AIBU to not cover up for my job share colleague over missing money - again !!

[allmycats]

Once again my job share colleague has 'lost' the till float. She was working Friday/Saturday/Monday and says that the float money was intact Saturday morning and she 'put it away' on Saturday closing but when she went into work on the Monday morning it was 'gone'. She has come up with all sort of 'reasons' why it is 'missing'. She 'may have' got it mixed up with her own money when she went to buy something - yet there was nothing paid out during the 3 days she was working so there was no reason to take any money off the premises. She has checked her 'own money' and is now confident that she has 'not got it'. There was a person making an appointment on Saturday just before closing
and they 'may have' picked it up by accident - from out of the till ???.
She 'may have' accidentally put it in with the rubbish - we have tipped out the rubbish bags and it is not there. This is the 2nd time in 3 months that a sum of money has 'gone missing' on her shift and prior to that in September she had a 'theft of 3 pairs of designer sunglasses
by a couple that came into the shop, these sunglasses were kept in a locked cabinet and she says that 'she must have left it unlocked after some one tried a pair on,' she also went home from her work that day without telling anyone and then rang in when it was my shift to tell me this, she never reported it to the police or rang the boss. She has worked here for 19 years and is a personal friend of the boss (boss is very afraid of confrontation). She (work colleague) has said to me that as I am a former accountant, I should be able to 'fudge the figures' to cover this missing money and, I do not want to do this. I want no part in this situation

[RenterNomad]

but I don't see why I should leave when it is not me who has done wrong.

You have not done anything wrong. That is why you should stop benefiting this dodgy, badly-managed company with your honesty and good sense (which is being wasted on arse-covering).

Naturally, it is a pain to leave, but you are already suffering. There's no reason you should be so anxious, and doing extra work, just to cover yourself, because the boss won't do that for you. Think about that: your boss has an utterly perverted duty of care. That care is being exercised for a thieving, possibly blackmailing, manipulative person, who is completely uncollegiate.

[FryOneFatManic]

but I don't see why I should leave when it is not me who has done wrong.

I totally get this. BUT you are now in a no win situation. It's clear the employee is going to carry on, and that the boss is going to suck it up. You need to find another job so that when the shit inevitably hits the fan, you can't be involved.

Meanwhile, keep up with the suggestions to keep your own back fully covered.

[nancy75]

So she admits she 'borrowed' the money, however if the op had been happy to fudge the figures nobody would know the money had been 'borrowed' and it would never have to be paid back.

Your colleague is a thief and your boss is a total idiot.

I was a shop manager for many years and in every place I worked this would have been - with out any doubt - a sackable offence and it is very probable the police would have been involved.

[RenterNomad]

at the classic euphemism for embezzlement!

This is a dangerous precedent for the business: inviting someone to steal. Someone else is could well try it soon, and the original thief might try to see what else she can get away with: a badly-run business is not a great one to work in!

[ToffeeOwnsTheSausage]

What is happening about her paying it back or is she going to be allowed to fuck your boss over some more?

[Groovee]

Jeezo!

[CSIJanner]

"Borrowing" ehh.

It's only borrowing if you ask beforehand.

[DameDeepRedBetty]

The reason some of us think you should be looking to work elsewhere is that the owner of the business hasn't really handled this situation very well, and there is a risk that if anything else should go wrong you will be dragged in again.

[TheCrackFox]

I would be job hunting too. I wouldn't want to work with her and I would find it difficult to work for such a so unless twat.

Realistically she has always been stealing from the business but most thieves start getting greedy which eventually leads to them getting caught.

[allmycats]

We don't actually work together at the same time - it is job share. I am now taking photos on my phone each day and also telephoning figures daily to our other branch so thatthey can write them down also. We will see what happens in the future - but I don't see why I should leave when it is not me who has done wrong.

[ILoveWooly]

I would be job hunting too tbh. I wouldn't be able to work with the woman and look her in the eye.

[DameDeepRedBetty]

I think I'd be looking for a different job OP.

[FunkyBoldRibena]

'The word you are looking for there boss is 'stolen''.

[allmycats]

Further update - she came in for her wages today - said she needed them today and could she come in for them. Boss said that yes she could
and when she came I went for my lunch, when I came back the boss told me that the other woman had admitted to 'borrowing' the money and that the matter is now closed.

[Armadale]

I would be very worried about this.

Firstly the boss can take the money from the employee's wages if it says so in their contract- and think they also have to notify them first?

Secondly, any book you write in at the shop could quite easily go missing, by the sound of things. I would be tempted to email a pic you take each night to an email account so there is a clear record of when each day's photo was taken.

But as a long term measure, this isn't really fair for you at all, and if you boss isn't prepared to act then I would look for other work.

This used to happen to my DH when he was a manager but the power to discipline or fire was left to the owner. DH knew stock was walking out the back door, but the owner didn't do anything either (employee was son of owner's girlfriend). He hated it, it is a horrible atmosphere and the odd accident/missing item/lost petty cash incidents became more and more frequent.

[RenterNomad]

"when she kicked off"

[RenterNomad]

How do you know? Did your spineless employer tell you so you would defend the decision when age kicked off, and you would then catch some of the flak for the boss?

[Gatekeeper]

quote from the link above

Deductions from shop-workers – There are special rules for deductions made from shop-worker’s pay.

The employer of a shop-worker can make deductions for cash shortages or missing stock. This could be, for example, because the shop-worker has been dishonest or because of theft by a customer.

[MsAspreyDiamonds]

Can yoy have a look at CCTV footage of her shift days & see if there is anything dodgy. Can you tighten up security around the float process? If there are cameras pointing directly at the till, it would be less likely for her to do anything daft.

[Tulip26]

I have had an employer take deductions, it's crap. Sadly it's legal though.

[Cleorapter]

Cover your own back and don't do anything for her.

It's pretty obvious she's a thief. I just can't believe she's got away with it so far

[minibmw2010]

How can the employer take it out of her wages when there's no proof she's a thief? OK, it's pretty clear she is but if nothing has been done (has it?) to challenge her, give her a chance to put her side, etc. how can the employer legally take it out of her pay?

[Tulip26]

It's not theft if the employer tells her on payday, according to that article.

[starlight1234]

Sadly this is going to get nastier....

Watch your back even more carefully

[Viviennemary]

Missed your post. Glad to hear it's sorted out.