Daughter Suspended as accused of stealing

[Craftygirl42]

My daughter has been accused of stealing the days takings are the club she works in. They say she was fiddling with her sleeve on the CCTV and they cant see her actually put the money in the safe, but saw her go to it.

 

She has a meeting on Weds and they say she has to give them a satisfactory explanation of what happened to the money!!! They have also told her who she bring and thats another young girl and cant take the older guy and they have told her not to discuss it with him.

 

Her grandad is a retired union rep, is he allowed to go with her and also what should she be asking and doing, nothing like this has ever happened to any of us before so no idea what to do

[lenny01]

My daughter has been accused of stealing the days takings are the club she works in. They say she was fiddling with her sleeve on the CCTV and they cant see her actually put the money in the safe, but saw her go to it.

 

She has a meeting on Weds and they say she has to give them a satisfactory explanation of what happened to the money!!! They have also told her who she bring and thats another young girl and cant take the older guy and they have told her not to discuss it with him.

 

Her grandad is a retired union rep, is he allowed to go with her and also what should she be asking and doing, nothing like this has ever happened to any of us before so no idea what to do

 

Does she have a contract with this club? The only reason she couldn't take in the older guy and not discuss it with him, is if he is classed as a witness to any alleged wrongdoing.

 

I'm presuming this meeting is an investigatory meeting and not a disciplinary?

 

And whilst I believe you are allowed a trade union rep present, i'm not sure if that extends to retired union reps. I'm sure somebody will be along soon with the answer to that!

[Craftygirl42]

She does have a contract cos one of the things they mentioned in the letter they claimed was in her contract, she said its not. That was about the place to cash up. I have told her challenge it. Trouble is she lives away from me but she has no one else really for support

[lenny01]

So the area where she cashes up is on CCTV but the safe its not? Just to confirm, the safe IS NOT on CCTV??

[Craftygirl42]

i believe the safe is on CCTV but they saw her bend down to the safe but not actually put the money in, cos she was infront of it. She is going to try and scan me the letter over so I have more information.

[becky2585]

She could always ask for her grandad to attend, but the legal right doesn't extend to such a companion so they could lawfully decline.

 

How long has she worked there?

[Craftygirl42]

Just coming up to a year I think. She thinks they want to give someone else back her job, so forcing her out

[lenny01]

Depending on what level meeting it is, she should be entitled to everything that they have by way of evidence, witness statements, till receipts, journal rolls, cctv - she should have a copy of everything. This allows her to build a defence on the allegations. Maybe she needs to ask.

[Craftygirl42]

She has just rang them and told them she wants to see all the CCTV and the guy was adamant he hadnt missed anything and a bit funny about it but she insisted and he has agreed she can see the whole lot. He has also agreed to her having the older guy with her, although when she told him her grandad was a union rep he got a little flustered...lol.

 

She said she was called into the office before her shift yesterday and told but they let her do her shift and then put the letter through her door today suspending her. So she was good enough to work as they wouldnt have been able to cover her shift very easily yesterday

[lenny01]

She has just rang them and told them she wants to see all the CCTV and the guy was adamant he hadnt missed anything and a bit funny about it but she insisted and he has agreed she can see the whole lot. He has also agreed to her having the older guy with her, although when she told him her grandad was a union rep he got a little flustered...lol.

 

She said she was called into the office before her shift yesterday and told but they let her do her shift and then put the letter through her door today suspending her. So she was good enough to work as they wouldnt have been able to cover her shift very easily yesterday

 

Then they have already gone against the grain.

 

If they have evidence to suggest gross misconduct (bad enough to be sacked), then she should have been suspended WITHOUT DELAY.

[Craftygirl42]

Thats exactly what I thought Lenny

[lenny01]

I would tell her to go back to the boss, say that she wants a physical copy of everything they intend to use as evidence, including cctv, and that she will need 24 hours from receiving the evidence before she will attend the meeting. If this means putting it back, then so be it. Also ensure she is being suspended on full pay pending investigation.

[becky2585]

If she's been there under a year, they don't need to follow any process at all I'm afraid. I would strongly suggest checking her contract for her start date - as if it has crept to 51 weeks or more, she has full employment rights and protection from unfair dismissal.

[stu007]

Hi

 

This link to ACAS may be of use: www.acas.org.uk/

 

And these PDFs from ACAS and info on CCTV:

[ericsbrother]

On a slightly different tack, who has keys to the safe ( if combination lock who knows the combination and can it be determined by watching someone else via the CCTV), where are they kept if there is a signing in system and who else has access to them? Do these same people have access to the CCTV or other security systems. Has anyone left the employ or management of the club who would have had access to the safe or other security systems? Who does the stocktake and how often? Any problems there in the past? Who does the food and drink orders? Does she know what the turnover in cash is for the club and what is the surplus. reason for asking these things is that in these straitened times some people will go to great lengths to keep a business going. It may benefit the club financially to suffer a theft as long as they find a culprit.

I used to be a club secretary for over 20 years and I have never heard of such a way of going about things regarding disciplinaries or investigations. Elsewhere in the licenced trade things would be even more prescribed. Something smells wrong here and a few questions need answering with regard to more than just procedure.

[assisted blonde]

who else has access to the safe? if she says she put themoney in the safe and she is on cctv then whoever took it out if it was in there will also be on cctv,

[Craftygirl42]

Seen her contract and she has only been there 6 1/2 months.

 

So are you saying she has no rights to fight this slur against her name cos she has only worked there a short time.

 

Ericsbrother, its under £500 so dont think its a case of keeping the business going, but I will get her to ask the questions you suggested

[becky2585]

Seen her contract and she has only been there 6 1/2 months.

 

So are you saying she has no rights to fight this slur against her name cos she has only worked there a short time.

 

Ericsbrother, its under £500 so dont think its a case of keeping the business going, but I will get her to ask the questions you suggested

 

No, unfortunately no rights at all. The employer doesn't even need to follow any kind of disciplinary procedure. However, the fact that they are following a process in the circumstances could be a positive thing - they could have just sacked her on the spot and paid her notice period, so perhaps they are trying to be reasonable.

[Craftygirl42]

No, unfortunately no rights at all. The employer doesn't even need to follow any kind of disciplinary procedure. However, the fact that they are following a process in the circumstances could be a positive thing - they could have just sacked her on the spot and paid her notice period, so perhaps they are trying to be reasonable.

 

That is so wrong then, she can have this against her for the rest of her life and there is nothing she can do about it. This is still defamation of character

[becky2585]

That is so wrong then, she can have this against her for the rest of her life and there is nothing she can do about it. This is still defamation of character

 

It won't be the rest of her life, it's only likely to be relevant for a short period of time.

 

There's no defamation here - not yet, anyway!

[Craftygirl42]

She could leave it out on her CV as been working elsewhere too but the trouble is she is well known in the area from her previous job and mud does stick

[ericsbrother]

She will need to see the CCTV from the time she was at the safe until the time the theft was reported to another person by the person who discovered the theft. As you say, she doesnt want a bad mark on her employment record and even £500 missing will knock 100 quid off the company VAT bill not to mention other tax liabilities and be a good sum in someone's pocket.

[Craftygirl42]

is she entitled to a copy of the CCTV up until the time the safe was emptied which was apparently a week later

[Craftygirl42]

Just to finish off this thread, she has been sacked!!!

[becky2585]

Just to finish off this thread, she has been sacked!!!

 

At a disciplinary hearing?

 

Have they cited gross misconduct?