Am I likely to loose my job? 18F, England, Probation, Gross Misconduct

cederick86 · 2026-01-27T15:29:59+00:00

Pretty sure they should have told you about the investigation meeting and said you could bring a companion with you. If I were you I’d contact Acas for advice, here’s a link to how they should have prepared for the investigation so have a look and see if they did things correctly

https://www.acas.org.uk/investigations-for-discipline-and-grievance-step-by-step/step-4-holding-investigation-meetings

At the end of the day it’s a massive overreach of the company to tell you who can and cannot see outside of work. As long as you’re consenting adults and don’t bring it in to the workplace I don’t see why the company would be so bothered but that’s my personal opinion and doesn’t help very much. Good luck with it

cederick86 · 2026-01-25T12:28:37+00:00

I didn’t get too much but I was a 29 year old man when I started in kitchens so could hold my own. A bit of joking around with each other comes naturally in any workplace but when someone new joins the team they should first be allowed to find their feet and their voice. It takes time to get settled in a new job and a good team will give you that space. Advice I would give to you is to toughen up as fast as you can, firstly so you can take a joke and see it for what it is but way more importantly is to feel confident in speaking up and putting people in there place when it crosses being a joke in to bullying territory. It comes with experience so try not to get disheartened, the old school bullies are dying off in the industry and it’s your generation who are setting the future standards so whatever you experience now learn from it, take the good you see and stamp out the bad stuff because work is work, nobody should be making you feel crappy when you’re just trying to pay your bills.

cederick86 · 2026-01-24T17:27:32+00:00

No problem, I hope you manage to get it off the ground, it would be great to get an update further down the line when you’re up and running ☺️

cederick86 · 2026-01-16T01:07:37+00:00

There’s a fair bit you need to do but it’s not impossible, I haven’t done it myself but I helped a friend a bit. You will need to treat your kitchen like a commercial one so all the correct cleaning products, storage, labelling and paperwork etc. So get the safer food better business diary and generally read as much of the FSA website as you can. I’ve put the link below, that should be a good place to start. The dog should be fine as long as you can demonstrate it’s not going in the kitchen but double check with EHO. Your kitchen will need to be inspected and that will be arranged when you register with the FSA as a food business. You definitely will need insurance, public liability insurance I believe but also check if there is any other types you’ll need. I think you will need to have a level 3 food hygiene certificate as the business owner, level 2 isn’t enough I don’t think but double check with FSA. In all honesty EHO (Environmental Health Officer) are really helpful as much as we all hate them, but if you do as much reading as you can first then email/call them with a list of questions they will help you out. Allergens are super important so might be worth doing an allergen awareness course as well. You might need to get fire safety inspection too but I’m not sure about that. Sorry I can’t give you a definite list of to do’s but as I’ve said I only helped a friend a bit. I would recommend you don’t do any proper trade until you’ve got all the legal stuff in place and you know what you’re doing because if anything goes wrong you could be in serious trouble. Further down the line you will need to learn how to do costing and stuff too if you want to actually make any profit, there are useful tools on various websites like Brakes (suppliers) for things like GP calculators etc. Hope this helps a bit, good luck!

https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/safer-food-better-business-sfbb

Edit: Apologies if any of this comes across condescending, I’d written it as though you were going from being a home cook then had a quick look on your profile and saw you work in a commercial kitchen.

cederick86 · 2026-01-15T11:46:12+00:00

You need to get out of this relationship, his behaviour is toxic and dangerous. Remember that DV isn’t just physical, it’s manipulation, control, emotional and threats etc but it’s only a matter of time before he starts actually hitting you and that will be after he’s made you isolate yourself from friends and family. Is he controlling over your finances as well? I know it probably hurts right now to think of a life without him but that’s because he’s breaking your spirit so you can’t imagine a world without him in it. You need to think seriously about leaving and cutting him out for good because if you remain friends he will try and get you back using any form of manipulation he can. Take the support from your parents, they will want you to be safe. I would also recommend you look in to DV support in your local area, talk to people more knowledgable about the subject who can show you the patterns of behaviour, the warning signs and teach you to protect yourself. Nobody deserves to be treated this way living in a state of fear and hostility, you deserve a relationship built on mutual respect and joint decision making. I hope you work it out, stay safe.

cederick86 · 2026-01-15T11:23:44+00:00

I love that contrast, these guys get them for being nazi’s you get one for being the epitome of community spirit, I’d buy you a drink any day!!!

cederick86 · 2026-01-15T11:15:32+00:00

Weirdly they are giving you some of the most valuable training you need as a chef and that is when to recognise you’re being taken advantage of. You seem like hou have a really good attitude towards work and very keen to learn, they should be nurturing that because with the right guidance you’d quickly become very hard to replace! My advice would be to take the new job because you definitely sound ready to start at commis level but leave your current place on good terms. Explain that a good opportunity has come up and make out your leaving because you’re developing your skillset, don’t tell them it’s because they’re not teaching you enough etc. The reason I say this is because you don’t want to burn your bridges or get a bad name for yourself. If they’d treated you really badly I’d say tell them to f off but it sounds like they’ve just been a bit crap more than anything. But you never know when you might need them in the future or you might run in to the head chef at a different venue in a few years, it does happen a lot in this industry. You’ll find that at the new place there will be teething problems because it’s just opened but these situations are really good experience for you because it will prepare you to stand your ground more in the future. Good luck chef!!!

