Would You Sign It?

I agree to attach a letter explaining why you are not going to sign, or that you are signing because you understand that it is needed to verify that you understand what the problem was, but not because you participated..

The make the letter very clear that you were not a pert of all of this and may have been around, but not involved.

My husband had an incident with one of his employees and told her that if she refused to sign his written account of the incident, that he would take that as her resignation. You can refuse to sign, but it may open a can of worms you don't want opened. Unfortunately, in this economy and with job shortages, you may have to sign, but if you can afford to stand up to this, you can not sign.

Present a written response to the write up and ask that it be attached and become a permanent part of your personnel file.

In it include something like, that while you may have been in attendance for some inappropriate conversations, you were not an active participant, and that in the future you will walk away from any conversation as soon as anything inappropriate is uttered in your presence. Include that you strive to maintain professionalism in all that you do, value your co-workers and the team, and plan to move ahead with a positive attitude.

Yes, I have been a manager. Yes, I have written up the entire group - sometimes in order to make a point - and in cases where culpability is unclear. But, I always respected a team member who answered the write up in a clear, professional manner, leaving personal feelings aside.

It is unfair that the entire team has to be reprimanded for the actions of a few. But, the best advice I can you is to maintain your professionalism and set aside your personal feelings when responding to the matter. This is what I would do whether I was the manager or the staff person.

Good Luck
God Bless

You should not refuse to sign the form. Sign that you indicate you have been spoken to about the content of the form, however, indicate that you do not agree with the allegations. On that back or in a blank space, give a brief description of your side of the story.

I believe these letters are signed generally to achknowledge that you received it and not to admit anything. And I believe you could get in more trouble for not signing it. You need to look at your own handbook for that info.

However, regardless of signing it, I would write a very specific letter for HR to put in your file, explaining your side and saying that your manager would not hear you out. You need to document in no uncertain terms that you disagree with this. Also, might not be bad to point out the risk the hospital is creating to patient care for distracting staff with this nonsense.

Do you have a Employee Assistance Program? Call them too.

You are wise to not sign without investigating your options here. You should never be pressured on the spot. However,.if you don't sign the next time you go in, you might be sent home until you do.

You can refuse. There should be a place on the performance counseling form where you can write your own version of events. You could write in there that you have been unfairly named as being part of this situation, when you were merely a bystander. Be very clear, but very professional, both in the interview and on the form that you took no part in these events, and as such, you cannot sign your name on that form stating that you were involved, because that would be equivalent to lying. If necessary, ask to have someone from HR present. Are you a union member? If so, speak with your union rep about this before going to the meeting on Thursday. I'm sorry you're caught up in all this - all this drama must be stressful.

I'd go higher up and talk to somebody about this. They were unwilling to listen to you, and that is very unprofessional (as is the gossip that is going on). Signing that sounds like you are in part admitting to have taken part in the gossip, which isn't true. However, I would also read the document thoroughly to make sure i didn't imply that I was a part of the problem- it could possibly end up being a very "neutrally blaming" document and if it was, I'd just sign in and not worry. There are some variables involved with this...

I agree that you need to sign, as some companies consider refusal as automatic dismissal. Prepare your side of story, without accusations of others and have it available when you sign. Put that you disagree, but have been talked to/informed of the event from your manager. That way, if there is no room towrite it on form, you have it prepared and YOU can staple it to the response form you are signing. if possible, get a copy for your own home file, in case the situation arises for discussion again.

Yes, you can refuse.
Whatever you do, it will go into your personnel file.

Talk to HR... not the Manager.

Document, EVERYTHING.

You can also write a letter, stating your stance.
That will go into your personnel file too.
Addressing it to both HR and your Manager.
Then, this will be another 'issue.'
About you.

Circumvent the problem. Head to human resources to discuss the problem. Say that you're being given a form to sign admitting to x, y, z, that you didn't do and what recourse do you have?

You can definately refuse to sign, but it will go into your personnel file anyways with a note that you refused to sign. If I were you this is what I would do. There is usually an area on these forms for you to comment. I think it would be in your best interest to start right now thinking of how to address this and write out a statement so that you are prepared when the time comes. If there is no space for a comment, then I would write in on a seperate sheet of paper and put above/below my signature "see attached".

Sorry that you are going through this. How frustrating!

Don't you have a union, ombudsmen, arbitration or something? Don't sign unless you know what you're signing agreeing to. Yes, you can attach something, but there's no way of knowing something is supposed to be attached unless you add right next to your signature "See attached rebuttal."

In my union I can refuse to sign a disciplinary action or warning, but it doesn't mean anything. I still get it. It still goes in my file. There is just a note added that I refused to sign it.

I would ask for an investigation though.

call a lawyer and ask them.

I would go right to Human Resources and tell them what happened - and tell them the truth of the matter - completely. Don't be afraid to 'tattle' you are all adults and those who cannot act like adults should be punished. PERIOD. Ask them to speak on your behalf of your Manager and do it NOW, not the day of the document needing to be signed. Be honest to HR about how your Manager would not even let you say what really happened, that it was a one sided harangue.

If the forms are pretty generic and basically ask you to sign that you understand that gossiping is against company policy, then I don't see the harm in signing it. Especially if everyone else has to sign it as well.
This may be a matter of your manager not wanting to get into a debate about who said what or who points fingers at who, but as a whole, needs it in writing that the situation is to stop.
You only work 2 days a week so your input can't be that great compared to some who work more hours.
Now....if it's worded in such a way that YOU are somehow the problem and YOU specifically are being put on notice, I would have something prepared in advance that can be attached and initialled by the manager and/or HR department to become part of your personnel file.
Try to think of it from a manager's prospective for a moment. In this crazy day and age if she doesn't give the same thing to everyone, that could cause problems with someone claiming to be singled out and if they are terminated it could lead to the possibility of discrimination or wrongful termination.
This isn't just you....it's others who weren't involved and it sounds like the one to blame is doing her best to deflect and not go down alone.
Having worked in a hospital myself, these kinds of things just can't be tolerated and it sounds like your manager is fed up with the situation. Not necessarily with you, personally.
I agree with Lesley's advice.
Have something prepared to attach.
If what you are asked to sign mainly deals with the situation and doesn't name anyone specific, to me that sounds like just trying to get a grip on the situation in general.
We had to sign things saying we understood that medical files could not be on the floor unless they were on wood pallets so many inches off the floor in case of fire or flooding. We didn't keep charts on the floor so it didn't pertain to us but we had to sign that we understood that. State regulations.
It's a little different scenario, but what we signed was in no way an admission of guilt. It was acknowledging the understanding of policy.
I'm just saying that this might not be as bad as you think it is.
However, if it's worded in such a way that you, personally, will no longer engage in this type of behavior, that's when you need something saying that you may have been present, but never engaged in it and you are signing with the stipulation that you can put it in writing that you were never allowed to answer any allegations made against you.
Hopefully the thing will just be generic and you won't have to worry about any of that.

I hope it works out okay for you.