Help, gross misconduct!

wantsajob

GlasweJen wrote: »

If you work for asda then start looking for a new job! Sorry OP but asda sacked a colleague over 2p once!

Interesting

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/575710/ASDA-CHRISTINE-Fryer-ASDA-fire-single-mum-over-2p.html

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2007/12/20/asda-in-a-2p-u-turn-115875-20260721/

Googlewhacker

wantsajob wrote: »

Interesting

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/575710/ASDA-CHRISTINE-Fryer-ASDA-fire-single-mum-over-2p.html

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2007/12/20/asda-in-a-2p-u-turn-115875-20260721/

There is obviously a differance between an honest mistake and intentional dishonesty and the 2p one seems an honest mistake and she shouldn't have been fired and it was good she was reinstated.

However if she had dishonestly done it for 2p then she would have deserved the boot.

teabelly

I'd take the card off her immediately. Do your own shopping too! Hopefully if you have done this and you say you had no knowledge of it then you can see if they will drop the matter. How long has the double spending been going on? Is there a statement with the card that you check? If there isn't it seems a bit lax that you can hand out a discount card with restrictions on use but there is no way for you to monitor it yourself to make sure the person using the card is using it properly.

Aliasaila

The card is now safely in my possession and I'll take it to work on Monday with me.

There is no way for me to monitor the card usage at all.

The amount does seem excessive but it all genuinely has been spent on items for our household or for gifts. I bought school uniforms in August for my nieces who we look after part time due to one of them being disabled - anyone who works directly can tell you this because I talk about having them all the time (might dote on them a bit) but somehow this is now suspicious?

I come from a huge family. 4 of us live at home (all adults) plus one of the girls for 3 days a week (we don't take any money off my sister at all for this arrangement), There are an additional 3 adult children with partners and my cousin who all live in their own homes but they all eat here at least a couple of times per month. We also have family dinner on a Sunday where mum feeds me, dad, little sister, cousin, whichever child we have, granny, grandad and herself. We do all of our shopping at work, there are no local shops and mum doesn't like the competing supermarket in the area.

We don't eat out at all, all food is bought in the house and taken to work for lunches or eaten at meal times (I sometimes eat in the work canteen but this is rare). We get through a lot of cleaning materials because we need to decontaminate areas thouroughly due to allergies. Also I have a need to wash clothes more often due to disability (that the work are aware of).

I've re-read the discount policy and it is clear that there is no limit on how much you can use your discount and no limit to the spends as long as it is all for the house which the spending is (even if work don't believe me - they can come and look at the bleach collection if they want).

I should highlight that the items are always put through a "real" till and not a self scan because my mum is a technophobe. Their issue seems to be with the 2 transactions but I've done this for other colleagues for various reasons and never found it strange.

My department also has 45 hours cut from it this week which is almost identical to my contract hours (only full timer) so it does seem conveniently timed for them but I accept that this does need resolving now.

In reading their own policy I am confident that I've done nothing wrong here and although I can prove that spending is part of mums mental illness through doctors letters I can't prove that it was all used in the house (but they can't prove that it wasn't?). What sort of evidence would I/they need in these circumstances?

Also when I left the first meeting my manager said "so we're not going to suspend you yet", it seemed odd at the time and I'm sitting here thinking that this is just a foregone conclusion and all these interviews etc are just a box ticking exercise. Should I be worried?

Oldernotwiser

redcard wrote: »

Yeah, it would be pretty tricky for 1 person to put through 2 lots of shopping. I'm pretty sure it would look suspicious to the staff

It's not uncommon for someone to buy two separate lots of shopping if they're doing it for a friend/neighbour.

MX5huggy

Also if I am sacked should I claim job seekers? I've read that you don't get any money if you've been sacked.

Hopefully you wont need to but just to say yes on your 1st day of not having a job. You may get sanctioned (no money) for up to 26 weeks but if you decided not to apply for 26 weeks then applied they would be allowed to sanction you for 26 weeks from that point (ie 52 weeks without money). Plus they give NI credits while sanctioned.

