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

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

I was going to suggest the same as pinkyredrose - take a picture of your notes of the opening and closing balances, in case the notes (or even the stock book/diary) go missing.

Can you have a frank talk with the boss, and as her why she is condoning repeated thefts by this other worker?

And you are absolutely right not to 'fudge' the figures for her.

[ICanSeeTheSeaFromHere]

I would also suggest CCTV and calling the police each time stock goes missing.

I bet you find you are also now missing the cases to go with the sunglasses.

[allmycats]

the cases did go as well for the sunglasses !

[Whatisaweekend]

Excellent plan to write in ink in the two ledgers but I am wondering if these too will magically go "missing" once she realises what you are doing. Maybe you should drop an email to your boss at the end of your working day - no need for an actual message, just perhaps the amounts in the subject heading. That way, you are covered and there is no way your colleague can tamper with it. If your boss questions you as to why you have taken up doing this, then that is a good opener to discuss your concerns. Do you think the boss knows but is turning a blind eye due to the friendship? If so, how lovely to be so wealthy that someone thieving from you is ok!!

[allmycats]

I am nearly certain that the boss knows but she does not want to face up to it.

[DontmentionLondon]

Is there no camera aimed at the till? I thought that was required for insurance purposes?

[MartinSheensTeeth]

I'd email but also take a photo so that you can show them how you are monitoring it - all very well writing the balance everywhere but if she's happy to walk out with money and goods and to 'lose' your notes, she's as likely to walk with the books.

[Chippednailvarnish]

Your boss isn't your problem, your sneaky thieving colleague is. Email your boss daily with the amounts and cover your arse.

[SelectAUserName]

I would email boss and explain, factually and unemotionally, that you are aware of missing amounts of money and stock, that you are concerned at being asked to alter the books by X to disguise this and so are setting it on record that you are not prepared to take that course of action, and that in order to ensure your own till calculations are correct you will, from Y date, email the evening totals to her each day in order to prevent both ambiguity and any loss or damage to the previous handwritten notes.

Then your back is covered, you haven't accused anyone of anything that they haven't done and the ball is very firmly in your boss's court.

[ENormaSnob]

Start documenting everything and look for another job.

Colleague is a theif, boss a spineless twat.

It wont end well.

[AlpacaPicnic]

Can I just add a suggestion of writing the amount in numbers and words as a backup.
So for example £150.45 one hundred and fifty pounds and forty five pence - so if there were to be any attempt at altering the number it would be very hard to do so.

[ToffeeOwnsTheSausage]

Good idea about taking the photo of the amount.

It really isn't your problem if your boss doesn't want to deal with a thief but you make sure you cover yourself as you have done nothing wrong.

[TheGreatHunt]

I would leave tbh.

[Objection]

she's either the world's stupidest person or a thief

^^ this!

[RenterNomad]

I was worried about the "again" of your thread title until it became clear that you hadn't fone any vovering up on previous occasions!

You're doing a brilliant job of covering yourself. The only thing I can add, perhaps, is using an externsl emsil programme - gmail/ hotmail or your smartphone, to email your totals, emsils and oyher contemporaneous evidence, since a work system vould be tampered with. It sounds unlikely, but the brazenness of this woman, in asking you to fudge things, and the boss's demonstrable spinelessness, are already straining credibility. The poster upthread, who said this employee could "have something" on thr boss, and the other poster who said you could be blackmailed for letting this slide, show how the boss could have become vulnerable.

[allmycats]

Update - she has had the amount missing deducted from her wages. She will find this out tomorrow when she is paid cash by the boss.

[VivaLeBeaver]

If you fudge it for her it will look like its you who's stolen the money.

[LozzaCro]

I am so glad on this update - I have been in this situation before and ended up leaving a job because of it.

Well done you for standing your ground and for your boss finally growing a pair!

[DarlingGrace]

she has had the amount missing deducted from her wages

www.freelanceadvisor.co.uk/go-freelance-guide/pay-and-wages-pay-cuts-protection-from-unauthorised-deductions-from-your-pay-2/

Oh dear. Your employer is now committing theft.

[Viviennemary]

Don't fudge anything. If. I agree with no discussions about how to handle this. Say you are not being involved with any kind of 'cooking the books'. I'd be looking for another job I think in your position. Easier said then done I know.

[Viviennemary]

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

[starlight1234]

Sadly this is going to get nastier....

Watch your back even more carefully

[Tulip26]

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

[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?

[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