Suspension

trigger1812

Hi, just after some advice I am a first time poster so easy please.
My son works for a huge DIY company, he has been there for over 3 years and has a great attendance record and is doing really well. yesterday he came home from work saying he had been suspended over the use of his discount card, the fact being there are 22 different debit card numbers linked to his/my discount card, the manager had given him a print off of every transaction thats ever been made to do with his discount, about 100 sheets of paper, we have had to go through all these sheets of paper to identify whos debit card has been used at that time, having lost my card loads of times my debit card number has also changed but i can pretty much identify where my and my husband and my sons cards have been used, im not saying he has not help out other family members with some discount because he has, but what is getting to me is this manager has told him that he has to get all of our personal bank details to back up his claim that he has not misused his discount card, now we have worked out about 75% is our own transactions and the other 25% is my brothers card my father in laws card and his ex fiances card. i am well aware that the card should only be used for people within the house hold but on an occasion when my brother went there for a large amount of stuff he asked his manager if he could give discount and this manager said yes cause its all good for the company. On another occasion another staff member had borrowed a member of staffs discount card and then lent it to someone else but only ended up having his card taken away from him for a few months surely this is far worse, and whats more this manager also told him is does not look good how dare she they have not given him any advice just to turn up next monday, not even saying he had the right to have someone present,my son has attracted a hell of alot of business for that company and i find this all a bit hard to take he is gutted he had been doing so well even the possibility of rising up to management, please could you advise regarding personal bank details etc id appreciate your views/help so much.

Anihilator

The situation is at the moment they can reasonably show your son is abusing the discount card. This is all they need to do.

Your son doesnt need to give any details but he wont have a defence then and increases the likiehood of being dismissed

mountainofdebt

I think I would be tempted to photocopy the sheets given to your son and then highlight in different colours the cards belonging to the different people.

I'm guessing on the face of it (if there are loads of different card numbers) that it does look as if your son is abusing the card - could it be that they've had a directive to clamp down on potential misuse of the card company wide?

Also has the proceedure for suspension been followed - both on a company and legal basis?

wuckfit

It's important to remember that staff discount is a privilidge, not a right.

I would urge your son to read the terms and conditions of his employment, in particular with regard to the staff discount scheme.

From what you've described, it does sound like your son has been at best extremely niave with regard to allowing so many people to take advantage of his staff discount.

I'm confused by your phrase "his/my card". do you have an additional card linked to his?

kegg_2

My work gives a staff discount card for the employee plus one additional card to any named member of the same household.
Missuse of the card is a sackable offence and yes our head office does monito the transactions.
They will be wanting your personal bank details to verify which tranactions were by you and so allowed under the second card rules.
If you dont supply them then they will take all the tranactions as misuse of the card and therefore more likly to be sacked.
If there is only one or two misuses then me might be lucky and get away with a written warning but that depends on the company as mine would and has sacked people for the same.

trigger1812

Sorry yes I was issued with a card aswell as im his mum, the hard thing about it is that obviously all our previous cards have been cut up so i dont know how i would get the old card numbers, also the company have been sending 20 % friends and family vouchers with his wage slips to encourage him to give them out is this not double standards, i do understand about the misuse but i think its more of a nievity than blatancy as i said only close family members have used it , as for following the rule he was called in 5 mins from end of shift and was asked if hed like someone in with him and was suspended there and then but received nothing in writing.

maninthestreet

Is the card number shown the long number across the middle of the card?

wynnvegas

Your best argument here is that if permission to use the card beyond it's original intent was requested by your son and granted by the store management staff then he has done nothing wrong. The responsibility in that instance would be with the authorising manager.

There are very few rights in a suspension situation so receiving nothing in writing upfront is not abnormal. Your son should take the opportunity to be represented in future meetings where the right is afforded (potentially not applicable in an investigatory stage but if they are offering the right at suspension meetings then I would imagine it runs throughout the policy).

trigger1812

Hi yes the card number is the one on the middle of the card, i have just been on the phone to my bank and asked if they could give me all my long card numbers for the last 3 years and the bank said they cant go back that far only the last 2 cards i have spoke to acas and they were not really very helpful the only option i have is to get all my statements for the last 3 years as for the manager allowing the discount my son has already said he would blatantly deny it

Clark80

He should have a rep for his disciplinary meeting.
He should mention this other managers name authorising the use - but this other manager could deny it
Was he given a guide on how to use the card? e.g. a list of rules to go with it?
Being dismissed is looking very likely at the minute - mist companies won't suspend you unless it's serious (although not in all cases)

He could argue negligence on his part rather than intent to play the system. If he has misused the card knowingly he may want to consider handing his notice in and avoiding the sack. (I'm not by any means a professional so this is just advice)

woody01

trigger1812 wrote: »

Hi, just after some advice I am a first time poster so easy please.
My son works for a huge DIY company, he has been there for over 3 years and has a great attendance record and is doing really well. yesterday he came home from work saying he had been suspended over the use of his discount card, the fact being there are 22 different debit card numbers linked to his/my discount card, the manager had given him a print off of every transaction thats ever been made to do with his discount, about 100 sheets of paper, we have had to go through all these sheets of paper to identify whos debit card has been used at that time, having lost my card loads of times my debit card number has also changed but i can pretty much identify where my and my husband and my sons cards have been used, im not saying he has not help out other family members with some discount because he has, but what is getting to me is this manager has told him that he has to get all of our personal bank details to back up his claim that he has not misused his discount card, now we have worked out about 75% is our own transactions and the other 25% is my brothers card my father in laws card and his ex fiances card. i am well aware that the card should only be used for people within the house hold but on an occasion when my brother went there for a large amount of stuff he asked his manager if he could give discount and this manager said yes cause its all good for the company. On another occasion another staff member had borrowed a member of staffs discount card and then lent it to someone else but only ended up having his card taken away from him for a few months surely this is far worse, and whats more this manager also told him is does not look good how dare she they have not given him any advice just to turn up next monday, not even saying he had the right to have someone present,my son has attracted a hell of alot of business for that company and i find this all a bit hard to take he is gutted he had been doing so well even the possibility of rising up to management, please could you advise regarding personal bank details etc id appreciate your views/help so much.

Should've bought a discounted Full Stop whilst you were using it!

To answer you though, it is obvious that he has used the card for purposes that it is not intended for.
What has happened, whether you like it or not, is construde as theft and will probably be treated in a similar fashion.
To this end, the company are right to discipline him.

(it won't help having his mum sticking her oar in either)

but i think its more of a nievity than blatancy as i said only close family members have used it

Which is NOT what the card i supposed to be used for.
If all these close family members live in different households then the rules are still broken.
Brother In Law/Father in Law/Ex-Fiance aren't even family to you.

the manager had given him a print off of every transaction thats ever been made to do with his discount, about 100 sheets of paper, we have had to go through all these sheets of paper to identify whos debit card has been used at that time, having lost my card loads of times my debit card number has also changed

If there are that many sheets of paper with different card numbers then either:
a). you are going through 20-25 cards per year and shouldn't be allowed out unsupervised
b). there are more people using this discount card than you are letting on