Advice re employee

[SlackBladder]

Need some advice regarding an employee of mine.
I've just discovered that last month he sent out two personal items via the company FedEx account. Stood out like a sore thumb as the items were send to Northern Ireland at a cost of over £25 per shipment.
Is this theft?
Sackable?
Gross misconduct?
Threaten to call the police?
Suggest he resigns before I fire him?

Thanks in advance

[roadsmash]

Has anyone else ever done this before?

Could he have got the idea from someone else?

Not that it makes it right, but if any superiors have told him it would be OK, then it’s a bit more complicated.

If the answers to both questions are “no” then I’d say it’s gross misconduct in most people’s eyes.

Did he offer to reimburse your company or was he trying to hide that he did it?

[BrettMRC]

Assuming you don't already have an HR/Insider team to take care of this for you...

Before you do anything driectly involving the employee:

1) Look back through the records for anything else that looks out of place.
2) Check any other services that can be misused/abused and tracked. (Such as purchasing other items through regular business suppliers)
3) Review behaviour up to this point.

If at this stage these are the only two instances then you can decide how to handle it... if it's a trust based position then I think I would invite them to consider if these actions mean they can remain in a position of trust. If a non-trust based role then a b*****g followed by a demand for repayment etc would probably cover it.

Where steps 1-3 uncover further wrong doing then throw the book at them and start proceedings with the police.

[akirk]

pragmatic questions:

- how much do you need this person in the business - will the business be worse off without them / what will it cost you to get rid of and replace?
- how much risk is there for you in keeping this person - do they have control over / access to other financial areas of the company?
- do you think it was a deliberate attempt to con the business / did they just think it was a perk of working there / did they not think at all?!

If they are low risk tot he business, but useful / expensive to replace - then have a chat, be open-ended rather than confrontational - ask them - 'noticed these costs going out - what were they for?' give them an opportunity to be straight forward with you...

there is a difference between a foolish employee / one who doesn't think / one who is dishonest etc... - best to be thinking of the long term outcome for the business

[SlackBladder]

Thanks for the replies so far.
To answer a few questions
It's a very small business (4 people)
He has been caught out before buying personal goods on account and when asked about it his reply was 'oh I was going to pay for that when I got my wages'. I wouldn't have minded if he'd asked first.
I haven't questioned him on the matter regarding FedEx yet. Thought I'd seek advice first and also wait to see if was forthcoming on pay day.
He can be replaced without causing too much disruption to the business.

[xjay1337]

SlackBladder said:

Need some advice regarding an employee of mine.
I've just discovered that last month he sent out two personal items via the company FedEx account. Stood out like a sore thumb as the items were send to Northern Ireland at a cost of over £25 per shipment.
Is this theft?
Sackable?
Gross misconduct?
Threaten to call the police?
Suggest he resigns before I fire him?

Thanks in advance

Gross misconduct for £50 of shipping?

I often shipped things through work. I always offered to pay, sometimes, they would deduct the money, sometimes, they wouldn't (I guess they forgot).

Why not have a simple conversation with the employee, "Hello mate! Just noticed doing some accounts we had a couple of shipments from you through our company account, what was that about?" type thing.

If he does his job well then I'd probably say OK please don't do that again, you won't make him pay the £50 as it's a mis-understanding but perhaps offer him cost price on anything else he wishes to ship

I mean, £50 is fk all. I've expensed that for a lunch.

Probably a genuine mis understanding where he thought he can ship things through work.

[xjay1337]

SlackBladder said:

Thanks for the replies so far.
To answer a few questions
It's a very small business (4 people)
He has been caught out before buying personal goods on account and when asked about it his reply was 'oh I was going to pay for that when I got my wages'. I wouldn't have minded if he'd asked first.
I haven't questioned him on the matter regarding FedEx yet. Thought I'd seek advice first and also wait to see if was forthcoming on pay day.
He can be replaced without causing too much disruption to the business.

Oh - I see, this post appeared before I had finished my previous one.

I'd have a frank conversation giving him a clear warning and then if he continues then look into disciplinary measures.

