Under investigation for theft at work

[Namechange31]

Name changed for this... Long and short of it is this. I received cash at work to be deposited back in Nov. Gave this cash to a direct report of mine to deposit which is normal practice. Looking back I didnt receive a receipt. This money is now missing.

Direct report when questioned said yes they remembered receiving the cash, thought they had put the receipt on my desk. Said they would look at home.

When questioned more formally the next day stuck with this story and then immediately after the meeting said they thought they were getting mixed up and in fact had never seen this money, didnt deposit it and knew nothing about it.

I've now been called to an investigation meeting regarding this money. They will have also. My job share colleague has also been called as a witness as well potentially 2 other members of staff who came into contact with the money. My invite says I can be accompanied whereas my job shares letter says they are purely being called as a witness.

Basically it comes down to them investigating whether myself or job share are responsible for this missing money.

I've given times, dates and an exact account of what happened informally.

I know categorically 100% I passed this over and it was out of my hands but I cant actually prove it. We share an office so it was done verbally.

I'm devastated that I could potentially lose my job for something I haven't done!! Any advice? I'm not in a union.

Sorry myself of direct report are responsible not job share

If there is a union they might help you anyway. Theft is a criminal matter. It's no guarantee it'll be better handled though, but you can ask when they're involving the police. Sorry you're having to go through this

Do you think your direct report stole it?

You can call ACAS for advice. All you can do is say what you know to be true. Perhaps your employer need to re assess their handing over cash policy.

I would like to think that it's been mislaid through carelessness but honestly I don't know.

Policy 100% needs to be looked at. It's just not anything that's ever happened before or even crossed my mind that it would. We don't deal with cash that often really.

Will contact ACAS.

Bumping incase anyone else is around to advise on anything I should make sure I do

Can you find any written communication that supports your story? Text, email, daily diary?

The fact that your direct report initially supported your version must be positive.

The only issue I see is in you not chasing the missing receipt. What is company policy for this? Who is responsible for this?

There isn't a company policy that relates to this specific set of circumstances that I can find. I've looked at the cash handling policy and I just can't see where it would apply.

In house the receipt would usually just be given to us. I've never chased for it and naively assumed that it would be handed to me and I didnt give it a second thought.

I've dropped the ball by not ensuring I obtained a copy and I know that and am happy to admit that.

As I said we share an office, only 2 of us so all communication was verbal.

I would advise you stop the guise of 'oh maybe it was misplaced' if you want to keep your job.

Be very very clear. Go with facts. You handed over the money to your colleague on X date at X time. I would also mention that it's very convenient they remembered receiving the money initially until they realised they could wiggle out of it and put the blame on you.

I would be forthcoming and say that it is obvious they stole the money.

This whole 'oh maybe it was misplaced' is a sure fire way to lose your job and I hate seeing people try to still be lovely and understanding when they're looking down the barrel of a gun. Fight for yourself here.

Its not a guise. I don't know what happened after it left my hands. Stolen, misplaced, left out and taken by someone else, ended up in a bin... I don't feel it's my job to make any presumptions. My stance is I had it, I passed it over and through deliberate actions or negligence on my colleagues part it hasn't ended up where it should...

How much money are you talking about? A large sum?

Exactly - it's NOT your job to guess where the money went. It's your job to state categorically what you did with it along with times and dates

Don't say ' oh it may have got misplaced.' Just state what you did emphatically - it's all you can do

Around £550.

I wasnt planning on saying that, that was a response to a poster asking if I thought he stole it.

Everything I say will be factual.

How much cash are we talking about?

If your Direct Report did steal it, you are not blameless. The chain of command means that senior staff members are ultimately responsible for the actions of their juniors. If someone untrustworthy is entrusted with something then some blame lies with the person who decided to trust them.

With large sums of money it is standard practice that there must always be two people jointly responsible for counting and transporting cash. It is a lot more difficult to arrange a conspiracy between two people than it is for one dishonest person to do something on the sly.

