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....

No one thinks the OP was wrong to report it. How she reported it may be a problem. Her reading a managers disbelief as confirmation is wrong. Her assertion it was theft is wrong.

Her part in the tension is why it's been extended. Not doing for doing her job.

Anyone who works in an office knows that how you handle this situations is really important. Not just doing the technical part of the role.

The issue - and the piece that is missing- is what has your behaviour towards Anna been like? What does relations gave "become a little strained" mean?

When you have a role that involves monitoring the behaviour /activities of others you'll always discover things that could affect your opinion of a person. As a professional you have to ensure that it never impacts on your ability to interact with others.

How are you doing OP. You’ve not been on since Tuesday. I know this is a stressful time for you, just here hoping you are ok.

Thank you for everyone who has commented. I am not well.

I am not saying this for anyone to feel sorry for me. I am a professional who cannot pass judgement. It’s black or white. I have only ever been honest in my life and in my job.

It is difficult for me to take all the blame. The issue is with the tension with Anna. However the tension has a cause. Management confirmed to me in so many words that she made unauthorised purchases.

Quite frankly, I am losing faith in the world.

Some places are dysfunctional and weird, fixer.

Anna sounds like a piece of work. Management sound afraid of her.

Try bringing it up once with your manager, in a genuine way, saying like, "I need your help in getting the message out that if I ask for clarifications on accounts, it's me doing my part to make sure we have a strong organisation. Can you help me get that message across?"

But honestly all this weirdness over you doing your job is a red flag.

It's not you!

Then op you're in the wrong role. If you cannot distance yourself and must pass judgement, even though it's not your role, then you need to leave.

I've been involved in multiple employee irregularities. I act like I don't know. The decision is not mine.

If you can't handle that, then the issue is yours and rhey are right to extend your probation and in my view you should leave as you are unable to cope and treat the employee without prejudice.,

An unauthorised purchase I'm sure you know, has shades of grey, from. This is normal practice, to we would never do this,

If you can't distinguish then they are right to extend your probation and ultimately terminate your contract.

@flixer - it sounds like you're still judging Anna. Whatever your manager said at the time, they've clearly decided it was fine, so you have missed something from that review. You can't behave like this, you've been asked to behave better towards her or lose the job.

@flixer as a professional, you can not pass judgement. That's life.

If you need to work in an environment that is black and white, this isnt it. You need to find s company that has strict rules and any action outside those rules is wrong. No ifs, no buts.

Not sure, even then a company would appreciate your open judgement of the situation.

Perhaps Anna is being off with you as well. But if its known you judged her as a thief, it's not shocking. For all you know they may have had a word with her too. But it's not her probation that is in question.

Ask your manager for details and their help for smoothing things over.

And remember, that even if you have iron clad evidence that someone is being underhand, just pass the information you have a neutral manner. Take the view of 'it's not my decision, I just pass on things that dont match up, most of the time theres a good reason but its not my job to decide that'

The issue is with the tension with Anna. However the tension has a cause. Management confirmed to me in so many words that she made unauthorised purchases

Can you not see this is the key phrase? It shows clearly you're passing judgement. And reflecting it in your behaviour towards Anna. You simply cannot do this. It's deeply unprofessional.

It's managements role to deal with Anna. And the fact there is no issue there, indicates strongly this was a normal purchase, she simply neglected to get authorisation in advance. So a procedural error. Nothing more.

If you can't see why they are extending your probabtion and considering terminating uou because of it, then their approach is right. You likely need to leave. Are you going to have issues with any employee who makes a mistake? Who does something wrong?

I suspect you simply dislike Anna, and are using this as ammunition. Whatever the reason for the way you're behaving towards her, your company is taking the right decision, you need to show them you can behave professionally and not show judgement in your behaviour. If you cannot do so, then they will need to terminate.

In our company an unauthorised purchase for something small would be a pulled aside for a chat, nothing more to be said about it, maybe rules/procedures regarding the company card/expenses would be revisited and people generally reminded about the rules - if it happened again then it would be escalated. It's very hard to be black and white about these things - we make value judgements, sometimes we get it wrong. It's always worth checking. A colleague of mine in another firm wrote a chq for £10k to herself - how she ever thought she'd get away with it I have no idea I think she was in a very difficult financial situation and the desperation make her reckless.

It's absolutely your job to flag up any discrepancies you encounter in your job with management, in a tactful way, its then up to management how they deal with it. Honesty would be an integral part of your role.
Your colleague may have been reprimanded, but they are under no obligation to report back to you about it.
I also wonder how management explained they where extending your probation period ?
Unless you are working for a very corrupt organisation, or your colleague is sleeping with the boss. I suspect you have handled this quite badly, so maybe you could use the extension period to reflect on your own behaviour.