Hi, would just like to say i would be greatful for everyones views, opinions and advice. This is quite a long story and has even left me confused at the best of times so please ask if you have any questions. My job role is hotel receptionist.

I have been accused of checking in guests into our hotel and not taking payment for the room. I was told these guests have now walked out and that I would have to pay £100+ for the room. In an informal meeting with my manager I told her I didn’t check the guests in but I cut the key accidentally and that I put the key in a pre arrival folder because I thought it belonged to a group arriving later that day because of how the booking was made. I explained that the way the booking was made it looked identical to the other group bookings. My manager told me she didn’t believe me, I was upset by this. It turned into an argument and she said I was contradicting her. Then said I would have to pay £100+ or face a disciplinary. I thought this wasn’t fair as I didn’t check them in. So I stormed out saying I quit and then drove of around the corner and sat for a bit. She left a voicemail on my phone. I rang her back where we had another argument down the phone about it. She said I couldn’t have thought it was a group and the booking was made correctly. She gave me half an hour to cool down before coming back. I came back, started work as normal as we were busy. I then went to her office and said I’m sorry for walking out, she said its fine and then I carried on my shift as normal.

The next day I received an email that had been chained to the whole reception team saying that I had checked in a room with no payment and that people did not spot it sooner. Now I and a few other colleagues would have to pay £100+. I thought this email was unfair as I said didn’t check in the guest with no payment I just cut the key. I felt the email singled me out a number of times and knew colleagues would now be asking what happened. After the argument we had the day before I didn’t want to go into to work but I knew it was a busy day and it was also the last shift I was working before 2 weeks annual leave. So I went to work, explained myself to a few people that I didn’t check in the guests as sent in the email.

So this is where things get bad for me. Towards the end of my shift we had people who had used our car park because of a local event come to pay. They paid by credit card. I decided to post this money to the room instead of car parking. I honestly thought nothing of it as all the money was going to the company. I thought now there would be a smaller amount for everyone to pay or we could rebate the rest now. I received a voice mail on my phone the next morning, I rang back and my manager asked what had happened with the money. I said I posted the car park money there. She said she wants me to come in the next morning to have a meeting with her and hr. This got me scared as I have never been asked to have a meeting with hr before. So the next day I came in, I was told they wanted to find out has happened. The person from hr would take notes while my manager asks the questions. I was asked to give my version of events for what happened during our informal meeting and why I posted the car park money to the room. I explained my side then my manager showed me 2 cctv images saying that they were the guest in the room that walked out and it showed me checking them in. She then also said that the key had been used minutes after I checked them in so I couldn’t have thought the room was for a group.

I apologized if this was the case but I honestly could not recall checking in a room with no payment. With this being said the meeting was over, I was asked to sign the notes hr took, was told a further investigation would continue and to enjoy my holiday. After leaving the meeting I could have swore that I had seen the guest in the picture the last night I was working which would have been 2 days after they apparently walked out. I then tried to remember checking the guests in cctv image in, and I remembered them asking to be put on a specific floor. So I thought that could definitely not be them. I was told further investigation would be carried out and thought not much more about it on my annual leave.

I was due to start work soon so I phoned a colleague to find out my hours on the rota. I was told there were no hours for me the next week. This got me scared. So I sent an email to my manager before giving her a call. She said she had me down starting next Monday and that there was a error on the rota. She said I should have been sent a letter by hr. No. She told me to give hr a call the next day as I first had to have a meeting before I start back. The next day I get an email from hr saying that they sent the letter to wrong address and they would re send it. They also attached the letter to the email. To my shock it said I have been suspended for financial irregularities while an investigation takes place and a hearing will take place the following Monday. They said I have checked in a guest without payment and then used peoples credit cards to get rid of the outstanding balance. They sent me a copy of cctv images, time I cut the key, time key was used and our grievance and disciplinary procedures.

