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Disciplinary Advice
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[Deleted User]
Posts: 15 Forum Member
Hi ,
Basically , I work for a supermarket and have done for fours years now , i really enjoy my job and have just been promoted , But last week i was under so much pressure and made a huge mistake , i was cashing up some tills and doing the banking , and i needed to get the two £1000 bricks checked and posted in the inner safe , so i called for a colleague to come and check them , as he came in to the office to start checking i was called onto the shop floor to answer a customer query , i was gone no more than 15 secs , when i went back into the office the colleague said he had checked and posted both bricks into the innersafe , i continued to carry out my duties but on my way home it dawned on me that i never witnessed him post them , any way the next day when the security people came to collect the money it was two grand short!!
I know i made a huge mistake in not witnessing him posted it , but i was under so much pressure as i had so much to do , with very little staff i lost concentration , I have now been suspended for gross misconduct for wilful and negligent behaviour , I really love my job and this whole situation is effecting me , i am highly respected by senior managmement and have been told i will have a great career with the company , i am really annoyed with myself and annoyed at my manager for leaving me exposed so much under this christmas pressure , i know i have to take responsibility , but i cant think straight right now , my hearing is on Thursday , its my first offence and have never been in a disciplinary before can anyone give me some advice? i really dont want to get sacked.
Thanks in Advance
Basically , I work for a supermarket and have done for fours years now , i really enjoy my job and have just been promoted , But last week i was under so much pressure and made a huge mistake , i was cashing up some tills and doing the banking , and i needed to get the two £1000 bricks checked and posted in the inner safe , so i called for a colleague to come and check them , as he came in to the office to start checking i was called onto the shop floor to answer a customer query , i was gone no more than 15 secs , when i went back into the office the colleague said he had checked and posted both bricks into the innersafe , i continued to carry out my duties but on my way home it dawned on me that i never witnessed him post them , any way the next day when the security people came to collect the money it was two grand short!!
I know i made a huge mistake in not witnessing him posted it , but i was under so much pressure as i had so much to do , with very little staff i lost concentration , I have now been suspended for gross misconduct for wilful and negligent behaviour , I really love my job and this whole situation is effecting me , i am highly respected by senior managmement and have been told i will have a great career with the company , i am really annoyed with myself and annoyed at my manager for leaving me exposed so much under this christmas pressure , i know i have to take responsibility , but i cant think straight right now , my hearing is on Thursday , its my first offence and have never been in a disciplinary before can anyone give me some advice? i really dont want to get sacked.
Thanks in Advance
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Comments
There is a reasonable chance to suspect the case will not centre on whether the second employee was untrustworthy but whether you followed correct procedure.
You may want to focus on saying that procedure was (under any reasonable definition) followed.
You may consider it useful to emphasise the 15 seconds that the case rests on. (I am not sure whether this well help or not - you need to consider if it helps or hinders).
You may wish to think about describing and (more importantly) demonstrating/proving the pressure and stress that you have been working under.
Is it worth stating the stress that you have been under with 'limited' management support? If you are under stress (not pressure) then surely there ought to be a management responsibility to care for you. Does a failure in your employer's 'duty of care' counter any 'breach' of procedure that you may or may not have committed?
You should state your action was not 'willful'. Describe your previous exemplary track record. Seek written letters of support from colleagues. You need to demonstrate this was not 'gross misconduct'. Perhaps you may want to admit to a mistake given the stress you were under, but not gross misconduct (again you have to make the decision or consult ACAS/Union/HR advisers).
Go to the ACAS website and check your rights, your right to be represented and the procedures that the employer must follow. If your employer fails to follow the correct procedure (such as informing you of your rights) then at appeal any negative decision can be over-turned. You may wish to keep this back as an appeal option rather than bring it up at the hearing. I believe you also have the right to delay the hearing but again decide whether this is going to help or hinder the outcome.
Consider writing down a statement which you read out at the hearing. Consider the questions you will put to the person (your manager?) presenting the case. These questions can be loaded to help your case, such as asking about the amount of support you get, the multiple tasks you have to undertake, the time you have to do these and whether it is reasonable of a manager to put all of this burden on you. Why did you manager take no responsibility for the posting? Is this reasonable?
I dont have the answers but I hope there are some ideas here for a robust defence. Be mindful that you should be calm, not be aggressive or attack, but be forthright and assertive. Remember the responsibility is with the employer to support you in your duties. If they have not done so, if they have caused you stress and failed their duty of care then there is no case. But also be willing to accept that you can make mistakes - though not willfully or negligent ones.
Best of luck OP. Please prepare well. You have persuaded me that you are honest and professional in one short post, so you now need to carry this through to the meeting.
An internal investigation will take place and hopefully you'll be shown to be in the clear.
What !!
If that's a way to run a business might as well promote the tea person.
I would agree with the advice of others above, certainly write down everything you'd like to say - to make sure you don't forget some points, and take a colleague or union rep into the meeting with you.
Firstly, OP isn't in the clear. She has admitted leaving 2nd colleague alone with the cash. The issue here isn't so much about the missing money. More to do with not following company procedures. This is often used as an "excuse" for the want of a better word, to dismiss people.
There should be CCTV to check, to prove you didn't take the money. IF you didn't of course. Not saying you did, but I don't know from Adam.
Be sure to take a union rep in with you.