End of day - it's your company so you need to do what you feel is best.

[ozzuk]

If you have no HR team you could ask ACAS for advice, they will outline the disciplinary process you could follow - investigation, what meetings you need to hold, who can attend, possible outcomes etc.

What they should advise first is stopping it getting to that stage, so to have a chat with the employee first to find out if this is a genuine mistake, and to reinforce policy/outline what could happen if they do it again.

I disagree with the poster saying it is only £50, if not a mistake it is limit testing behaviour / disregarding company rules / general disrespect and the monetary value is irrelevant - where do you draw the line?

Just to add, ACAS get a lot of stick but we recently did remote training with them for supervisors specifically around the disciplinary process, worth considering if you are very green on this. To iterate though, performance management to stop things getting to that stage is a much better approach - why is this employee acting this way, is there a company failing in policies or communication?

Edited by ozzuk on Wednesday 16th September 15:16

[Starfighter]

Assuming you keep the guy then I would suggest that you formalise it.

A simple policy statement could be written to either ban it totally or stating that anyone using the company accounts to buy goods or services for personal use may do so provided that they notify (who?) within 24 hour and pay the full cost to accounts / petty cash within 1 week.

The only problem with allowing this type of thing is if it goes wrong. If the package goes missing it is damaged then the insurance etc. could be a problem as who gets paid.

[Mr Pointy]

How long ahas he been employed by you? More or less than two years?

[Gary29]

I'd suggest that the fact you're asking these questions over such a 'minor' thing lead me to think you have answered your own question.

If he was good at his job and added plenty of value to your business, you would drag him in the office for an ear bashing and then brush the discrepancy under the carpet.

I guess the actual question you need answering is how you can remove him in the cheapest and most efficient way.

[Jasandjules]

xjay1337 said:

Gross misconduct for £50 of shipping?

Well, yes.....

[anonymous-user]

In no particular order

- How long has he worked for you?
- Do you trust him?
- Is he good at his job?
- Can the business function if he leaves immediately?
- What would be the reaction of the other staff if he was fired?

[Pothole]

xjay1337 said:

Gross misconduct for £50 of shipping?

What's your theft threshold?

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Jasandjules said:

xjay1337 said:

Gross misconduct for £50 of shipping?

Well, yes.....

....because theft is theft and trust is lost. What else has OP not discovered?

I've had similar umpteen times in my career. It's not one size fits all.

tts: fired
Bordering on tt: severe wigging, final written warning, general hard time
Decent employee: tried to understand why, cut some slack

Edited by 2 sMoKiN bArReLs on Wednesday 16th September 16:26

[Starfighter]

You also need to take care around equity of treatment. If someone has done the same and no action then it makes it difficult to come down hard on someone else.

[xjay1337]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

Jasandjules said:

xjay1337 said:

Gross misconduct for £50 of shipping?

Well, yes.....

....because theft i theft and trust is lost. What else has OP not discovered?

I've had similar umpteen times in my career. It's not one size fits all.

tts: fired
Bordering on tt: severe wigging, final written warning, general hard time
Decent employee: tried to understand why, cut some slack

I do get that but it's petit amount really.

I agree with what you said above though, I guess it depends on if he is a "tt" or not.

[selym]

SlackBladder said:

Thanks for the replies so far.
To answer a few questions
It's a very small business (4 people)
He has been caught out before buying personal goods on account and when asked about it his reply was 'oh I was going to pay for that when I got my wages'. I wouldn't have minded if he'd asked first.
I haven't questioned him on the matter regarding FedEx yet. Thought I'd seek advice first and also wait to see if was forthcoming on pay day.
He can be replaced without causing too much disruption to the business.

He's got to go unfortunately.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Starfighter said:

You also need to take care around equity of treatment. If someone has done the same and no action then it makes it difficult to come down hard on someone else.

Unless you really want to.

Sometimes you just need to pull the trigger and deal with the fall out.

[selym]

Jasandjules said:

xjay1337 said:

Gross misconduct for £50 of shipping?

Well, yes.....

I'll siphon £20 of fuel out of xjay1337's tank because....well, it's only £20.