I think you should be very realistic in this situation. There is a reason managers are paid more than their reports, it's because they are accountable for more. If you were accountable for the money in this situation then the likelihood is you will receive whichever sanction your business pushes for. I'm sorry I can't be more positive but I know several people who have been in similar situations, we all drop the ball at times but the consequences change when money is involved.

I guess it all depends how much is the money? How often do you do these transactions? When you say to deposit - do you mean they were supposed to go to the bank? Is that a regular activity? How often is this process carried out?
Have you checked the whole office for the money? Have you both looked in your cars and bags?
What business do you work in? How would other companies mitigate against this happening?
How did you get on with the call to acas?

Why didn't you follow up on £550? That's not a small sum.

I can't imagine your employer won't be asking that, so do you have an answer?

I was questioned once about my till takings going missing between the till and the box where you leave them. I was absolutely scared stiff - but hadn't done anything with them. My company knew what had happened but had no proof (another member of staff was stealing). I had to be interviewed - but nothing ever came of it as I genuinely hadn't done anything and my track record was good. It was only years later that I knew the whole story and that they had known all along what was going on....so try not to panic.

I would go with this.
I followed instructions.
I handed over the cash and waited to receive the receipt.
My boss said they received the cash.
If they had not received it they would have asked me for it, no comments were ever made.
Why is there no back up copy of receipt.
Point out you have always handed cash over on the day received.
That your boss knows cash gets banked each day, how can they not have noticed they didn't bank.

You can choose your own representation, they won't and can't do it for you so this is why the letters will read that way. Imo choose someone who can confirm how you normally do things i.e verbally isn't out of the norm and who knows your character.

An investigation should be to establish the facts or the situation, it's not an accusation of guilt. They'll need your formal statement if they plan to take it formally with your direct report, so may not necessarily be a bad thing for you.

Acas is great for advice but won't be able to advise much more until there's possible action or next steps.

How long have you been with the company?

@Namechange31 .... just to clarify....

You handed the money to your direct report.

Where should she have then taken it?

Are they saying they didn't receive it from her?

Was there any witnesses when you handed it over? CCTV?

It was to be taken to the cash office who would then process it.

It isn't a normal run of the mill day to day task I would ever deal with, we don't tend to deal with cash all that often at all but when cash has been collected, deposited previously this member of staff would do it.

The member of staff originally said they had received it from me then and continues with that through an interview regarding this. 5 minutes after this meeting the staff member changed his account and said he in fact hadn't received it and was getting confused and knew nothing about it creating a situation of his word vs mine despite having previously said he did receive it from me.

Basically:-

Christmas lunch/night out money was collected and handed in to us. I asked DR to fill out the relevant paperwork and take it to the cash office.

The payment was then made on the company credit card and when it came to reconciling the credit card payment is then checked, credit card statement coded and sent to finance. The missing money would always have been noticed during this process.

Investigation into where the money has gone where I've said it was passed over, he agreed and has now backtracked. Cash office have no record of it so it never got there.

I passed the money over and then it's gone missing but by him changing his story its bounced back to me being the last person to having the money which isn't the case.

I didn't receive the paperwork back and should have chased in hindsight but because this isn't a usual process for me it slipped through the net. They can discipline me for that oversight if they want but I'm not responsible for taking that money, theft or otherwise

I'm well aware that the mistake I did make could result in disciplinary and I would expect a first and final written warning maybe but I haven't stolen that money and I don't understand how colleague can spend 2 days saying he did have the money to change his mind when he realised how seriously it's being taken.

Investigation into where the money has gone where I've said it was passed over, he agreed and has now backtracked. Cash office have no record of it so it never got there.
Then he's lying. People only change their stories to wheedle their way out of trouble. He took it and is 100% attempting to get you blamed for it. Fuck him. Tell them you categorically gave him the money on x day at x time, that you stated explicitly what needed to be done with it, and tell them he's a liar.

I passed the money over and then it's gone missing but by him changing his story its bounced back to me being the last person to having the money which isn't the case.
By him changing his story you now know he's taken it. Til this point it could have been an error. Now you know it's not. He's helped you in a way; he's shown his hand. Destroy him.