Will she be fired?

kitkatt1982

Thanks Yvonne, bless her, she's in complete bits about it all. Just goes to show to me though as she's the last person in the world I ever expected to be in this mess that it could happen to anyone and in this day and age it's very hard times to be out of a job :-(

yvonne13_2

kitkatt1982 wrote: »

Thanks Yvonne, bless her, she's in complete bits about it all. Just goes to show to me though as she's the last person in the world I ever expected to be in this mess that it could happen to anyone and in this day and age it's very hard times to be out of a job :-(

Your a good friend to her and it's good that she could turn to you for help, hopefully you will be back and give us the good news.

Hopefully this thread can help someone else if they ever find themselves in a similar situation

Sambucus_Nigra

kitkatt1982 wrote: »

To clarify to all questionning bus fare, yes she does buy a monthly bus pass which she thought ran out a few days later than it did. Got on the bus in the morning, was informed by bus driver it had run out who took pity and let her on anyway, then needed fare to get home plus back in the morning as had no money that day, but did have money the next day to put back in the pot at lunch-time which she did. Yes she could have borrowed from colleagues but didn't want to ask as felt a bit stupid but hindsight is a great thing! Came unstuck when questionned and lied as felt she was being accused of being a theif, which again was stupid, but again hindsight is a great thing! Thanks so much for all your helpful advice. Fingers crossed for the hearing. Think honesty is the best policy here where it has gone amiss before, and in the lack of any rigid legalities, - it seems this one will be purely down to the employers' discretion.

Had she already put it back before the questioning? If so, she could say that she lied as she had already put it back [ie I haven't stolen anything as I borrowed £8 and have already put it back].

duchy

"Everyone has an ATM card" "Everyone goes to the bank before or after work"

Realllly ? Tell that to NatWest who managed to 1 Forget to cancel my card after I reported an overseas fraudulent transaction 2 When they finally cancelled it did it in such a way the 2nd one didn't work and 3 The ensuring mess of sorting out 1 & 2 meant I didn't have a card with a working pin for a month ! Also not everyone works near a bank or passes a bank between work and home so might be making a special journey at lunchtime.

However that said I don't really understand why three people reported this lady instead of asking her -yet the OP says this lady has a good relationship with her collegues -Is this the first time she's done this or has she done it before and they got fed up with her using "their money" as a top up kitty before pay day ? (Their perception of her actions)

Regardless it's done now and the fact it's a financial sector job means that fair or not not only are staff expected to be honest but also they are seen to be 100% honest and not only is there the "borrowing" but equally damming is the lie and I think your friend would be very lucky to get through this with her job . I think she should be prepared to go to this meeting prepared to put her hands up and say "I made a really stupid mistake and I'm sorry" and hope her previous record is enough to save her from something worse than a final warning-rather than try and defend the indefenceable. Not what you want to hear I know but in the job market employers can afford to be mega picky and set exacting standards and I think trying to defend her actions might make things worse and I'm assuming the point of this is first and foremost to try and keep her job. Hopefully her previous good record will mean this may be possible.

People are arguing that "It's not stealing" She hasn't been accused of stealing -she's accused of dishonesty -which in this context is not the same thing. She borrowed money that was not hers to borrow and then lied about it. The concern of the employer isn't that she wasn't going to return it (hence not stealing) but that she used other people's money as her own when she was holding it in trust for them and the arguement would be -would she treat client's funds the company holds in the same way-and if she did the company would have no defence as she had done it previously with other employee's money.........and then lied about it when questioned. It's a trust issue and a future liability issue not a theft issue.