What I’d like everyone’s opinion on are a few things. On my letter and on our disciplinary policy it says that suspension is not an act of discipline. I think getting suspended while on annual leave is a form of discipline. What do you think? Also in the disciplinary procedure it says the investigation will be carried out in a fair and consistent way at all times. I don’t think it is fair that all the evidence against me has been collected and handed by my manager and I believe not once looked at independently. For a start, I’ve been given a sheet that states the time I cut the key was lets say… 15.59. The two camera images used for evidence shows me at 15.44 and 15:48. So looking at the earliest image shows a 15min time gap. I know it would not take me 15 mins to check in a guest let alone check in a guest and not take payment. Also in the last image it actually even looks like I’m handing them the key to their room at 15:48. So this has definitely not been looked at correctly. Also during the investigation meeting I was told that the key I had cut was used straight after checking in the people on cctv by my manager. In the letter they said they are sending me a door lock report of when the card key was used, instead I’ve just got another sheet printed in a different way showing what time I cut the key, 15:59. Surely nobody properly investigating could believe that I can cut a key one second and within a millisecond they can go to the lift walk along the corridor and use the key to enter the room. This has led me to believe for the first time that nobody was in the room, as even from the start I was shown no proof I just accepted what my manager said. Also I don’t believe the cctv images has been shown to anybody else who could have been a witness. There are two other colleagues on the cctv who might have been able to recognize them. Do you think this has been carried out fairly or do you think my manager is just annoyed that we had an argument and I refused to pay any money.

Thank you.

Hello

Have they actually tried pursuing the guests for payment?

Are they treating this as misconduct or gross misconduct?

Suspension is a neutral act in law, and isn't seen as disciplinary action.

How many hours are you contracted to work? They should keep paying any contracted hours whilst you're on suspension.

Hi,

They haven't pursued the guest for payment. They are treating this as gross misconduct. I'm on a full time contract and the suspension is with pay.

You seem to be looking for evidence to be treated as if this were a criminal law court. It isn't. Reasonable belief is all that is required.

Thank you for your response. In my original post I was pointing out what evidence they have that was sent to me. But obviously I can only see things from one side so I was asking if anybody else thinks this was investigated fairly?

No idea, but I think you may have stuffed yourself by charging parking against the room when you already knew it was under investigation - that was not your decision to make.

They are investigating. They have checked accounts and cameras - all the evidence they can find probably. They may take some witness statements.

They will present their view of things. You can refute it. They believe you or they don't. You have a right of appeal. If you don't like the appeal result you can go to an ET.

That's as fair as you are going to get.

I completely own up to stuffing myself. But at the time I wasn't told an investigation would be carried out I was just told to the pay the money or face a disciplinary for refusing.

Thank you for help Emmzzi

So you didnt pay the moey what did you expect them to do of course they were going to carry out an investigation and make it a disiplinary matter

The day after the informal meeting I was sent an email saying that me and a few other colleagues would now have to pay the money.

I might be missing something but why would other collegues pay the money if it was you who did it, apart from that the company were always going to investigate if there were allegations of fraud or missuse of funds etc

Does your employment contract oblige you to pay for errors? Some do but the maximum an employer may hold back from your pay is 10% of the pay for the given period so this will be either a portion of a weeks pay or a month's salary. Charging the parking to a room is a no-no, not just in this case but under more general rules governing accounting. Your employer could get into trouble for this if the tax liabilities are different. However, I doubt it would be a sacking offence on its own. You need to write a statement for your disciplinary on the lines you have given here about the timing of events and what proof you would need to show that it coulndt have accurred in the way you are accused. your employer should then investigate all of theunseen footage, records etc that would determine, if possible, the truth.

Thank you for your responses. I know there is a lot to follow in my original post. I was called into my managers office and told I checked in a guest without taking payment. I said I checked in the room by accident as the booking looked similar to they way a booking for a group usually looks, I then put the key I had cut into a folder belonging to the group. My manager made this reservation. She didn't believe me and told me I had to pay all the money or face a disciplinary for refusing. I said no and stormed out, came back after and nothing else was mentioned about the room. The next day our whole reception team got an email saying because I checked in a guest with no payment I would have to pay towards the room. Also the few colleagues who worked shifts after me and did not contact the guest regarding payment will have to pay also.

There is nothing in my contract or in our procedure folder to say that we have to pay for room errors.