If the managers had taken my concerns into proper consideration and dealt with them correctly none of this would have happened.

Please do not call me names. I am very emotional with all of this happening at the moment and this promotes anger and upset within me. I realise what I did was wrong, there is no need to be calling me things.

I feel it is only fair to my other colleagues to know what type of people they are working with and that they need to watch what they say around this grass because they will run back to managers seemingly just to get people in trouble.

If you think it is only fair to tell your colleagues what you think of them, because the management are your colleagues also, stand by what you said and stop whining.

Sorry to pick one sentence out and comment on it but reading this it seems you were trying to create some sort of mutiny against your management by using Facebook.

When you were thinking that "people would agree with me" perhaps you would have done better to think what reaction it might have on those that didn't agree with you and perhaps they might interpret your actions as I did in my first sentence.

As I said, I did talk to my managers about my frustrations and concerns and nothing came of it.

When I say agree with me I don't mean to create mutiny but I mean ..I can't figure out how to say it...

If you had a bad experience in work you'd keep it to yourself? You wouldn't then go and seek solace in a friend or family member?

Solace is the word I should have used, not agree.

Yes of course - most people would seek support or advice - however the best way to do it is quietly and with discretion - one to one. But don't shout it out in front of a "room" full of other people - which is in essence what you did on facebook. As others have said - it's not private, you're very naive if you think it is - I'm not sure how many "friends" you have on there, and how well you know them all, but they will all have seen it, and are likely to all know where you work, so will know who you are referring to. They in turn can easily share it with their "friends".

I agree with some other comments here - the best way forward would be to apologise, say you've learnt your lesson and hope they might give you a second chance - if you have the examplary record you say you have then they might just do that. But continuing to air your greivances on here - a public forum, is probably not the best way to show your remorse.

OP, I think you probably know full well this wasn't your one and only "dig" at you managers. I suspect your a serial winger and trouble maker and this was the last straw.

As other have said, learn from it and be grateful if your lucky enough to get another job.

You are aware that you have no "right" to a job - aren't you?

Well then in my view you had two choices (unless they were breaking employment law), accept it or move on.

Even the best, most accommodating manager can't agree with all his staff all the time and sometimes one needs to accept that they're carrying out a course of action that they don't agree with. This could be anything from investing millions in the "wrong" hedge fund to stacking beans in the "wrong" place.

Making your feelings known publicly as you have done could be interpreted as unprofessional.

Despite the uncaring attitude from others, I understand your problem. You could lose your job for a 'simple' mistake. Personally, I wish you could screw them, because those shops treat their employees like sh1te.