been accused of taking £2000 from work advise asap please

deni100

nunnygirl wrote: »

If you've done nothing wrong (which from what I've read on this thread you haven't) you've got every reason to fight this

Good luck Deni
x

thank you

blue_monkey_2

Good luck Deni. What did the CAB say? What did they tell you to do next? Did they accuse you again of taking the money? Was the franchise bosses there? Have you told them this is going on?

And I am pleased you are standing your ground. You have our support so let us know how it goes.

deni100

CAB just told me info about employment law etc and my rights, no he didnt say you have taken it like he did before, nope the franchise boss wasn't there he had our auditer there

blue_monkey_2

What are they doing on Monday? Sacking you? Have they given you any sort of reason yet? Have you spken to ACAS following this last meeting? I know it is a lot to take in but better if you can get things sorted for Monday.

HO87

deni

You may have already asked for (or know the answer to) these things:
Does the company (as a whole) have a written cash handling policy? If so, ask for a copy to be sent to you in advance of the meeting.
Does your franchise operate to that policy or is it widely ignored?
Does your store have a safe?
If not, why not? - Its is a pretty fundamental omission if there isn't one, IMO.
Is it properly used?
Who has access to it (i.e. who holds the keys)?
If there is a safe, why wasn't it used?
What explanation is being offered by the manager who left the cash lying around?

In my book, if I found a manager (who is supposed to be more responsible) who had left cash lying around that then went missing then I would be going after him/her for gross misconduct in that through their act/omission they have exposed the company to loss.

(Please don't take this the wrong way - its not meant that way) Unless there is something your not saying then for the company to try to push the blame here onto a junior member of staff for alleged stealing it is stretching the elastic a little too far. If this is what they are doing they must be overlooking the obvious fact that for there to have been a theft in the circumstances you've described there muist have been a gross/misconduct by another member of staff before they can lay the blame at your door. It seems to me that the fact that the manager had to ring you to check where the cash was indicates one of two things: Either that they were trying to cover their own tracks by appearing to be confused (a very frequent ploy in my experience) or they are incompetent.

All companies have a duty to protect their staff. If there is no safe at your store or there is one and its not used at all or not used properly then the company (in this case your employer - the franchisee) is not fulfilling their duty to you.

If safes are in use then access to them should be restricted - i.e. not everyone should have access to the keys and they should be kept locked (it is very common practice in cash-based operations for safe doors to be left unlocked and often ajar. In such situations they are no longer safes but expensive cupboards.

Was the money that has gone missing due to be banked? If so who makes up the banking? Is it, by any chance the manager who lost the money? If this is the case, one of the possibilities that the company should be seriously considering is what is known as "teeming and lading" - the auditor (if he is going to be present) should - if he's up with the game - recognise this term straightaway. It is all too often the explanation for the disappearance of cash in circumstances such as yours.

It is a very common type of fraud inevitably practiced by those who handle alot of cash and are also responsible for the banking of it. Effectively they "borrow" an amount from the total banking and explain the underbanking by saying that the additional amount was held back to make up floats etc or they create a false petty cash voucher to cover it or they straightforwardly underdeclare the take for the day. In the case of the latter scenario they provide themselves with an interest-free loan and most fully intend to repay it. They then underdeclare the following days takings and use the amount they've held back to fulfil the amount missed the day before.

The problem then is that inevitably they dip into the takings again and then again and in very short order they have insufficient leeway (in a day's takings to cover for what they've borrowed) and it is at that point that mysteriously an amount (it usually equates to a day's cash takings but could be two or three dependant on the frequency your store is required to bank) goes missing, is reported stolen or the person responsible's car or house is "broken" into and the money is stolen, or their dog eats it, baby daughter flushes it down the toilet, husband emptied the bins and burned it on a bonfire etc etc. I've heard just about every excuse in the book but they are all just variations on a theme.

Hope this is helpful

Zazen999

I think you were set up by the person who called you to ask you to look for the cash - personally.

deni100

keep trying to ring asac but just get busy tone and says press 5 for ring back so i have but it didnt say it had done it grrrr

deni100

the maanager isnt interested in my boss who left the money lying around

nementai

Just wanted to add my best wishes.
No real knowledge of this sort of thing specifically, but in general, having been d**cked around by employers in the past, I'd seriously recommend getting photocopies of everything, so no one can change their copy later and if you can record the meetings on tape (tell them you're doing this first though) it might be a huge help later. Bosses like these have a tendancy to 'forget' bits of what you said so it helps them out.
Good luck on Monday!

gaz_jones

Deni, did they take notes from what was said in this meeting? Make sure you right down in your diary everything you remember being said in the interview etc... The sooner the better so you don't forget anything.

Good luck and keep fighting them! Doesn't seem right you should get in trouble for something you didn't do.

Hey just thin of it this way, when they finally realise you didn't take the money and let you come back to work, atleast you've had all this time off paid Thats one way of sticking it back to the company!! LOL