Probation period extended after I discovered a theft

[flixer]

Long time lurker, seldom poster, name changed for obvious reasons... I really need some hand holding tonight.

I took a finance role 3 months ago. As part of my role, I found out that a staff member took the company card while out on a post-run and made an unauthorised purchase, a gift to a leaving member of staff. This was only picked up when I saw the bank statements. It was a director who had given her the card.

I informed the manager discretely. However, my interaction with said member of staff specially when dealing with finance things became a little strained.

Today I had my probation meeting... and my probation was extended on basis on my interaction with her!

I don't even have words... Manager said he cannot have conflict within the team....

but I wouldn't want a long term position with a company who shoots the whistle blower... bizarre

Me neither, why would you do that (though the NHS seems to do it on a regular basis, and our lovely "government" has said they won't implement new EU rules on whistle blowing, though I'm not sure they'd apply in this scenario anyway).

But as someone above said, you've only been there 3 months and don't know how the gift giver is regarded, or who they know/what their influence is in the organisation. And yes, in future tell your own manager about any issues you find, not other people's.

People, have you not read OP's update? The gift was NOT authorised and management said they would deal with it.

OP, However, my interaction with said member of staff specially when dealing with finance things became a little strained

What do you mean by this? Have you been nasty to her? Suspicious of her? Badmouthed her? Has it caused an atmosophere in the office?

OP, I'd ask your line manager to clarify exactly what you have done wrong and why your probation has been extended.

I do wish people would read the updates/ full thread. The purchase was NOT agreed or authorised. I agree with pp you need clarification of exactly what your behaviour has been to warrant the extension ( so you can make sure you don't do it again). But I think I'd be looking around for another job if you haven't acted negatively or inappropriately around her.

Like s pp said I would have treat it as missing paperwork unknown transaction etc.
I reconcile bank accounts and often look at this first, In 10 yrs transactions unknown have always been resolved as missing paperwork or transactions which were genuine but just one offs etc.
I have never come across any circumstances where someone entrusted with a card would be daft enough to use it for theft knowing it would come straight back to them. This scenario just shows the employee knowing that when the director us aware if what the purchase is for it will we retrospectively authorised.

Common sense op i think your colleague used it here, and you were lacking somewhat and that us why they're concerned enough to extend your probation. Accusation if theft can ruin lives even just casting the suspicion with out checking for an explanation first is troublesome at the very least.

I think the issue with raising the anomaly on the card use is a red herring here. OP is on probation because of the tensions with the other person that have arisen since this time. OP has glossed over what this has involved. I guess to know better if her extended probation is warranted or not we would need to know what sort of behaviours have been displayed by both parties.

Does your company have a Whistle Blowers policy. A company is not allowed to retaliate against someone who has reported a problem even if it is found not to be an issue.

You need more details on why your probation has been extended. Also you should not have had any communication with such a person unless totally professional. So check the tone in your emails to her.

To be honest I would be reconsidering my future with a company that brushed unauthorised used of the company purchase card under the carpet and blamed me for the resulting fall out.

I think employees should feel safe to raise something like this without fear that they will get it in the neck. I am the finance team and have previously raised a concern over the spending of one of our company owners - it was outside normal policy, I questioned it and without a doubt it the other owner was not happy with me, but they behaved inappropriately and outside the ownership agreement, they knew this and had no defence - I question everything on an equal basis, that is my job - the owners make the judgement. I'd find somewhere else to work - I'd feel very uncomfortable working in a team that liked to bury things.

I am not surprised that things have been ‘strained’ between you and the card user when you continue to use words like theft about something where unless you have proof she took money collected for a leaving gift herself and used the company credit card instead is at worst a procedural error.

Companies have hugely different policies about what they will authorise expenditure for. Many would think it was ok to buy a small gift and card for a long serving member of staff who was leaving rather than have a collection.

You identified an anomaly which is great. Perhaps your manager did not deal with it as well as he could when he investigated what had happened. Perhaps things would have been resolved if you had apologised to the person, explaining how it happened. It does sound as if a one off situation has continued to influence your working relationship with this person. I agree with other posters suggesting that you concentrate on being charming and helpful and look for another job.

Hmm, in organisation I work for this sort of thing happens all the time and people realise when they do their receipts and ‘declare’ it and pay it back. Labelling it a theft seems a bit overkill for a small leaving present, which may or may not have been a legitimate purchase anyway... Obviously flagging it is fine but I wonder if the way you went about it was a bit OTT.

I don't think it's because you flagged a transaction. From your own posts it seems to be because you've labelled that transaction as theft and then had an ongoing problem with your relationship with that member of staff. Both of which are inappropriate responses.
It also sounds as though you may have circumvented their usual procedure by going straight to management rather than to the member of staff who made the purchase.

The OPs update, since so many people are calling her an interfering jobsworth.

So a director gave the lady the company card to post some letters which she did. She then used the card to pop into a shop and buy a leaving gift for another staff member who was leaving. No manager/director authorised the purchase. She made the purchase and did not tell anyone.

I informed management who confirmed to me that it was not authorised and that they would deal with the issue.

This is theft, though actually the Ts & Cs of the company card would tell you only the person named on the card is allowed to use it, so passing it around the office for different people to use is a huge no-no. If you've only been there 3 months then it looks like ThiefLady must have been doing stuff like this all the time and your predecessor never picked it up, either through laziness or collusion. Now ThiefLady is mad at you for stopping her gravy train.

Look for another job OP Do you really want to work somewhere that doesn't value integrity?