2sides2everystory

Yes a large store manager confided that Asda are laying off staff at the moment. If this is Asda sounds like they'll do anything to cut staff numbers.

Have you been there longer than 12 months?

If they dismiss you for it then it will of course be totally unfair, and the most unfair thing is that if you havent had the job for 12 months there will be almost nothing you can do about it unless you have been targetted because you have been a whistleblower or some such special case.

I have re-read your thread and perhaps you have had the job for more than a year.

Hopefully so.

In that case, if you tell the story as you have here then I can see no way that they can fairly sack you or even discipline you for this. No way at all.

If you have been there more than 12 months I would have thought you might explain it as you have here and see if they really do dare to take it further.

Then if it starts getting nasty and heading only one way in the meeting, ask them if they would like to book themselves a personal witness slot of a couple of hours at an unfair dismissal case at the Employment Tribunal, in which case they might like to carry on, or if not, perhaps they might like to adjourn to seek advice from their legal department before acting too hastily. Should only take a couple of hours for their case for a dismissal to be confined to the dustbin at a tribunal.

NB The above are my uninformed thoughts on the matter but I am no expert, just someone who cares about some of the disgraceful practices occurring out their in the UK employment market in the name of big business profits.

Good luck!

PS If they suggest that as any part of a solution you must refund the discount then counter it with a "Well actually I was rather hoping you might let my mother bring some of the non-perishables back for a no questions asked full refund" just as you would for other customers.

Aliasaila

Thanks everyone.

I missed the post about aliases when I first read it but I'll explain that my user name gives my geographical location.

I do work for Asda, I was employed at one store for a year, transferred to my new store where I have been for a year and a half. My employment never broke with the transfer so I'm almost three years with them. Without blowing my own trumpet I'm a good colleague. Always get 100% in mystery shops, work over time with no notice to cover managers not rota-ing holiday properly, done all the training, up to date with absolutely everyone. I bend over backwards for customers, chase orders up and down the country, I can deal with problems without consulting managers, can do specialised parts of my role that no one else is trained to do etc. The same manager who is disciplining me now actually told me i'd be ideal for a promotion less than a year ago (never went for it because I like my role too much and the promotion was in a different department).

In return I've put up with being bullied by a colleague for my disabilities, they "forgot" to acknowledge my 100% mystery shops TWICE, I've been messed about with wages and suffered massive tax deductions as a result of needing store loans to cover wages that they never paid.

Over the weekend I'm feeling more and more like a target, one of my colleagues broke the data protection act and no one batted an eye lid, she administers Provident loans from the department, no one cares (this is the same colleague who was bullying me). My cousin (he's a lawyer but not employment) said that if we take mum to a doctor and get her to verify mums illness and perhaps take in photos of the bleach etc (we counted last night, 10 bottles of asda bleach, 6 of green toilet duck, stupid amounts of air fresheners, pledge polishes, dusters, cloths, we could sell them back to asda at this rate!) then it would be unfair of them to sack me as clearly they are still in my house (and you can't buy asda bleach elsewhere, they can check their cameras i've not been in since my shift on friday and i've not been near any other asda so they can't accuse me of buying it to back up my story).

I've been through an employment tribunal before so that doesn't phase me. I'm more concerned that I'll be looking for work without a reference until this is all sorted. Also I remember that tribunal forms ask you if you want your job back and I would - I love my job.

Uncertain

Aliasaila wrote: »

I've been through an employment tribunal before so that doesn't phase me. I'm more concerned that I'll be looking for work without a reference until this is all sorted. Also I remember that tribunal forms ask you if you want your job back and I would - I love my job.

Winning a tribunal will not get you a reference. An ET has no power to order this. If you reach a settlement before tribunal, either through ACAS or as a compromise agreement then an agreed reference can form part of the settlement.

Aliasaila

But if the tribunal finds that my dismissal was unfair surely asda would have to at least rephrase my reason for leaving.

My first tribunal ruled that I'd been constructively dismissed and discriminated against due to my disability, suddenly I wasn't sacked on my reference and the reason for leaving was changed to "health related issues" (I saw their reference for my next job).