I really do sympathise with her -I don't believe she meant to act dishonestly and just didn't think things through from what you've told us and I hope the meeting goes well for her -but I also hope-as someone else said earlier that others who might be tempted when in a corner learn from this too. Better to be a bit embarassed and borrow a bus fare than this situation. (I'm in a similar situation myself right now-I have an interview for a fab job on Tuesday and absolutely NO idea where I'm going to find the train fare to get there so I really really do "get" how this happened).

amazingcookie

kitkatt1982 wrote: »

I'm sorry but I came on here to ask for genuine advice for a genuine friend. I didn't need this advice. Are you completely above everybody else and not a human being? My son takes biscuits out the cupboard without asking, soes he deserve to go to jail too?! Grow up

I never said I'm above everybody else. Your daughter is certainly not above the law, and if your son stole biscuits from a company selling biscuits he should be imprisoned too. There's room for sympathy if someone steals from their parents, but not for a company running a business. The employer needs to set a clear example, otherwise other employees will also steal from the company be it stationary, money, or other items.

To the other user, it is bad for publicity if the employer calls the police but it's also bad for publicity when other employees spread rumors of this incident happening and nothing was done. It's also bad for employee morale if this one employee was able to get away with it.

OP, you grow up. Your daughter commited a crime and should be dealt with strictly to set an example.

amazingcookie

dandelionclock30 wrote: »

Going to jail is a bit harsh for taking a few quid for bus fare-she hasnt robbed a bank or swindled the company out of millions. The issue for your "friend" is the lying when confronted and if she is working somewhere where integrity is valued then she has proven herself to be a liar.
The places where I have worked this would have been a dismissal through the lack of integrity issue. Trust has broken down and they wont believe a word she says again. Also if they keep her how embarrassing for her to be a proven theif.People will also be saying all kind of things about her. I would resign and look for another job, hopefully with a reference that doesnt say anything about the theft.

Technically she robbed the company she's working for. It's not borrowing when you don't have authority to take the said amount, and just because the amount isn't a lot doesn't mean it's not theft.

Any reference from this employer will probably mention the theft. Unless this is an especially lenient employer.

Any

amazingcookie wrote: »

Technically she robbed the company she's working for. It's not borrowing when you don't have authority to take the said amount, and just because the amount isn't a lot doesn't mean it's not theft.

Any reference from this employer will probably mention the theft. Unless this is an especially lenient employer.

Well technicaly she did no such a thing, as the money wasn't the company's in the first place...

Any

Re:the bus fare. £8 is not actually that much, perhaps some research into cost of public transport would be good. Prices changed massively over past couple of years, even I was taken aback last time I had to take a bus.

Re:the ATM. Living in a la la land? Need to come here to rural area and count the amount of ATMs near any of our bus stops.

Re: the whole issue. I (as an accountant and manager) find the whole thing a bit ridiculous, if it is as straight cut as it is put accross to us. Girl needs bus fare, she borrowes it over night from kitty which she keeps anyway and there were never missing money, never issues of tickets missing, never issues of people accused of not paying their share for example when they did or anything or no other suggestion that she is often loosing track of it and 3 people report her to manager???

Well, even if she gets off the hook I suggest she finds new job because clearly for some reason some people really took against her and she would be better off without such a petty environment.

Or, there is more to it then meets the eye and there are issues with the kitty and she got caught red handed (either just by mistake or she is really guilty).

amazingcookie

Any wrote: »

Well technicaly she did no such a thing, as the money wasn't the company's in the first place...

So she's just lending money or donating her own finances to the company? No, the money belongs to the company.

yvonne13_2

amazingcookie wrote: »

I never said I'm above everybody else. Your daughter is certainly not above the law, and if your son stole biscuits from a company selling biscuits he should be imprisoned too. There's room for sympathy if someone steals from their parents, but not for a company running a business. The employer needs to set a clear example, otherwise other employees will also steal from the company be it stationary, money, or other items.

To the other user, it is bad for publicity if the employer calls the police but it's also bad for publicity when other employees spread rumors of this incident happening and nothing was done. It's also bad for employee morale if this one employee was able to get away with it.

OP, you grow up. Your daughter commited a crime and should be dealt with strictly to set an example.

The OP's daughter if she has one has nothing to do with this this matter.