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gross misconduct - need advice for a friend.
Beepeear
Posts: 39 Forumite
My friend recently got suspended from work due to alleged gross misconduct. The offence is related to taking products without paying for them.
My friend works in a food store, they told me that before, everyone used to take products to have on their break and then they would usually pay for it at the end of the day, or if forgetting to do so, pay the next possible opportunity, usually the next day. They told me a new policy was introduced where you had to pay before hand, although a lot of people still pay afterwards, my friend has had an allegation against them for taking products without paying. My friend explained to me that sometimes they did actually forget to pay on the day but most the time paid the following day, although did completely forget to pay for some items over time. My friend is mainly concerned about the possibility of a black mark on their record or potentially police action.
What, if any advice can I give to my friend as they are very anxious. Thanks all
My friend works in a food store, they told me that before, everyone used to take products to have on their break and then they would usually pay for it at the end of the day, or if forgetting to do so, pay the next possible opportunity, usually the next day. They told me a new policy was introduced where you had to pay before hand, although a lot of people still pay afterwards, my friend has had an allegation against them for taking products without paying. My friend explained to me that sometimes they did actually forget to pay on the day but most the time paid the following day, although did completely forget to pay for some items over time. My friend is mainly concerned about the possibility of a black mark on their record or potentially police action.
What, if any advice can I give to my friend as they are very anxious. Thanks all
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Comments
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Be honest. Be remorseful and apologetic. Highlight how there was confusion about the change of policy if managers knew and permitted paying later as mitigation of this poor judgement call. Promise it will never happen again and insist on repaying what is owed. Hope for the best. Good luck to your friend.
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So he did take items without paying for them...The policy change could allow for late payments. The policy change cannot allow for non payments, as non payments were not the old policy.
Will he get a black mark for stealing stuff on his work record? Yeah probably. He might even lose his job, so his ‘record’ won’t matter.
Could they involve the police? Yeah, they could. He has stolen. However from experience in retail small scale things like this rarely go to the police. It’s normally either large scale or monetary thefts which would lead to them pressing criminal charges.2 -
You may not have been given the full version of events, of course - but if 'your friend' has stolen goods (and that's what's happened if they didn't pay for them at all), best advice is to tell them not to do it again.Beepeear said:My friend recently got suspended from work due to alleged gross misconduct. The offence is related to taking products without paying for them.
My friend works in a food store, they told me that before, everyone used to take products to have on their break and then they would usually pay for it at the end of the day, or if forgetting to do so, pay the next possible opportunity, usually the next day. They told me a new policy was introduced where you had to pay before hand, although a lot of people still pay afterwards, my friend has had an allegation against them for taking products without paying. My friend explained to me that sometimes they did actually forget to pay on the day but most the time paid the following day, although did completely forget to pay for some items over time. My friend is mainly concerned about the possibility of a black mark on their record or potentially police action.
What, if any advice can I give to my friend as they are very anxious. Thanks all0 -
They have informed him that he is suspended with full pay whilst the investigation is underway. I think his main concern is any police involvement. He has said that he will happily cover the costs for all the products he has not paid for.KatrinaWaves said:So he did take items without paying for them...The policy change could allow for late payments. The policy change cannot allow for non payments, as non payments were not the old policy.
Will he get a black mark for stealing stuff on his work record? Yeah probably. He might even lose his job, so his ‘record’ won’t matter.
Could they involve the police? Yeah, they could. He has stolen. However from experience in retail small scale things like this rarely go to the police. It’s normally either large scale or monetary thefts which would lead to them pressing criminal charges.0 -
Absolutely, he is very aware of that, but his response is that he didn't do it intentionally, he simply had the goods, continued working and then forgot to pay for them at the end of the day. His main concern is police involvement as he has never had any issues with the police in the past.Brynsam said:
You may not have been given the full version of events, of course - but if 'your friend' has stolen goods (and that's what's happened if they didn't pay for them at all), best advice is to tell them not to do it again.Beepeear said:My friend recently got suspended from work due to alleged gross misconduct. The offence is related to taking products without paying for them.
My friend works in a food store, they told me that before, everyone used to take products to have on their break and then they would usually pay for it at the end of the day, or if forgetting to do so, pay the next possible opportunity, usually the next day. They told me a new policy was introduced where you had to pay before hand, although a lot of people still pay afterwards, my friend has had an allegation against them for taking products without paying. My friend explained to me that sometimes they did actually forget to pay on the day but most the time paid the following day, although did completely forget to pay for some items over time. My friend is mainly concerned about the possibility of a black mark on their record or potentially police action.
What, if any advice can I give to my friend as they are very anxious. Thanks all
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If he's in a union, good idea to speak to them.
If not in a union, and he gets to keep his job, join ...
And if he loses his job, join next time he has a job ...Signature removed for peace of mind1 -
no advice as he has been caught. whether he intended to steal or not is up for grabs. he can only hope for the best.0
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