There are separate signing-in sheets for the morning and the afternoon. I previously worked an afternoon shift, but moved to morning, and didn't know that I had to sign a different sheet as I was never told to and they weren't labelled. This meant that my timesheets stated fifty minutes more per day than the signing-in sheet, creating a discrepancy. Anyway, I went to the meeting yesterday. My manager said she understood that there were mitigating circumstances, but that the discrepancy was still very serious, and my contract was terminated as expected. She said that HR didn't consider it fraud, though, and thus it wouldn't go any further.

I presume it's because a fraudulent act was committed, regardless of whether it was accidental or repayment has been made.

Thank you for your advice. I suspected I probably wouldn't be secure in my job. Relatively speaking, I'd be okay with losing my job. I was really worried about it going to court, since it is technically fraud, and I start university later this year and wouldn't want the case looming over me.

Hello, I'm new here, and this seemed like the right place to post the topic. I need some advice. I'll try to put as much detail as possible. I work for a retail company in a department store. I've been there for almost exactly one year with no problems. However, I've been called to a disciplinary hearing this Monday. It is concerning an apparent fraudulent filling in of timesheets. The signing-in sheet and the timesheets I sent off to my manager show an apparent discrepancy. The discrepancy almost resulted in me being overpaid by £50 in the past three weeks, though I've informed payroll that they can deduct it from my wages, which they have done. Looking at the evidence presented to me, it seems that it was an honest mistake on my part, as my working hours changed a month ago, and this required a change of procedure I wasn't informed about. It was my first job using a hard timesheet, so I didn't have prior knowledge of how to fill them in. I would argue that I wasn't properly trained at the start of the job, as my training consisted of an informal store tour that lasted 90 minutes and didn't cover the signing-in sheet. I wasn't asked to sign anything signifying that I'd had adequate training. Also, I don't have access to the staff handbook; I was asked to return the single copy sent to me with my contract, so I had no copy to keep, and the digital copy on the company's computer system is inaccessible due to a technical issues. It has always been inaccessible despite my informing two managers of the problem. So, I've made a list of potentially mitigating points that could work in my favour; - I wasn't properly trained: My training consisted of 90 minutes one Saturday, and was essentially an informal tour of the store. - I've shown only the best of intentions in the past; I've consistently produced some of the best sales figures in the store's history, and I've offered to sacrifice my banked holiday without taking it because the company was having trouble finding cover for me. - I don't have access to the staff handbook; I was asked to return the lone copy sent to me, and the digital version is inaccessible from the store computer, despite my informing two managers of the problem. - I was happy to pay back the £50 Bearing in mind there was no malice or dishonest intent on my part, my willingness to repay the sum overpaid, and my exemplary record, how do you think this will pan out? Also, could this go to court? And should this go to court, how do you think their case would hold up? Any advice would be appreciated.