Without making yourself sound cocky, be sure to know the procedures inside and out. Then explain the mitigating circumstances you claim made you leave to deal with a customer. The thing that worries me is you claim it was only 15 seconds you were gone. And in this 15 seconds, the money was in effect, counted and dropped. If you focus too much on this time then I suspect that for the sake of 15 seconds, you should have completed the drop with the 2nd colleague, then dealt with the customer.
Good luck.
RING RING...Visa here...we took our eye off your account for 15 seconds and it appears that 2k has gone missing....due to a cock up in procedures there's nothing we can do...very sorry...bye.
Years ago I lost a large amount of my employers cash - turned up next day with with notes to replace it - offer refused - I'm still working for them 20 odd years later.
Yep you screwed up, BIG STYLE, but are still employed.
This forum is 'ADVICE', thus I was offering support at what must be a very worrying time.
Bornslippy has given excellent advice as has QTC. I guess the OP can do without our silly quibbling tbh.
I'm shocked having read the above that this is the person you chose to leave in a room with a open safe and £2000 in cash and then mention being angry with your manager over the pressure your under, wow imagine the pressure your managers now under with thousands of pounds disappearing in peoples pockets, employees suspended, disciplineries to sort out and Christmas here. Don't take this the wrong way but your in the wrong job, I'm guessing by hearing you mean the investigation will be on Thursday or has that already happened? If the investigation has happened have they sent you copies of everything they have investigated? It doesn't surprise me if there is no CCTV in the saferoom its always required in hindsight with things like this.
The investigation has happened, my disciplinary is set for thursday , the reason for my suspension is wilful and negligent behaviour and leaving a untrained member of staff to check the bricks unattended , Having said that , the manager left me with no trained member of staff on the premises , the cash office does not have CCTV only the shop floor.
Thanks for the replies
OP. Take someone with you to the meeting as you are entitled to do. You should ask them who this could be. A senior colleague or a family member.
Write down exactly what happened. Think carefully about how long you were actually away because 15 seconds sounds very short to me.
Write down examples of how you have been a good employee. When you have helped others without being asked. How good your attendance record is (if it is). The efforts you have made to attend in bad weather (if that is the case). How you have covered for others without complaining. Anything that shows you are a good employee and deserved that promotion.
It does sounds like you have breached established procedure BUT there is something in your post that is also interesting. This member of staff was taken on while suspended from another role and it seems your boss did not check his references properly.
IF this ends badly (finger's crossed you will be fine) then you could actually go for unfair dismissal on the basis that you are being made a scapegoat. It sounds to me like you are partially to blame for this but your boss is probably in deep water over the actual theft.
So my advice: take a witness, stay calm and polite and profesisonal and go well prepared to talk about the event and your track-record with the company.
Good luck.
Ignore this OP. This poster loves to troll the advice threads winding people up and adding to their distress.
isnt most of the advice forum the same.
The work place has a duty of care and stress management is part of that duty.
The other issue is lack of staffing. If you are called to handle a customer then there should be a sufficient replacement for you while you handle it. Obviously a temporary staff member won't be considered to be trust worthy or competent so you have a case for the company not providing you with proper back up. You can't be in two places at once.
Good Luck.
There are a certain number of posters who see this as some sort of playground when they are bored. Luckily I think the majority of people who post in advice give good, considered advice.
I wonder if they have already called the police - if they had surely they would have talked to the OP by now?
As the manager didn't check the chap's references (the one left alone with it) they may just decide to write it off.
If they don't report it, could the OP claim there is no evidence that the theft has actually taken place and therefore there is no misconduct relating to its disappearance?
By no trained person I'm guessing your not trained to do the cashing up, if you are if I was in the situation I would of just cashed up myself, I tend to know I'm not going to steal myself.
I've seen something similar happen, the person lost their promotion and recieved a written warning. However it depends on the company, from what you've said so far it sounds like one of the discount retailers if it is you've got more chance of keeping your job.
Good point. OP, has the £2k been found or an investigation into the money started yet?
I think you have to take from this that it's 50/50 and you are the scapegoat. On reflection you'd do as QTC13 has suggested - sort out the money and then attend to the customer but the benefit of hindsight is an amazing thing we all lack. Equally your manager should have a better recruitment process.
Your strongest arguments are in bornslippy's excellent post - make sure you know your rights but can I ask about this bit of your second post?
" did not mention , that the colleague who checked the bricks has only just been employed for xmas support , and the feeling from the rest of the staff is they could not trust him yet as he`s new , i also found out that he got suspended from his previous employer and joined our company under suspension , i however dont know what he got suspended for , but my manager never done any back ground checks on him. I know he took it!! but i`m not going to the disciplinary for the loss but the process/policy.....i`m so worried."
When did you find this out? Before the money went missing? If it was before then I fear for your employment as you should have kept the customer waiting and supervised this idiot. If not then do you have actual evidence, not gossip, of this? Okay so you are not being disciplined for this but it has a huge impact on the case. If you can provide a statement from someone (a former employer) and have evidence that your manager has not carried out the checks. I also think that, given the close proximity of the manager in relation to the case, he/she cannot carry out the disciplinary and you should request that it's a third party if this is the case. There's more on your rights here:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/ResolvingWorkplaceDisputes/Disciplinaryprocedures/index.htm
Good luck.
The burden of proof would be on the accuser to prove you did.