Discipline hearing for having a laptop stolen

cannyscot_2

Does anyone have good Hr knowledge on this situation.

sales rep laptop left it in view in car -it was stolen whilst working at an appointment. Co has no insurance and now wants to discipline the employee for not taking care of it. I fell it might be better to take the expensive option of buying another one rather than accepting a disciplinary hearing.

Any thoughts?

njc12

Hi cannyscot - I have some HR experience as a manager but don't actually work in the HR dept. I would say that even if the laptop was replaced the co would still probably go ahead with the disc. There is normally something in the employee handbook about looking after co. property and they would no doubt do the disc. on these grounds. (i do question the motive of the company though re having no insurance.)

Don't forget that having a disciplinary does not necessarily mean that any action will be taken.

HTH
njc12

Emmzi

In my HR experience this would typically be misconduct and not gross misconduct ie a warning, maybe a financial penalty, but unlikely to be dismissal for a first offence. However it's not just the laptop - it may be more severe if there was a lot of confidential client info on it, and a serious breach of data protection act has taken place - as the company I would be more worried about that, than the hardware, so replacing the laptop may not be the whole problem.


Step one - get a copy of the company's conduct code and data protection guidelines.

cannyscot_2

As far as I can see there is nothing in the handbook and nothing in the contract. the q was asked in front of another employee who will back it up-was there any do's dont's as concern the laptop the manager in q said no.

If you have a warning can this then be communicated to another employer ie in a reference?


it is my little sister who was gutted to have the car broken into and now feels unsafe and is now doubly gutted as they have sprung this on her.


She has put them off for a few days.


I know at wor of a few disciplinaries gone wrong for simple things. I feel this is wrong and she should have a witness present and argue against it ?


what 's your view with a HR head?

Mado

No a HR specialist. Just my view; the car was broken into and the laptop stolen.
Unless there was indeed "hot" data on it and it was negligent to leave it there, it deserves no more than a symbolic tap on the fingers.

crawley_girl

Mado wrote:

No a HR specialist. Just my view; the car was broken into and the laptop stolen.
Unless there was indeed "hot" data on it and it was negligent to leave it there, it deserves no more than a symbolic tap on the fingers.

And also a big question mark querying why no insurance?!

brazilianwax

I'm an HR manager.

Seems like an incredibly silly thing to do to leave a laptop in view in a car. If that were her own laptop she wouldn't be covered for it on her car insurance. Similary, even if the employers had their kit insured it is unlikely they'd get a payout as it could have been prevented (by the laptop being in the boot).

Depending on what was on the laptop, and how secure it was, I'd say it was a warning for losing the laptop. If customer data or whatever is on there is a factor she could be looking at gross misconduct or final written warning. She could also be asked to fund the cost of the replacement. Depends what the company policy is.

Why did she leave the laptop in view??

Gabs_3

Hi I'm new to this but have been a trade union activist/employee for over 20years. I've just successfully represented a friend on a trumped up disciplinary and last year secured a significant redundancy payment for my brother where his colleagues lost out. I'm not suggesting I'm an expert but I'm reasonably good at deciphering company codes and also quite knowledgeable in employment law. If you want to PM me your company handbook and any written documentation they've sent I'm happy toa take a look. VERY IMPORTANT -insist on everything being in writing and they should have informed you of your right to be accompanied to any hearing- this can either be a colleague of your choice ( only go with this option if you have real confidence in them) or a trade union accredited representative (you don't actually need to be a trade union member so ask around your friends to see if anyone knows a shop steward who would do you a favour. In my experinece employers tend to take a very different stance when they know you are backed by a trade union. Good luck.

brazilianwax

Surely she should receive a disciplinary - she did a really stupid thing!

Gabs_3

She may have done a stupid thing but that doesn't necessarily mean she should suffer any more. A lot depends on her contract/company policies/handbook. Her company having no insurance suggests they haven't exactly been responsible so for them to expect that a member of staff would have higher standards of responsibility than themselves seems a little unfair. She may have no defence but it all depends on what they specify in the handbook/policies. They can't just make it up after the fact!

brazilianwax

Gabs wrote:

She may have done a stupid thing but that doesn't necessarily mean she should suffer any more. A lot depends on her contract/company policies/handbook. Her company having no insurance suggests they haven't exactly been responsible so for them to expect that a member of staff would have higher standards of responsibility than themselves seems a little unfair. She may have no defence but it all depends on what they specify in the handbook/policies. They can't just make it up after the fact!

Not quite true. I work for a Government department which has no insurance against anything as we can't! No Government dept does.

I see your point about it being based on handbooks and policies. I'd be surprised if there was absolutely nothing in there that covered negligence like this though!