Judgement?
I received the letter last week. I was appointed to be one of the panel members in a Domestic Inquiry (D.I) hearing, which was scheduled to be conducted today. The letter came just a week after I attended the Industrial Relation (I.R) course.
Obviously, this was my first time being a panel member in a D.I hearing. I was more nervous than a virgin on her wedding night. Worse, because a virgin already knows what to expect on her wedding night, loooong before she get married, but I don't.
OK, that was quite a naughty metaphor, but, it applies.
The appointment letter only stated the date, time and location of the D.I. No specifics or anything about the case to be heard, except for one statement - "The details of the case will be presented to you during the session."
The only thing I was certain of, is that the accused will be a non-executive staff. The rule says that the panel members must be at least one grade higher than the accused. My personal grade is an entry-level executive, so, it figures.
And there I was this morning... inside the pre-arranged room. Nervous.
There was a familiar gentleman in a complete suit, who later became the Chairman of the hearing. There was another guy, whom I've seen somewhere before, who was another panel member. The gentleman is actually a general manager and that guy is an executive handling I.R cases in one of our Company's subsidiaries.
The general manager is undeniably very experienced in this sort of activities.
The other guy; well, this was only his third time being a panel member in a D.I hearing. Most of the time, he is the presenting officer (P.O) - at least in seven cases before this.
And then, there was me... the nervous virgin.
All parties arrived on schedule.
I was surprised when I realised that the P.O for this case was actually the facilitator of the D.I topic during my I.R course two weeks ago. Regardless, I believe I don't know her well enough to be bias towards the Company in this D.I hearing.
The accused is a technician, who has been working for the Company for the past 20 years. He was accompanied by a representative from the worker's union.
The charge was basically abuse of position by soliciting cash from a contractor. Of course, in actual, the charge was specific i.e. how much money, when, how and who, but you know I couldn't disclose that information here.
So, the hearing began. The P.O read the charge and the accused denied the allegation. The P.O brought four witnesses, while the accused seemed unsure on what was going on except that he kept denying every claims thrown against him.
The atmosphere was tensed. I was shaking, I think more than the accused or anyone else inside the room. It seemed like someone might lose his or her temper and start punching the other party at any point of time. One witness almost cried. The P.O seemed to almost lose her cool. The union's rep barged in a few times though he shouldn't be saying anything to the panel. Irrelevant stories came out here and there from the accused and the witnesses - both saying the other bad.
I was sweating. I was trying very hard to focus on the evidents and facts of the case while scribbling now and then whenever I heard something from either party which I believe should be considered in coming to a conclusion later. I nervously asked a few questions to clarify a few things. Once in a while, I glimpsed at the Chairman. Surprisingly, his facial expression showed only boredom, if any. Obviously, he is so used to this kind of situations.
Slightly less than four hours later, the accused finally made his closing statement which ended the D.I hearing. The panel members now have to make the conclusion - guilty or not guilty.
Whatever the conclusion is, two things were on the line - the accused's job and the Company's reputation. Now I know why those civil court judges deserve to receive their 'Datuk' and 'Tan Sri' title from the King. I can actually feel that burden of making a fair judgement based on the facts, evidents and arguement present.
Of course, you realize that I'm exageratting, don't you?
Nevertheless, I'm thankful that the conclusion was done collectively with the Chairman and the other panel member. We agreed unanimously on the verdict of the case.
No, I can't tell you. Sorry.
p/s: The mating season comes again! Six wedding invitations - six different locations across Peninsular Malaysia, from Penang to JB, all on the same date. To whomever getting married this Saturday, congratulations and welcome to the club!
And yes, English class is back again...
9 comments:
ok.. post nih adalah post yg aku bace dr blog mung, which I read it dgn penuh keseriusan -- and FYI, i dun think u're exaggerating -- ker u are?
DI, mmg menakutkan. especially pada yang kena accused tu. sometimes kita rasa apa yang kita buat tu insignificant tp actually it's against the rule.
i encountered this problem of people using company premises for business activities a.k.a menjual nasik lemak, mee goreng, keropok. you see, it's actually good service but it's against company policy. well, the staff involved is my subordinate. it's hard to handle when he is an old man with unfriendly face. jenis tak makan saman punya orang.
i wish i could involved in DI as a panel member. it must be nice to have that kind of experience.
virgin at first night? nah..i doubt most women nowadays really that naive to actually acquire the idea of what actually happened on their first night as wife. or, should i say most of them already experienced it. marriage seems lost its purpose.
ok..enough with bebel. btw, am i subject to DI if i'm reading and replying at your blog? perhaps not.
This DI seems to be a common exercise. Every mistake leads to a DI or is it only for more serious cases?
Being part of the panel must be tough. A man's fate in your hands eh. That takes a lot of guts, kudos to you.
PS: Won't be blogging til sem starts again late July. Happy hols to me! Oh and take care Sayuti and Kak Erynn. And baby :P
Pergh....
Kalau aku collect cerita hang ni, boleh suruh DY Haslam buat siri baru ganti Gerak Khas.
sayuti berpeluh dan menggeletar
lagi sikit dan jadi super saiya ke? wowo
berat eh? no real comment pasal komen aku tak releven
huhu......
wong: a lil bit laa, especially on the burden of making that judgement. the rest about the tense situation, chairman being calm, i was shaking... is true from my POV.
dueng: he is actually allowed to do that, with a written notification to his superior, and the superior allows. if however, 'the business he is doing effect his work performance, then the superior should not approved of it, and make it clear to him that he is not allowed to do so. failure to do that by his superior can be perceive as a 'condonation' to the act - which is a misconduct that can be subjected to a disciplinary action.
you can be a panel member, but you have to attend the IR course or a short course on DAPP (disciplinary action process and procedures) which includes a DI role-play activity.
honestly, it was not a nice experience - which is good - because bad experience effectively teaches us a new perspective on thing. in my case, it gave me a new perspective on 'judgement'.
yes... you can be subjected to a DI if you are using a company pc during office-hours and somebody make a report or notify HR. but, only after the reason you gave in your show-cause letter is found unsatisfactory by the management.
pahe dok? kronologinya: report -> HR investigate -> show-cause -> DI -> disciplinary action (kes yang memang guilty la nih)
cleo: DI is not a common exercise, and it is not done for 'mistakes'. it is done for 'misconduct'.
it takes more guts to be the P.O - the 'pendakwaraya' of the case, because you are telling someone that he or she is doing something wrong and you have evident to prove it to the panel members and will persuade them to see that the other accused is guilty... in front of the accused.
slamat bercuti.
tuan pegawai: tak maulah DY Haslam. Kurang2 mau jerry bruckheimer... baru bes sket.
eff: sejak bila buat komen tak relevan ni? hmmm... nih sah sangap awek cuti blogging nih...
ntahla. saya malas utk membacanya. saya nak tidur.
Jerry Bruckheimer?
Berlagak sunggoh!
Hang tahap Gayatri Su Pillai ja.
Mantap ko sayut sampai ditarik jadi panel DI. tabik2.. way to go!! oh ko bakal jadi bapak ke?baru ku tau... congrats!! harus lebih behave la pasni ye pak.. huu
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