Damaged someone's property, now ive been fired :(

so i have had my class 2 job for 6 months.
last week i drove onto someone’s private road to deliver a pallet. from the main road it looked like i could turn around but it became apparent after entering the road that it would be a tight turn around.
so after trying and failing to turn around i delivered the pallet and had the block watch me out onto the main road.
after getting back to base i was told i had damaged his driveway and he had cctv footage me doing it. im not denying doing it and ive apologise for it.
i hindsight i should have stopped on the main road , hazards and reversed in but i didnt know how far i was reversing in.

yesterday i was dismissed for it.
i know what i did wrong and ill tell you now i will never make that mistake again.

so i went home and started applying for a new job, but now i dont know how to best answer the question of why were you sacked.

Bit petty to sack you if you ask me. Chin up!

SouthEastCashew:
Bit petty to sack you if you ask me. Chin up!

hands up. i F’ed up. i also had a previous warning for smashing the rear lights on a grass verge while turning in a very tight spot (alternative was a 2.3 mile reverse)

Get a free appointment with the Citizens Advice Bureau, it is unfair dismissal, and take them to the Employment Tribunal.
Did you ask to see the cctv footage ?
Is the customer after a free or discounted delivery ?
Did you sign an employment contract, and what are the damage to third party clauses ?
Your employers have insurance for third party damage .
Transport is an industry where damage happens every day .
If it was three strikes then you are out, you are on the second strike.

Don’t sweat it. If you do tight residential roads and country lanes it’s gonna happen eventually.

adam277:
Don’t sweat it. If you do tight residential roads and country lanes it’s gonna happen eventually.

that is exactly what i did. mostly country roads (mostly farms but with some smaller businesses and occasionally a residential house in a small village). but last week i was in a large town on a 40mph road

I know it’s tempting to bend the truth a little, but tell the truth. I’m always impressed with someone that is prepared to tell me the good with the bad. I interviewed someone years ago and he said he’d been let go for turning a trailer over. My theory he’d be the one of my lot that would never do that.

I would emphasise the nature of the deliveries though, ie residential, narrow rounds with no turning points. It sounds a bit rough if any future employer thinks how did he do that, but only thinks of his work delivering to nice big emptyish yards off motorway junctions.

Good luck

He can’t take them to a tribunal, he has only been in the job 6 months.

Tell the truth, it’s only minor and won’t go against you. As said it might even go in your favour.

albion:
I know it’s tempting to bend the truth a little, but tell the truth. I’m always impressed with someone that is prepared to tell me the good with the bad. I interviewed someone years ago and he said he’d been let go for turning a trailer over. My theory he’d be the one of my lot that would never do that.

I would emphasise the nature of the deliveries though, ie residential, narrow rounds with no turning points. It sounds a bit rough if any future employer thinks how did he do that, but only thinks of his work delivering to nice big emptyish yards off motorway junctions.

Good luck

this is good advice. i had a phone call from an agency earlier and was caught off guard with the question of why i was out of work. after a moments hesitation i told the truth but i thought i might have blown a chance of a interview offer.
the lady seemed nice though. asked if i had any other accidents in my previous job (supermarket van driver). which i answered honestly and i hadnt

jbaz73:
He can’t take them to a tribunal, he has only been in the job 6 months.

Tell the truth, it’s only minor and won’t go against you. As said it might even go in your favour.

Thank you, i have learned from it and hopefully ill get a new job soon

Jobs are ten a penny, to quote eagerbeaver I have been through wagon companies faster than a bad curry. It means nothing in this day and age. You now have more experience and you can give your ex employer as a reference, they have to be honest and it sounds like you had a pretty good name up until your little faux pas. Chin up fella, you won’t be out for long.

I know it is too late now but most pallet drops have a BT landline and mobile numbers to contact the customers.
I used to give them an eta for their drop and ask what the access is like .
In this case, pull up before going down the private road.
Knock on their door and say can you act as a banksman and watch me in.
Looking at delivery addresses, you can tell if its going to be a tight drop.
In an ideal world, lorries shouldn’t go to farms in the dark, due to hidden machinery, and junk hidden in the places you need to turn .
In rural lanes, lorries get back to the yard, like they have done a six month tour of Iraq or Afghanistan.
Mirrors torn off, cab steps gone, broken tail lifts, damage by trees on top of the truck.
The only thing missing is RPG damage or bullet holes.

Don’t beat yourself up, you did nothing wrong.
It’s odd that the client reporting damage , only lets your boss know, the client would have contact numbers of the supplier or Hub base and your firm, so why not ring any of these, so they then ring you to say go back to see the damage, then you take a photo.

