Will I get fired for this?

sho_me_da_money

Thank you for reading and I look forward to any replies.

sho_me_da_money

It wont let me space the above post out.

custardy

sho_me_da_money wrote: »

Hello MSE'ers, Without babbling, I will explain the circumstances in brief.

Last year I was involved in a very unlucky and unfortuante situation that resulted in me getting a Final Written Warning. This is to be on file for 12 months. Since then, I have worked harder and come back stronger allowing me to restore privileges that were taken away from me as well as being granted 2 awards - spot bonus (awarded to few employees around the globe) and a pay rise (highest possible percentage that could be offered).

I had a call on Friday from a director querying a mobile phone number - I had no idea what he was talking about. He mentioned that this particular mobile number belonged to an ex-employee and it had called me about 15 times last month from from the middle-east. Again, I had no idea. The conversation ended and about 5 minutes later, I realised something -

My brother and Mum were on holiday during that period. I immediately replied to the director with an email stating that I would investiagte this matter and get back to him asap. To cut a long story short, I found that my brother took the phone from the briefcase without my knowledge and abused it whilst being abroad.

Within 15 minutes of the director calling me, I told him the deal and also phoned my manager and explained her the situation. The director said, he appreciated my response, investigation and the fact i alerted my manager however, after seeking advice from HR, he and one HR person would like to have an informal chat with me this coming week.

Now this is a little tricky but let me try and be as brief and concise as possible. I was given a company mobile when I commenced employment last year AND hardly ever used it. This mobile was used occasionally and throughout the year and started playing up around Christmas. I spoke to my IT colleague (responsible of phones) who replaced it with another handset, which came with the above-mentioned SIM/number.

I had an upgrade for my personal mobile around November-December. I got a new Blackberry and started to hand that number out to work colleagues (important staff members, not everyone) instead of carrying two phones with me. The new work replacement handset was locked away and used AS and when needed (which was very rare) - its purpose was purely to serve as a backup phone just in case my BB died/had issues OR if I was working from home, I would join conference calls using the Work moby.

To confirm the above, if any employee searched my name in the Email Address list, they will see my personal number is right there. This again was updated around Dec/Jan. SO again to recap - Personal Number was given out to people at work to contact me but work mobile was used for when working from home/sick AND/OR in the event my BB died.

I have not used this work mobile since the personal number was updated in the Global Address Book in Outlook. Now the records will clearly show that my original number stopped producing call charges when it was replaced. They will also show that the charges were low as they were the previous year UNTIL my brother went away - Feb to March, which is when they shot up to....wait for it - £2000.00!!!! (£700 of which were Facebook/Mobile web).

Brothers story - he went to the case to get his passports and info, saw the phone and took it away with him. He got there, turned it on, picked up a reception but as the screen was too small, he swapped the sim into his own mobile and started using it briefly and then got carried away. When he got back, he said he used it more until the phone seemed barred, which is when he placed it back in my case. Brother is a knobhead and completely sorry and has and I quote "if they lock me up, then I have to do it". He is 21 and a little chav. After that long explanation, my question is this.

I am on a final written warning and I cannot afford to have the slightest blemish on my record otherwise its sayanara. Other than keeping a watchful eye over a phone that I know is reasonably protected and safeguarded - have I done something poor or could I have done something better to avoid this from occuring.

And if there is something, will I get penalised for it? As much as I hate to see it like this - I have been a victim of theft. Can the company do something about that? Obviously I know my brother isn't a thief - He didnt think "Oh im going to steal the phone" - He was ********* stupid is what he was and did not realise the consequences. Thank you for reading and I look forward to any replies.

use the enter key,i have broken it up at no particualr points

sho_me_da_money

custardy wrote: »

use the enter key,i have broken it up at no particualr points

Thanks mate. I tried that but it didnt work in Firefox. Trying IE now.

DVardysShadow

This is dead simple to resolve. You tell the bosses what you have told us and you tell them that of course you do not expect them to pay, you and your brother will sort it. You offer them a cheque for £200 immediately and ask them for a receipt, a copy of an itemised bill and 28 days to sort it.

custardy

on reading it,its all down to the employer
from their side you were responsible for the phone and as such the bills and any possible damage/liability to the company are down to you
how they view the matter is down to them really,they may see your side and perhaps offer you the chance to cover the bill
however being on a final WW doesnt help your case

Nessynoo

I'd get your brother to explain (and apologise) to your boss that he took your phone without permission, and immediately set up a plan to pay your company back. He's put you in an awful situation, and I hope his apology would help your situation. Best of luck

globalds

I think it is £2,000 not £200

globalds

It is easily done ..I managed to ring up £180 worth of calls in 5 days in Qatar

sho_me_da_money

Guys,

I have spaced it out.

I thank you so much for your quick replies. I too felt as though I would be hard done if I got the blame for this. Our company does not have a mobile phone policy but as I am an IT engineer, I understand policies to protect company property and I took reasonable and acceptable steps to safeguard that phone.

If I had a burglary, I would have checked and reported it lost/stolen but the fact that it was secured and locked away AND it would be very unreasonable to expect your family member to be (and I hate saying this), a thief, would be unfair.

I intend to pay this back. And I will get that little spanner to go in and explain the details and apologise.

Mischa8

To be honest, you're on a Final Written Warning. This means that you've already had a Verbal Warning and a Written Warning and maybe this Final Written Warning (or a combo of the 2-3 warnings). Whether this is for the same *offence*/breach of company rules/regs we don't know... What were you originally on the FWW for? Was it misuse of technological stuff?

It's your word against your brother's - they have to be really careful here - suppose you just handed the phone to your brother - how are they to know you made a mistake? Again, your word against theirs. They could even I am assuming get the police involved.

I do find it a bit hard to believe that your brother managed to run up a £2K bill before you found out... but I do agree that your brother may not have realised he had it, and was a bit dim etc.

Your bosses may be kind but they may realise that DESPITE you getting awards etc that you already have this FWW on your file and even if this mobile phone amount is paid back they may doubt your future character.

Having said that, lesson to be learnt from tech dept to ensure that the work mobile works properly and to monitor it's usage.

Good luck anyway.