Been sacked due to allegedly accused of stealing at work. Help :(

DVardysShadow

Writing as someone who will become old, twilighter I say find yourself another career away form care. It is a recurring theme here, a decent person is accused of stealing in an environment with elderly people who are deemed vulnerable. And then they are sacked and then they have a hell of a fight to clear their name. None of the options are particularly attractive

• If you are accused and the police are not involved, there is an accusation in the air which can never be cleared
• If the police are involved, but charges are not made or they are dropped, there is still some dirt against your name
• If you are charged and it goes to court, you stand a chance of being acquitted, but if you are not, then the accusation remains proven against you for the rest of your life. And with target driven policing, the facts matter very little - it is whether the police think they can make it stick.

If you must work with vulnerable people, join a union. But the more I see of these cases, the more I think that the elderly should be left to die in their poo and wee, rather than have this sort of thing happen to decent people.

twilighter946

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Writing as someone who will become old, twilighter I say find yourself another career away form care. It is a recurring theme here, a decent person is accused of stealing in an environment with elderly people who are deemed vulnerable. And then they are sacked and then they have a hell of a fight to clear their name. None of the options are particularly attractive

• If you are accused and the police are not involved, there is an accusation in the air which can never be cleared
• If the police are involved, but charges are not made or they are dropped, there is still some dirt against your name
• If you are charged and it goes to court, you stand a chance of being acquitted, but if you are not, then the accusation remains proven against you for the rest of your life. And with target driven policing, the facts matter very little - it is whether the police think they can make it stick.

If you must work with vulnerable people, join a union. But the more I see of these cases, the more I think that the elderly should be left to die in their poo and wee, rather than have this sort of thing happen to decent people.

Thankyou for your reply and taking the time to read my situation.

I really do understand what you are saying ... i do love what i do, i worked so hard to get my NVQ level 2 and was hoping to go for my NVQ level 3 nurses level, but im not going to lie this situation has really frightened me, being accussed of something i know i never did. And they cant prove i did it. Thats why its Alledged!

A part of me feels why should this stop me doing a job i love to do, but like you say working with the elderly loads of accusations can go flying around over the littlest thing but because they are old and vulnerable it will be a big thing if you know what i mean. So this is really making me re think what i actually want to do as a career.

Ive literally only found out about this union tonight. No one has never told me about a union membership before.

epsilondraconis

Hi twilighter946, what a terrible thing to have happened to you.

Although unfortunately I have no specific advice regarding the legality of your position, I recommend you doing the following:

1. Write down as much as you can about the whole series of events, noting down dates, times, people involved, conversations that took place etc. Everything you can think of. Ensure you have it in a chornological order. I would recommend you do this as soon as possible so that you don't forget anything (obviously you don't need to post it here, this will be useful for you in the future to ensure you don't forget anything).

2. I don't know whether you are friends with any of your work colleagues and are still in touch with them. If so, I would say be very very careful about any discussions you have. I would say at this stage you shouldn't contact anyone from your job until you have sought the correct advice.

3. I agree with other posters saying that you should seek proper legal advice. Obviously going to the CAB is a good first step. Before doing anything regarding disputing this with your employer, please ensure you are getting the best possible advice in your situation and not just from friends / family that mean well.

4. You are obviously not in a union; however it may be worth you taking a look at the ACAS website. They have a section on their website dedicated to 'Disputes and mediation' and a subsection on 'Dismissal' which may be of use.

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1797

5. Regarding the JSA claim, I'm not sure where you stand with that; however the Government website associated with the jobseekers allowance should be your first step. It tells you how to make a claim - you can apply online or by phone (there is a freephone number - please see the link below). I would recommend you contact them asap so you are in the system and to ensure you don't lose out on anything you are entitled to. As far as I'm aware, your claim will only start from the date you make your claim and so its worth doing it quickly.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Employedorlookingforwork/DG_10018757

6. The following site may be useful as well as this gives you information on the benefits to which you may be entitled.

http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx


When dealing with this difficult situation try to keep a clear head at all times as this will help you to stay focused on achieving the correct outcome.

I hope it all works out for you. Please try not to worry too much. Think of this as an experience you can learn from and use as a positive as you move forward in your life. As you've seen, although people (in this case your manager) can sit there with tears in their eyes, it counts for very little in terms of helping you because they still sacked you. You will come out of this a stronger person - remember to think positively and stay focused.

Good luck.

KiKi

twilighter946 wrote: »

Ive literally only found out about this union tonight. No one has never told me about a union membership before.

So sorry to hear about your situation, OP. Take SarEl's advice.

FYI re unions: there are lots of Trades Unions. You may have heard of the RMT who are often in the news because their union members who work for London Underground sometimes go on strike! Or ASLEF, or the TSSA (also unions for people who work in the transport and travel industries).

Unison are another Trades Union who represent people who work in the public sector. Equity are a Trades Union for those in the acting industry, FBU (Fire Brigade) who organised the recent Firefighter strikes. Also NUT who are for Teachers and the RCN (Royal College of Nursing) who you may have heard of.

There are well over a hundred Trades Unions in the UK.

You join a union that represents your job and industry, and pay a membership fee. What they do for you is give you advice, offer you legal help, and support you in disciplinary meetings etc, free of charge as long as you're a paying member.

The RMT, for example, currently don't like that senior managers are making job cuts in London Underground. So the senior managers talked with the RMT union to try and negotiate a way forward. The negotiations weren't successful, unfortunately, and so London Underground employees who are RMT members went on strike for two days.

At a 'bigger' level they help inform the policies and even laws in this country, so when the government wants to change the hours that doctors work, for example, they will talk to the unions who represent doctors to get their opinion.

