Suspended from work

Tony69

My partners daughter has been suspended from work because of money going missing. On 2 consecutive days this week £20 has gone missing each day. On each day Sarah (not real name) was on duty all day on both days, and also on each day another member of staff was on duty also, a different girl each day so they have concluded/assumed from this that Sarah must be to blame because she was there both of the days. So today she has been suspended and been told not to return until she has received a letter. The other 2 girls have not been suspended which to me just doesn't seem right.

Naturally she is distraught and upset about this because she has not took the money.

What is likely to happen next and how long is it likely to be before she receives this letter?

What are the contents of the letter likely to be?

fluffybunnies

Hi, I'm not sure of what the policy is where your parteners daughter works but i'm fairly sure that they cannot discipline her or sack her unless they can prove that it was her that took the money. If they do sack her then I think she has a strong case for unfair dismissal. I would suggest talking to the CAB for advice about how to proceed.

Tony69

They will not be able to prove she took the money because she didn't take it. I understand that she is obviously a suspect because she was on duty when the money is supposed to have gone missing, but why are the other 2 girls not being suspected,so in turn also being suspended?

Zazen999

fluffybunnies wrote: »

Hi, I'm not sure of what the policy is where your parteners daughter works but i'm fairly sure that they cannot discipline her or sack her unless they can prove that it was her that took the money. If they do sack her then I think she has a strong case for unfair dismissal. I would suggest talking to the CAB for advice about how to proceed.

No, they only have to prove that it was likely that she took it.

OP - has your partner's daughter asked why the other 2 were not suspended?

Tony69

Zazen999 wrote: »

No, they only have to prove that it was likely that she took it.

OP - has your partner's daughter asked why the other 2 were not suspended?

She was only suspended yesterday and didn't think to ask about the other 2 girls. She is only 20 years old and a young 20 if you know what I mean so the whole thing has just frightened her.

So you say that they only have to prove it is likely she took it, so are you saying that someone can be sacked if it is likely they did something wrong?

moongarden

Time to start looking for another job so she can forget this experience.

If the theif is still there they will steal again - but maybe not for a couple of weeks. Also if this is money going missing out of a till it could be that a customer paid with a tenner and got change for a twenty - it happens - but this is a training issue because if a customer pays with a note then you should always keep this in your left hand whilst drawing the change with your right - so the customer sees exactly which note they paid with.

There are some people who will try it on saying they handed over a £20. Once they know you give them the benefit of the doubt then they or their little gang will hit your place up a couple of times a week.

moongarden

Does this place have CCTV? There is sometimes hidden CCTV watching the till too.

Zazen999

Tony69 wrote: »

She was only suspended yesterday and didn't think to ask about the other 2 girls. She is only 20 years old and a young 20 if you know what I mean so the whole thing has just frightened her.

So you say that they only have to prove it is likely she took it, so are you saying that someone can be sacked if it is likely they did something wrong?

Yes, perhaps not 'likely' but 'highly likely'....

But with 2 other unsuspended suspects, I'd expect them to be investigated as well; so that does need to be looked into.

DVardysShadow

It is worth getting her to think through the cashing cycle from putting the float out to cashing up. It may be that another pair of hands has access on both days?

tandraig

there are other people involved in the movement of money you know - was the procedure for cashing up at end of day (shift) that of just taking till drawer to office? then the person in office counts and tallies it with till? if so then if that person was also on duty both days (and in my experience they tend to be full time staff) then they also had access to the cash...........get your daughter to explain the company procedure to you and try to work out who could get access to the cash.

robertjonesuk

fluffybunnies wrote: »

Hi, I'm not sure of what the policy is where your parteners daughter works but i'm fairly sure that they cannot discipline her or sack her unless they can prove that it was her that took the money. If they do sack her then I think she has a strong case for unfair dismissal. I would suggest talking to the CAB for advice about how to proceed.

the employer doesn't need to prove if the person stole the money or not. it is enough for the employer to have "reasonable belief" that the person did it.

however, i do think everyone should be investigated. not only the daughter.