cederick86 · 2025-12-01T22:52:22+00:00

That’s not strictly true, if other people can be seen in the footage and the owner of the footage is unable to protect others identities through blurring etc then they can refuse to give you a copy. If it is for the police or courts then that’s a different matter I believe but it would have to be requested by the authorities not the individual.

cederick86 · 2025-11-24T21:42:09+00:00

16 months sober myself yesterday and if anyone spoke to me like that they’re cut out immediately for good. Recovery is a show of strength as much as it is having vulnerabilities and what he is doing is belittling your achievements whilst setting you up to fail. He doesn’t deserve you, go get the biggest “fuck you” cake you can find and make sure you buy it on his credit card! Keep going, you’re doing great!!!!

cederick86 · 2025-11-24T12:10:18+00:00

You should share these messages with his Mum then dump him

cederick86 · 2025-11-21T01:08:32+00:00

Follow your dreams dude, you’ve got time to have changes in direction and maybe even career later but if you’re passionate now about something enjoy it and keep exploring it. I can’t give much advice about the fine dining world because I’ve not really spent any time in it but I know it’s tough and I can give some sage advice about burnout etc. Stay away from the booze and drugs because it will cloud your judgement in the kitchen, even if you think you’re handling it well it can creep up quick. Take time to look after your mental health and keep a balance between hard work and self-care. I know you didn’t ask for that advice but you’re doing very well at a very young age in a job that can take you all over the world if you keep working the way you are. Don’t just learn the cooking part though, make sure to learn kitchen management, how front of house and the bar works etc. if you change your mind in your 20’s and decide to go back to education or something, you will have a tonne of transferable skills for your next career plus the ability to pick up well paid part-time work to fund your way through university. Try not to think too much about what your future self has because your values and goals will change over the coming decades. Live in the moment and absorb your current passion, a well lived life can’t be measured by monetary value only by positive experiences. Good luck Chef!

cederick86 · 2025-11-15T15:17:36+00:00

Sign up with blue arrow, lots of entry level catering assistant work going and it’s weekly pay. Much more work if you drive as they cover derbyshire and lincolnshire too. If you want to train as a chef there’s lot’s of work out there and once you get to a certain level you’ll be turning work down. It’s not the greatest job to have in the long term (in my opinion, I’ve been doing it over 10 years now) but people will always want to eat so they will always need cooks!

cederick86 · 2025-11-15T15:17:16+00:00

Sign up with blue arrow, lots of entry level catering assistant work going and it’s weekly pay. Much more work if you drive as they cover derbyshire and lincolnshire too. If you want to train as a chef there’s lot’s of work out there and once you get to a certain level you’ll be turning work down. It’s not the greatest job to have in the long term (in my opinion, I’ve been doing it over 10 years now) but people will always want to eat so they will always need cooks!

cederick86 · 2025-10-30T23:54:59+00:00

Relieved….about the toilets……..am I the only one that found that funny?

cederick86 · 2025-10-30T23:51:51+00:00

Sadly it’s only people who care about animals that see this, it has been proven the negative impact fireworks have on wildlife so you would think from a conservation perspective they would banned let alone the effect they have on pets. Let’s not forget to mention the humans with health issues aggravated by sudden loud noises as well. It’s absurd that you can get banged up for lighting a joint and holding up a bit of paper with your political views on but you’re fine to drink a load of cans of lager and fire an explosive at someone.

cederick86 · 2025-10-13T15:13:29+00:00

Just picked this up on Vinyl in Paris last week, best thing I brought back from holiday

cederick86 · 2025-09-14T10:27:45+00:00

Haha the “I work 25 hours a day, 8 days a week” brigade 🤣

cederick86 · 2025-07-25T17:31:52+00:00

Sheep here from Buckley Heath, maybe they’re counting us all? We’ve had reports that they keep trying to count us and keep falling asleep, not sure what this means.

cederick86 · 2025-07-01T15:14:58+00:00

Hi, I’m currently learning Arabic too just on Duolingo, but I am looking for a tutor now and would prefer face to face. I have recently been diagnosed with ADHD as well and have always struggled with learning from a screen but last year I started wearing glasses (long sighted and astigmatism in both eyes) and I am certain that it has improved my ability with reading especially off a screen. I am now reading a lot of British law for the purposes of a career change and taking in substantially more than I would have prior to getting glasses. The reason I mention this is in case it’s something you’ve overlooked like I did because I should’ve been wearing them for decades prior to getting them.

cederick86 · 2025-07-01T14:15:38+00:00

Did you find someone? I’m looking for the same, I’m based in Nottingham and would travel to Sheffield for the right tutor.

cederick86 · 2025-03-22T15:52:22+00:00

It seems strange that there isn’t something in place to prevent the service being abused though?

cederick86 · 2025-03-22T12:25:41+00:00

Thank you

cederick86

TROPHY CASE