I found out a new employee is being paid more than me. I now have a Gross Misconduct hearing

Question: I recently read a spreadsheet which was in a shared file on the company Intranet. This detailed a new member of staff’s salary, which showed that they were going to be paid significantly more than me, even though I have been with the company for four years!

I was so annoyed to find that there was such significant difference in salary, that I went and confronted my boss who said it was none of my business! I was also told I had no right to discuss what I had seen and that I should not have read the file in the first place.

I hold my hands up to the fact that I was in the wrong and I should never have read the spreadsheet, but I didn’t know what it was until I began reading it. I have since apologised to my boss about my actions. However, this made no difference to the matter as I have now been suspended from my job and have been told I have 10 days to prepare for a hearing for Gross Misconduct.

Although I know what I did was wrong, and I know I shouldn’t have read the file or confronted my boss about the issue. Unfortunately, I think I’m going to lose my job now as I don’t feel like I have a leg to stand on with this.

Answer: First of all, it is NOT Gross Misconduct! Gross misconduct constitutes one or more of the following things:

1) Theft of office property or theft from other members of staff
2) Being drunk at work
3) Being under the influence of drugs at work
4) Verbal or physical violence against another member of staff
5) Insubordination (selling the company’s secrets to a competitor)
6) Racial or sexual harassment

Although you witnessed a confidential piece of information this cannot be described as gross misconduct – at the very worst it is indiscretion. If anything, you deserve a ‘rap on the knuckles’ and nothing more than that.

Consult Hylton-Potts, the experts who offer fixed fees, and give excellent value.

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