Employment law advice urgently required

nataliehunter

Hi all,

A female friend is about to start a job as a carer in a specialised home for adults with severe learning difficulties. The home is currently unoccupied. Her employer has told her that tomorrow night she must stay in the building alone from 9pm to 7am for 'security reasons'- ie, to guard the premises. She has been told that if there is an intruder or disturbance she should call her deputy manager- not the police.
She has no security guard training, and has been given no guidance or procedure to follow whilst she completes the shift.


Surely this is an unreasonable request that she should be able to refuse without repercussions? She has informed me that they have already forced a female colleague to guard the house overnight alone. What are her rights?

They have justified this by saying they are short staffed, yet at her induction only last week there were a great number of new starters. Another excuse was that other members of the night team had not had their references validated, so would be unable to work.
I presume that the house and its contents are insured- surely it is not worth the potential repercussions for the company should something happen to her whilst working under these conditions?
I would appreciate any timely advice, as I worry for my friend's safety should she undertake the duties being asked of her. She is worried that she will lose her job (this is to be her first shift!) and I want her to be fully aware of her rights.
Hope someone on here can assist. Thanks!

getmore4less

Go to work get paid.
leave lights on and phone the police if something happens.

nataliehunter

I don't think its quite that simple. There has been no risk assessment and no protocol established in case of an emergency. I find the fact that the employer advised her to ring the manager before the police in case of a disturbance worrying in itself!

She has informed me that the house is fully soundproof (not sure why, something to do with the needs of future residents) so she would not hear any disturbance.

theoretica

Is there any reason for her to suspect an incident is more likely than if she were alone in her own home?

kazzah

ask for copy of the companies Lone worker policy - so she can comply with the requirements.

This might nudge the employer to place more than one person to "guard " the house and at least if nothing else your friend will know exactly WHAT processes are in place to protect lone workers in the future.

Nebulous2

Has your friend been recruited to work nights, either full-time or as part of a rota?

If she is struggling with the idea of looking after a house, how will she cope with the responsibility for keeping a group of vulnerable people safe, and looking after a house?

I don't know the situation you are describing but care is costly and you wouldn't usually use a carer in an empty property. Setting up a new service can be very chaotic and timing staff training and people moving in can be difficult. There are often delays in people moving, for medical reasons, property not ready, equipment not installed etc.

Ideally you would start new staff so that their induction finished just as people moved, but that is not always possible.

It sounds like they are starting the shifts, possibly with reduced staffing, before the people move in. Whether this is right, or whether it isn't, it doesn't seem like they have done a good job of explaining exactly what is going on to your friend, or she hasn't done a good job of explaining ot to you.

She needs to go back to her employer, sit down with them and calmly explain what her concerns are. She should be prepared to answer the question I posed at the beginning. Suggest what her proposed solution would be. Dramatic accusations such as "I was employed as a carer and you are using me as a security guard" are not the way to go.

paddyrg

I'm male, have done some martial arts classes, and would not feel comfortable with that setup. The way I could make it work would be to
1) have a safe room (strong door, etc)
2) install cameras (you can set up an ad-hoc wireless CCTV network from £27/camera if there's wi-fi, or add the cost of a 4G quality wi-fi router if not). Just enough to watch key areas, and those £27 ones can even be controlled for PTZ from a phone or laptop.
3) know I would call the police in a heartbeat instead of a manager.

But with those 3 things in place, and a TV and bed, I'd take the money.

paddyrg

What, of course, none of this considers is what if the lone person has an accident?

martinthebandit

getmore4less wrote: »

Go to work get paid.
leave lights on and phone the police if something happens.

.......is the right answer.

Or is the OP saying it's not safe for someone to be in a house on their own overnight?

spadoosh

My OH responds to alarm calls on her own for a retail store (not a security guard).

Think youll be clutching at straws to find some rights to protect her from not doing this.

1. Its unlikely someone will break in.
2. Its comparable to being at home alone, does she need a lone at home practice policy to rest easily at home?
3. A care home is unlikely to have much if anything that will be enticing to a burglar.
4. IF something did happen, she should hide or get out whilst making contact with the police. Ring the manager after.

If she doesnt feel comfortable doing it, she doesnt have to. Theres likely to be consequences up to and including losing her job though.

Marktheshark

These friend of a friend posts.
LOL