Not going into details yet but if anyone remembers we had cameras fitted at our place some time ago. Recently an investigation has shown me using my sat nav while driving and the matter has been escalated to senior managers. I’m due for a disciplinary hearing which is near guaranteed dismissal as we’ve had about a dozen drivers who got sacked for various ‘‘offenses’’ caught on camera and every single one of them got the gross misconduct charge and fired.
I’ve not yet received a formal charge or even a date for my disciplinary hearing, I’ve only been informed that one is going to be scheduled in the coming days so I don’t know if it’s going to be misconduct or gross misconduct.
My question is how bad is it going to affect my future prospects of employment if I do get sacked and is there a point in resigning on the spot or is the disciplinary still going to affect my next job?
So an investigation took place which showed you using your prat nav whilst driving, was the investigation into some other “wrong doing” that just happened to spot that? If the firm are going to sack you purely for using your prat nav on this one occasion then they are not worth a t0ss. If they operate a regime like that best get looking, I’d be throwing a sickie to go knocking on doors.
The cameras are triggered by various ‘‘illegal’’ activities such as drinking, eating, using a phone/handheld device, taking your eyes off the road for too long, not sitting upright, leaning onto the steering wheel, not wearing a seatbelt etc. In this case it was triggered because of me picking up my satnav with 1 hand and ‘‘messing about with it’’ for about a minute (allegedly), a video of the incident is then produced and sent to the office for review. Obviously it was me and yes I did do that and yes it’s a first but there’s a ‘‘zero tolerance’’ policy in place so like I said in the OP I’m most certainly a goner
Only you really know, if you are fairly certain to get the sack, go off sick, they can’t conduct their investigation whilst you are sat at home. If there is plenty of decent work in your area then you might strike lucky and handing your notice in will then be no big deal. If you stay and get sacked you may struggle to get a reference, if you leave yourself they can’t mention any wrong doings as innocent until proven guilty.
Dont start justifying it for them ffs, there is distracted and then there is distracted.
Would he have been pulled if he had been adjusting his radio, or playing with his heater controls?..aka normal multi tasking and while watching the road at the same time, aka routinely humanly possible, (unless you are some inept buffoon of course.)
I dont know about you or anybody else, but I do not give full 100% strict attention to my driving, eyes glued to the windscreen for 9 hours, in fact nobody does, because it is humanly impossible.
If you aint physically doing something at the same time, checking controls, using switches,.or scratching your arse, your mind naturally wanders…how many times have you passed a landmark, or a MSA for instance, but cant remember it.
Bring on the examples of trucks running ibto backs of cars killing people,.thankfully so rare that they are big news when it happens…a bit like pkane crashes.
Fact is sh happens…that is life in realworld.
These type of ■■■■ s do not live in the real world, they sit there pontificating from their ivory tower desks living in a world of theory.
Just walk mate,.safe in the knowledge you have had a lucky escape, and find a decent firm who treats you as a grown up.
If nobody would work for them, they would soon change their ways, either that or just be left with a lot of inept clowns who could not get a job antywhere else…
Still, at least then they would have plenty work for these guys monitoring their ■■■■■■ cameras.
From the posters own description, taking eyes off the road for too long triggers the alert to the office bods. To be on camera for a minute scratting about with a pratnav or indeed anything else is a no no.
On the question of stay or jump…jump.
its a difficult one if you stay and get fired as you say it could harm your chance of future employment. If you jump any future employer is likely to ask why you left. In general through it is better to leave than be pushed
My first driving job i quit before i was sacked. However luckily for me the day i quit they had put a notice up about a change in pay policy so i was able to site that when asked
Not going to lie, even if I don’t get sacked I’m still going to start looking it would just be the better outcome as it would give me a bit more time. I’d be on a final warning or w/e and be watched under a magnifying glass for the next 6-12 months etc.
Re the satnav issue I picked it up, tapped the current route->find alternative then waited for it to load (takes a while) and then tapped on it again to select the new route. All because retards from Highways can’t place a proper diversion in place. I already had the route running so no putting in post code or anything, but the nav didn’t see the closed M1
I’d say that would be wise, I’d be looking now, TBH
And there’s your problem in italics: new regulations as of 25/03/22, doing anything with any electronic device in your hand would (if Police or DVSA had spotted you) have gotten you six points on your licence, plus a fine (£200 for car drivers, a maximum of £2,500 for vocational driver ) and a trip to see your TC for a Driver Conduct Hearing, with a suspension of your HGV entitlement.
If it were in a holder of some kind and not in your hand, you would have been ok.
Hmmm feel I should maybe back pedal a bit on this after all.
So you actually picked it up, so it was not attached to your dash/windscreen?presumably using both hands?
Not saying I agree with being snooped and spied on, in fact I strongly disagree no matter how they try and justify it, but way I see it you’re bang to rights mate,.and given them the excuse to nick you for it.
After saying that you should still tell them to shove the job, plenty work out there despite the hype.
Blockquote Hmmm feel I should maybe back pedal a bit on this after all.
So you actually picked it up, so it was not attached to your dash/windscreen?presumably using both hands?
It was below my dashboard resting above the steering wheel (lost my mount years ago and too stingy to buy a replacement for £30 since I don’t usually use it that much anyway), picked up with one hand or else I’d have to lay down on the wheel to reach it.
It’s a first time for me but like I said everyone before me got sacked for a first time offense so not really holding my breath
To those hollier than though people I can say if you’re spied upon daily all day long eventually, eventually you will get caught doing something wrong as I just learned. To the 0.1% who will legitimatelly never ever do anything - congratulations on being the 0.1% of perfect people out there.
Define ‘sat nav’ ?.Sat navs generally aren’t hand held and if it’s a hand held device like a phone it’s automatic 6 points for using it unless parked up and engine off.
Best defence in this case seems to possibly be an arbitrary and unlawful disciplinary regime which circumvents the usual verbal and written warning stages ?.Also genuine misunderstanding of the definition of legal v illegal use of sat nav devices.
Bearing in mind if you leave the next job will generally ask for reasons for leaving previous employment.
Since when have C+E licence holders EVER needed “References”…?
There are plenty of firms around these days that practically ASK for 6-9 points on your licence “So they can get away with paying you £12ph” which they are never going to get any takers for, unless you’re less than a “spotless driver”.
References? - Pull the other one!
“If you’re in a swimming pool, and an alligator is let in at the other end…
You don’t need to be the fastest swimmer to survive, you just need to be able to swim better than the slowest…”
I wasn’t aware that the driver-facing cameras could detect things such as eating/drinking, taking eyes off the road, but I suppose we are now entering the realms of AI. I always thought that these cameras would record a clip for example on a harsh brake or something along those lines.
It won’t be AI watching the footage, it’ll be some bored manager with nothing better to do… Watch any driver long enough, and sooner or later you’ll catch them either breaking the actual law of the land, or maybe a more “minor” thing like Eating, Drinking, adjusting the radio, dropping something down the footwell, or maybe light up…
I mean at the end of the video it literally says ‘‘We pay cash for your videos’’ lol. Decent side hustle for anyone with access to the original footage. Pixelate face to avoid legal trouble, done
