Whistleblowing at work

[curiousbob]

Throwaway account

i just wanted people's opinions on this.

I work at a retail store where the manager gets a lot leeway on pricing buying etc however this has been abused a fair bit recently - a lot in the last month or so.

as a result he's pocketed in my estimates around a grand in the last month and not including what he's made previously.

now when we've asked to where this money is going he's stated its going towards stock that is damaged however nothing has ever been paid off etc and when pushed we get a fob off answer.

no transaction shows that this has ever occured.

quite a few of the staff are getting to the point where we're feeling our efforts are being undermined by all of this. we're getting pushed to hit targets and profits etc but this is undoing a lot of our hard work.

there is a whistleblowing procedure at our workplace and as such this is a consideration.

if we were to go ahead what repercussions would other staff have?

not myself but other junior staff have been told by the manager to do things in their logins (some not all)

obviously this has been occuring on and off for the past 12 months so what I want to know is what repercussions would befall on other staff?

what usually happens in such cases where whistleblowing happens?

[Gargamel]

All depends on the attitude of the more senior managers.

If the manager is asking junior staff to do things in their logins, then I would suggest that something serious is going on.

Does the retailer have an internal audit department ?

Some places take whistleblowing seriously and do things the right way, however I would say plenty don't and I would advise you to proceed with caution.

Is there a regional manager? do you trust them ?

[curiousbob]

There is an internal audit dept and I do believe they would be the point of contact for something like this

We did have a procedure in place for whistle blowing put in a few months ago

What I don't want is I go to them and then staff who were doin as the manager told them to end up losing their job

Or he stays through some technicality and everyone gets treated like st by him

He has made quite a few friends in area managers etc but I do believe them to be professional and the head auditor isn't one of them

[curiousbob]

Double post

[Tonsko]

What about doing it anonymously? Use a throwaway email address from a coffee shop wifi. Or buy a sim with cash and phone it in.

[ChasW]

A good employer will have a whilstleblowing policy. In a company this outlines how far up the chain of command you should make someone aware. In many it's HR or any director. In a small business I guess it's the owner. It's in their interests for the identity of the blower to remain anonymous as any breach of trust will deter others in future. You only need to have genuine and reasonable belief. You don't necessarily need hard evidence.

[SLCZ3]

You work for TESCO and I claim my whatever is left in the till!!!

[curiousbob]

More money taken today. We didn't even realise he'd taken it.

What's worse is that this is his day off. And he's still come in for this.

The thing is everyone is looking towards me to do it

I got all the contact details for whistle blowing but it's just a certain fear holding me back. What if it all goes tits up...

[Troubleatmill]

You have a responsibility to blow the whistle. Do it now.

Do it anonymously on the corporate helpline - if you are really worried.

These things are taken seriously and will be investigated.


If it transpires that you are found knowing about it and done nothing - that's when you will get in trouble.

[djc206]

Surely what he's doing is actually criminal not just misconduct at work?

Go for it. If it all goes wrong go legal

[anonymous-user]

Why are you posting on here when it's so obvious what the right thing to do is?

[Pebbles167]

Not massively helpful, but if it was getting everyone else in the st I'd have him up against the wall by his throat. I don't work retail, in case you were wondering

But seriously now...

I'd imagine there is a regional manager if its a chain store? The fact that yours seems to be losing money will not look good on them. I'd imagine they will want to know whats going on.

[sploosh]

Sounds like lots of people know about this already, someone will say something... and at the moment you could have some difficult questions to answer if there is a (possibly criminal) investigation as you have clearly known about this for some time. Perhaps a group of you could blow the whistle at the same time?

[Sharted]

When does he next go on holiday?

Prime time for a thorough investigation.

Unless it is next year of course.

[davepoth]

If you do whistleblow, make it clear that he sometimes used other peoples' logins to do the deed.

[Moominho]

In your situation I definitely would.

[steve2]

sounds like he may have a gambling problem or is in a bad debt situation, you must let head office know , anonymously
if required or he could end up taking you all down

[Tonsko]

Buy a sim from orange, I think they allow you to pay cash without needing to sign up for it, not many others do. Put it in a cheap £10 phone and call the company line.

[curiousbob]

Thanks for the words gents.

I will have to call tomorrow. I'm not bothered about head office knowing my identity as it'll give me a better chance to clarify what's happening.

I will update u guys tomorrow. I've never done anything like this so it's just daunting.

Thank you.

[Tonsko]

Sleep well & all the best.