How did it become strained though? Because in these instances you need to remain nothing but professional. If you did not, and it sounds like you did not, then I can see the issue they have.

It isn't necessarily theft.
OP notices purchase, calls Director and says did you authorise purchase of a bottle of wine and some chocolates. Director says no, I'll deal with it. Director calls staff member who made the purchase. Staff member says 'Rosie is leaving so I picked up the leaving gift that you always authorise on company credit card, whilst I was there.' Manager says, 'Oh yeah, that makes sense.'
Or Scenario 2: Manager calls staff member. Staff member says ' It was for Rosie's leaving gift. Remember I asked if I should get her something from the company?' Manager says 'oh yeah, I did.' Manager has dealt with it. Staff member wasn't stealing.

I agree, not necessarily theft either, likely something that would have been approved she just failed to get the approval in advance.

It's irrelevant though. The key here is the relationship became "strained" and that's what they are extending over. Not the use of the card.

So the ops title is misleading. She's had her probation extended due to the way they perceive she handled the interaction with the employee.

So a director gave the lady the company card to post some letters which she did. She then used the card to pop into a shop and buy a leaving gift for another staff member who was leaving. No manager/director authorised the purchase. She made the purchase and did not tell anyone.

I informed management who confirmed to me that it was not authorised and that they would deal with the issue.

"Not authorised" has a wide spectrum.

From "This is how it's usually done and no one explicitly gives permission" through "I thought someone else did it the same way" to "She sneakily nabbed the card for a gift for her bezzie".

Her not telling anyone indicates it's more likely to be one of the former scenarios than the latter, because why would you risk your job for a gift for someone leaving?

The manager 'dealing with it' could be as simple as clarifying procedure to her, or asking for a refund of the mistaken purchase. The manager should clarify with you the correct process too (but it's not necessarily the case that they should tell you the exact ins and outs of the other employee's situation...).

In what way was the relationship strained?

Just because they say it wasn't authorised, it doesn't mean it was theft. She was perhaps doing it on an assumption that she's done it before or got authorisation before but this time just did it and never sought formal authorisation. That would count as not being authorised but they also won't treat it as theft either. If you're there treating her like a thief, this is the problem. She never spent it on herself, she spent it on an employee that is leaving. It doesn't seem like something she did sneakily and hoped to get away with. If you've gone in there like oh such and such made an unauthorised purchase and made a song and dance, there's the issue. If it's purely the fact she's annoyed you've flagged it up and got her a bit of grief and you've told her to shut up about it, that's different.

However, it seems to me that this company is on guard that someone will question spends. They don't seem to like that, I wonder why...

Sorry to hear of your work concerns it must feel really awful going back in there today. I’m only guessing as another person said that the person who misused the card feels really affronted by being questioned and as such is being really vocal behind the scenes (by the sounds of what you have written there has been no interaction about it directly). Is it possible she feels judgement coming from you now and feels uncomfortable? Perhaps you could chat to your boss and say you’d really like to clear the air because you also value workplace harmony. Let your boss know that you would like to understand how your actions (which were purely professional) have led to this outcome. If you decide to leave make sure you buy yourself a bottle of Prosecco on the company card before you go cos they don’t seem to mind.

Sounds like you did your job and now they are kind of wanting to hedge their bets by extending your probation. They probably would like to keep you but if they feel atmosphere will stay sour they might see getting rid of you as the easy option of keeping status quo. Does not speak particularly well about the ethos of the workplace so I would just do what some previous posters have suggested. Keep playing nicey nicey at work but start looking for another job.

If it was normal procedure the gift buyer would have handed in/submitted the receipt for the gift the same time they did the one for the stamps.

I'd be looking around for something new. Just because of the way something minor has become a drama.

However, it seems to me that this company is on guard that someone will question spends. They don't seem to like that, I wonder why...

Tbf, I find my new finance officer absolutely lovely. Incredibly diligent and great attention to detail.

But I wish there was just ONE DAY where she didn't ask a million details about every single transaction. If she did the same thing to all staff members all the time, I'd have a quiet word about going OTT, because it doesn't build trust.

The fact that OP refers to the incident as “theft” in the thread title and has not elaborated on what “a little strained” means suggests at least the possibility she has not gone about this the right way.

You've been in the job 3 months. Were you so confident of where everyone's loyalties and allegiances lie to go above her head and grass her up before approaching her directly? It's clear from the manager's response that you horrendously misjudged that social situation. You'd have been better keeping out of it as a newbie; sounds like the manager was ok with her buying a leaving gift for someone else and disliked the fact you went running to him about it. Did it never cross your mind that the manager may have had a little agreement with his staff that very occasionally, under trusted circumstances, the kitty could be accessed to purchase a leaving present for a colleague? You thought you were doing the right thing but honestly, suss out the social intricacies of your new workplace before you call people out. I'd look for another job. People don't like people who grass them up for kind gestures - that may have been ok'd prior to your knowledge anyway.

I would look for something new too - management aren’t viewing this in the wrong way.

From an audit perspective, it’s fraud, ie misappropriation of company assets. Even if it has been approved retrospectively, it was still unacceptable (and the employee clearly knew this as they did not submit the receipts).

If your integrity isn’t being respected I would move on. A new employer who asks why you haven’t stayed would never look unfavourably on you leaving for those reasons - it’s important to have a sense of ethics when you work in finance, especially when you’re performing control activities as you are.

And why "theft???" You sound like you're on your high horse. I would be pissed off too.