Most good drivers have made mistakes particularly when new to the job, you’ve learned from this and will become more aware in the future and become a better driver for it. Different drivers would have handled that situation in different ways, saftey first whatever you do is main thing and that includes your safety and your job. You’ll get something quick , head up and move on. It’s done.

I damaged a small domestic trailer trying to turn around in a residential street last week. Particularly being new it’s all a learning curve. Sometimes we learn by ■■■■■■■ up big time.

I agree with Albion about being honest to new employers. It at least shows you’re character in a good light. Plus any experienced gaffer will probably smell your ■■■■■■■■ a mile off.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Better off out of that job by the sounds of it.

Good advice to come clean about the situation, good luck in the job hunt.

jbaz73:
Jobs are ten a penny, to quote eagerbeaver I have been through wagon companies faster than a bad curry. It means nothing in this day and age. You now have more experience and you can give your ex employer as a reference, they have to be honest and it sounds like you had a pretty good name up until your little faux pas. Chin up fella, you won’t be out for long.

If I see a driver that’s looking to move after a few months, that’s ok, sometimes a job doesn’t work out. If I see someone that’s been through companies like a bad curry, it makes me wonder why a driver can’t stay for long.

As for the reference…oddly I’ve just done a reference today for someone that we sacked 18 months ago. It gives the dates he was employed and his job title. We also had a driver that left before Xmas due to personal circumstances. If he wants a reference I’ll be happy to supply factual details along with a paragraph on how he was an asset to the firm, we were sorry to see him go. Both factual, but saying completely different things.

toby1234abc:
Get a free appointment with the Citizens Advice Bureau, it is unfair dismissal, and take them to the Employment Tribunal.

Toby, did you see this…■■

mahall1988:
so i have had my class 2 job for 6 months.

:bulb: How long do you need to have worked for a company before you can take them to a tribunal for unfair dismissal in the circumstances described in the OP?

What sort of contract were you taken on as? Eg Temporary, permanent, probationary period then permanent etc etc?

If you were set on permanently even after probationary period then you have rights. The company has to have a set discipline procedure. In my place its verbal warning, written warning, final written warning… then the boot. Or charged with gross misconduct then thats the boot almost nearly all of the time.

It depends how serious it is - you either get a verbal or written first off but can only last for a set period of time (eg 2 years). So commit another offence within 2 years then next stage. After 2 years with no more offences it should be wiped off your file. If got verbal first off you go to written. Got written first then its final written and so on. You cant jump from verbal to the sack. You get my drift…

After an offence there should be a fact finding interview to establish what went on or fill in an accident report. The company will then advise what sort of next steps they will take. You cant bring anyone as a witness to a fact finding but you can to a discipline meeting. They have to issue you with paperwork before the discipline detailing the charges and then a letter afterwards detailing the outcome. All should be dated.

If its a case of you being permanent and you got called into the office to hear I’m letting you go then thats when they can be taken to employment tribunal as the discipline procedure not followed. If they are going to sack you you have to be given notice as can bring in a third party eg a union official to the discipline to fight your corner.

mahall1988:
so i have had my class 2 job for 6 months.
last week i drove onto someone’s private road to deliver a pallet. from the main road it looked like i could turn around but it became apparent after entering the road that it would be a tight turn around.
so after trying and failing to turn around i delivered the pallet and had the block watch me out onto the main road.
after getting back to base i was told i had damaged his driveway and he had cctv footage me doing it. im not denying doing it and ive apologise for it.
i hindsight i should have stopped on the main road , hazards and reversed in but i didnt know how far i was reversing in.

yesterday i was dismissed for it.
i know what i did wrong and ill tell you now i will never make that mistake again.

so i went home and started applying for a new job, but now i dont know how to best answer the question of why were you sacked.

I’ve been given the sack more times than a potato packer mate and trust me, it’s no big deal :grimacing:

It’s not your health, it’s not your loved ones, and it sure as hell ain’t having your knob removed :wink: It’s just a JOB.

Plenty more around, and it sounds like a turd one anyway, so it’s a result. If anyone asks about your last job, simply tell them the truth, and if you are really confident (like me), follow it up with " the driveway was crap anyway " :laughing:

My understanding is that under two years you can’t pursue a tribunal for unfair dismissal (apart from protected characteristics), though you could pursue for breach of contract.

We don’t know the entire story, so I’m going to play devils advocate, maybe your employers customer, had an earful from the man with the drive and the first customer, and has said never use that mahall bloke on one of my jobs again. Maybe your employer is looking at the cost of repairs and calculating you aren’t worth the risk.

Personally, I’d be too embarrassed to even contemplate going to a tribunal, figuring I’d been the architect of my own fate.

It certainly explains one of the reasons employers head down the agency/self-employed route.

Mahall, I know this is hypothetical in your case!