Basically, unions represent employees, because lots of employees together have a much louder voice than employees who try and speak up as individuals. Lots of the employment laws in this country have come about because TUs (Trades Unions) pushed for change to take place.

I hope that helps you understand why it's important to join one, esp in the sort of job you're in. Let us know how you get on with CAB tomorrow.

KiKi

Wishing

twilighter946 wrote: »

You definately have a point there.
The home is being refurb at the moment. The drugs trolly is normally lock up in the office, but because the office has been knocked out etc the drugs trolly is kept in the resisdents lounge, and is not always locked and is unattended.
Ive also swept up loose pills off the floor and handed them over to the nurse, and the nurses throw the loose pills straight in the bin, but them pills werent written down in a book saying that they have been thrown away or anything.

And my point to the manager was how do know them missin co codeamol tablets werent loose pills found on the floor over x amount of days.

Its only because a resisdent seen me put SOMETHING (she didnt even say it was tablets or anything) in my pocket when i was by the drugs trolly (my gloves which all us carers do keep loads of pair of gloves in our pockets), thats the only reason why the drugs were counted, as they are not counted on a daily basis (which to be honest they should be, so maybe they will have to change certain things interally now)

It is obviously a private care home. What you said above is exactely what I have seen when visiting a care home. It was also been refurbished and was totally unsafe place for sick patients/residents to reside there. Drugs left on dining tables and in [FONT=&quot] patient’s locker drawers and bits of carpets left in doorways and residents tripping on it and falling over, breaking bones, these were dementia patients, nobody would know anything about it if visitors had not seen the conditions themselves what residents were subjected to in these home.
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I complained to the relevant authorities and the residents got moved out until the refurbishments were completed.

You should also report that the home is unsafe for residents and drugs trolly are left in the dayroom unlocked that is very dangours for all concern.

Please report this to the LA or QCC http://www.cqc.org.uk/

I expect that it will not be reported to the police as they care home would have too many awark questions to answered.

Best of luck and I hope that the home will be looked into as soon as possible. There are many organisations that you can report this to...just google neglect in care homes and you will get lots advice on it.

Good Luck.

HellsGranny

I am now retired, but for many years I was in the caring professions, both as a nurse in the NHS, and latterly as a care assistant for the physically disabled.

In various Care Homes I have witnessed negligent practice with regard to the care of and dispensing of medications. The Care Industry is a minefield for drug misdemeanors, especially if the establishment is short of staff.

when an allegation is made, it is often not possible to establish the truth of the matter, especially when elderly and possibly confused clients are making the allegations. Unfortunately, many good staff, like yourself are sacrificed in order to keep the good name of the establishment intact.

Personally, I wouldn't work in care again for any amount of money, because it is so easy to lose your job and your reputation, and even gain a criminal record through no fault of your own.

I am so glad to be retired.

I hope you can find a way forward to clear your name over this miscarriage of justice.

twilighter946

** UPDATE **

Hi guys, first of all id like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read my thread and share their suugestions and opinions my way.

This is just a update post really following my dismissal.

Police came out to me yesturday 24th Nov 2010, to basically formally arrest me on 'suspension of theft within a work place'.
Whilst they was here they had to carry out a search in my property, basically searching for any perscribed drugs. The search came back CLEAR!!
They then read my rights and they took me to the police station for futher questioning, and had to book me into custody.
After they booked me in, took my finger prints, my photo they put me into a holding cell. Whilst i was in cell they had to carry out a drugs test on me. The drugs test came back NEGATIVE!!
I then went in for questioning. They ask me did i want a solicitor, i said NO, they had to ask why, and I said i have nothing to hide.
After the formalities were over, then continued to question me.

whilst been questioned i did ask them why they havent got a statement from the 94yr old woman who said 'she saw me put something into my pocket'....they said 'a statement from a 94yr old woman who claims she saw you put something in your pocket but didnt no what you put in your pocket wouldnt stick if this went to court'. Yet my employer dismissed me on the word of what this old lady said.

After they questioned me i had to go back to the cell while they spoke to their sargent who had to decide whether to charge me then bail me, or let me go free of charge.

The sargent personally came down to me as he was aware how shaken up i was, my body was trembling because ive never ever been in this situation before and said "I AM FREE TOO GO! No charges would be made against me regarding this allegation".
And off record he said to me ' You seriously shouldnt of been sacked for this, u have a very strong case for unfair dismissal and negligance on the care homes part'. He said 'you are innocent as they come. There is no evidence what so ever to even suggest you stole any sort of perscribed drugs'.

I thought finally justice has been done, bring on my appeal meeting with my ex employer.

Then today, i recieved a letter from "independent Safeguarding Authority" dated 23.11.2010 saying they have recieved a report from my employer about the circumstances leading to my dismissal.
They stated they are doing futher investigation into my dismissal to whether they will or wont put me on the 'Barred list from working with vulnerable children and/or vulnerable adults'.

SO basically i need advice Im guessing the ISA dont know i was arrested and released free of charge as their letter is dated the day before my arrest.

What shall be my next step?? This ordeal has made me physically sick. I feel like my whole world is falling apart around me.

Thanks in advance

Googlewhacker

I don't know the answers but I wish you good luck in your appeal

*Kat*

I am not any help either, but good luck with the appeal,

Annisele

I'm afraid things are working out as SarEl said that they would in her first post. Whether the police have enough evidence to prosecute you has absolutely nothing to do with the care home's responsibility to report the reason that it sacked you.

You need to follow SarEl's advice, and get a solicitor/legal advice.

[Plus, if you're ever in a situation again where the police offer you the services of a duty solicitor, then either take the duty solicitor or get your own lawyer in there. It doesn't matter whether you're innocent, guilty, or have no clue what the police are even talking about - the solicitor is there to protect you].