worried I may lose my job

I work in the lab in major multinational pharmaceutical company, last week I did something rather stupid at work.Basically I got caught out in a lie.My supervisor was informed and she let me know that she would be setting up a meeting with hr to discuss this and my performance in other issues within the last year.I have since had that meeting which was quite formal, there was no arguing and everyone was cordial with each other. I was given a document with every mistake/errors I have made since I joined the company over a year ago.this ranged from deviations I needed raise due to mistakes I made while performing tests, low training score poor GMP etc.

I have been asked to write a writen reponse to this document and hand it back within the next few days.I have to say in my defence that a few of those details that were raised was not entirely my fault and I also successfully passed my 6 month probation and 1 year review.

I am not sure how to respond, should I accept responsibilty that my performance to date has not been up to standard and hope to get the oppourtunity to improve or should I be more defensive and argue why I think some of the issues raised were not entirely my fault.

Do you think I will be sacked or just warned

Thanks for your help

I think you should accept responsibility only for the things that you were responsible for and not anything else. Also if this is the first time these were raised ask why they were not raised at your 1 year review. were you aware of these shortcomings at the time?

Companies have certain procedures for disciplining staff so make sure you know what the process is.

Sounds like you're not cut out for that line of work.
Why not start looking for a different job?

umop3p!sdn said:

Sounds like you're not cut out for that line of work.
Why not start looking for a different job?

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Thats kind of difficult considering the current climate and that I spent 4 years in college getting a degree in chemistryand my only work experience is in this field.Also im 31 so its a bit late to start in a new area.

What would you suggest?

I have no idea how to advise you on your current predicament but I have to comment on your age issue. At 31 you have absolutely loads of time to change career if you really want to. I'm not saying you should based on your current situation, just saying that at 31 you still have over 30 years of working life left. I studied for a degree as a mature student some years ago, completed it when I was 40 and I was nowhere near the oldest in the class, many of whom went on to to complete even more study and changed their careers afterwards. Good luck!

You seem pretty level headed. Accept responsibility for any shortcomings and outline any explanations you may have (lack of training, mistakes by colleagues etc). However don't play the victim. You seem to accept that you have not been the perfect employee so admit this. Tell them how you intend to improve and then if you get away with it, work your ass off to improve your standing in the company. Won't happen overnight.

Firstly, familiarise yourself with your company's policy with regards to discipline. Without that you are putting yourself at a disadvantage.

Secondly, put yourself in the company's shoes. They have not dismissed you out of hand, they have given you an opportunity to respond. So what response would be most beneficial to them? I am not suggesting that you tell them what they want to hear, I am suggesting that you provide them with details of your intent with regards to the issues they have raised.
Those for which you are not responsible, state so clearly. Indicate why you are not culpable or responsible. Query why they are on your record.
Those for which you are responsible look at them seriously and consider what actions you can take to avoid them in the future. Give thought to ways you can monitor this (they evidently are). Everybody makes mistakes, everybody does something wrong, you aren't special in this regard. Don't assume it is an attack, treat it as constructive feedback.
Also as feedback to them, unless you know of a good reason why not, query why you have not received this feedback under the normal review process.
I'd also address the lie and what actions you need to take to rebuild the trust in you that you have now squandered.

Question for you though (not necessarily one to answer publicly but perhaps to consider), why did you lie?
Your attitude to this I find a little unsettling. You said "last week I did something rather stupid at work.Basically I got caught out in a lie".
This is interesting because it seems to me that you view being caught as the stupid step not lying in the first place. If this is the case you need to consider whether your attitude is the most healthy.

Sunny said:

You seem pretty level headed. Accept responsibility for any shortcomings and outline any explanations you may have (lack of training, mistakes by colleagues etc). However don't play the victim. You seem to accept that you have not being the perfect employee so admit this. Tell them how you intend to improve and then if you get away with it, work your ass off to improve your standing in the company. Won't happen overnight.

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+1 Take it on the chin and accept you screwed up. I'd make a big real about telling the lie if I was you; they need reassurance that you take it at least as seriously as they do, particularly in an environment that is open to FDA the EU oversight.

I work in the same industry and would agree with most of the advice you have been given by previous posters. As I am sure you are aware yourself - the course of action taken by your supervisors is not just about discipline - from the details posted , it appears there were serious GMP/GLP breaches and the process you are going through is part of the documented corrective action for that ....these things are taking very seriously and there are some companies that include as part of contracts, that attempts to cover up breaches is sackable if sufficently detrimental. It sounds like the company are not going down that route - you need to reassure them in your response that they can trust you to do the job- covering up the lie is the big thing , in QC lab work , that can cause a huge compliance snowball effect. Mistakes can happen - we are all human however they need to be able to trust that if they do, that going forward you have the maturity to fess up in a timely manner and the ability to learn and not repeat the same mistakes...one word of caution do not linger to much on any percieved lack of training as part of any defense you feel you might want to make - at your level you would be expected to have the wherewith all to shout at the time of training if you feel you are not fully equiped to perform the job according to GLP principles.

Jakearmitage, I hope everything worked out ok for you in this.
I can tell you from experience though that by far the best thing to do is admit your mistakes and explain the rest. At the end of the day they don't have to live with you, but you do!
Good luck!