Hello all,

Need some help for my brother who has found himself in a really strange and quite worrying position at his work.

He works for a well known supermarket and was under suspension after being accused of putting lottery transactions through incorrectly.

A bit of background, this is the third time he has been suspended and each time previously ( on different accounts ) was dropped immediately due to it being proven it was unfounded. There have also been a great number of staff members suspended in a short period ( 24 months ) and complaints made against the manager at the store

As I say this is complex. He was initially asked to come in for a meeting in which they accused him of putting through a scratchcard for more than it is worth and then pocketing the difference. However when he was at the meeting they then said to him that they believe over the last 12 months he has been responsible for over £7000 of lottery payments, they have no CCTV of this and the matter that the figures were not correlating properly was actually raised by my brother

At the time he was told to await for a letter with his date of his meeting. The next he knew of it was when the store called my mum and told her that he had not turned up and proceeded to talk to my mum about the investigation – when it has nothing to do with her ( she was emergency contact ) and they said they had hand delivered a letter the night before

The meeting was rescheduled. He was told that he could not have a Union Rep present and that he had to attend. Two days before the meeting he received an email from his manager ( on company email ) in which it states he has the option of resigning or being sacked. This is before a meeting has even take place. My brother attended this meeting ( Feb ) and a disciplinary meeting was scheduled for mid March.

In this time he was signed off with stress and anxiety for two weeks which meant he could not attend the meeting. He had a doctors note which he passed to the store and informed everyone in writing. He was told the meeting would be held in his absences

This is where it gets weirder. He has never had anything in writing following this despite requests and has called up today to be informed that as far as they are concerned he resigned at the prior meeting. There is no record of this in the notes and he is adamant he never did or would have. They are saying that he would have been sacked anyway and that they are now consulting legally to claim the money back off him.

To me it sounds like they are putting pressure on him to try and force him to resign. I am wondering whether the manager at the store is trying to cover himself for something.

I was just wondering what his next step should be, I am wondering whether he should email the HR person and CC the CEO of the supermarket in as well for impact? He is consulting his union but they have not been great so far.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

How long has he worked there? and has he got the handbook that outline company procedures

That does sound odd. Are you sure you're getting the whole story?

How long has he worked there?

That does sound odd. Are you sure you're getting the whole story?

 

How long has he worked there?

Yeah getting the whole story, if I had not seen it or heard him on the phone with it I too would have struggled to believe it!

He has been working for them about 4 years

If your bro suffers from anxiety/depression, it's possible that the managers are preying on him, putting even more stress on him and forcing him to resign. He must be strong and fight on every single corner. He could also mention the fact he suffered from stress as a proof that the management is picking on him.

Ask for a copy of the disciplinary procedure and escalate upwards according to that procedure. I don't think there is anything to be ganied by copying the CEO as a major supermarket should have a clear procedure in place for dealing with HR issues. I would guess the CEO's email is managed by a secretary, as I am sure he gets hundreds of emails a day complaining about various things.

If he hasn't resigned and hasn't been sacked then he should still be employed. Management can't just assume or pretend he has resigned. If his sick note runs out then letter/email HR asking for clarification of his position and to management asking when he should report for work. He should not resign for now as this would weaken his position.

Get him to return to work as soon as possible. If necessary get him to write to HR and the store manager telling them he will return to work on such a date and will be resuming his normal duties. That will force them to do something.