To think that Birds the bakers were right to sack their employee?

[Sootikinstew]

Employee of something like 25years accepting cash from pensioners and paying for shopping on her own card.

Now I know it likely came from a good place and she was trying to be kind and helpful. But AIBU to think Birds were right to sack her. This scenario opens up her and Birds to all sorts of accusations and would surely come under fraud or money laundering rules?

I think the original policy Birds implemented was over the top and unnecessary. It may also have been illegal and discriminatory.

Lexilooo It’s not illegal or discriminatory. Shops can take and refuse whatever payment they want, so they are well within their rights to refuse cash.

sorry but you’re miserable, she did a nice thing

@RedStreetMonument - pork and apple pasty and a fruit danish - the lunch of champions

Article says 'showed them the reciept' not really the same thing.

Article also says she ‘has kept receipts of the transactions.’

@Sootikinstew

Isn’t your username really offensive to women?

@Sugartitties

sorry but you’re miserable, she did a nice thing

She can do “nice things” in her own time, and not by committing serious gross misconduct.

I've signed the petition, so thanks to whoever supplied the link.

It was ill advised of her but if it was one thing done out of kindness in 40 years of exemplary service then it seems very harsh. But we don't know that do we? There could be more to the backstory. She is a manager and they need to be able to trust her not to just make up her own rules without consultation. Who knows?

This scenario opens up her and Birds to all sorts of accusations and would surely come under fraud or money laundering rules?

That’s not how money laundering works

@MorganKitten

This scenario opens up her and Birds to all sorts of accusations and would surely come under fraud or money laundering rules?

That’s not how money laundering works

Won't open them up to money laundering but could certainly open them / her up to fraud allegations.

Remember people 80/90s often have other issues too, arthritic fingers, failing eyesight, memory issues.

No they shouldn't have sacked her! She was doing a very kind thing and something which I would have done in a heartbeat. All those elderly people are struggling enough in our new computerised world and now they are having to (mainly) shield because of the virus. Life is tough for everyone at the moment but even tougher for the elderly.

Where has the #bekind movement gone?

TheHoundsofLove Fri 31-Jul-20 08:27:11
I also think that lots of people on low incomes probably much prefer to pay in cash as it‘s so much easier to keep a track on what you’re spending. Preferring customers to use cards is one thing, but it seems absolutely crazy to refuse physical money.

I agree. We'd switched to cards but were frequently overspending if we didn't communicate in time (joint account), so a few months before the pandemic we reverted to a weekly cash budget which was working well.

We've been doing cashless since the lockdown, but as more of life kicks back in we really are going to have to go back to cash to help budget, we have learnt the hard way it works better for us.

Oh, and our local Greggs has a sign up saying card payments only, but they are still taking cash, because it's that kind of area. Seems sensible of them to me.

I was in Birds this morning to buy some yummy treats and I can confirm that the strict card-only policy is still on place.

@Cadent how so?

@heartsonacake

A judge recently found that landlords operating a "no DHSS" policy were indirectly discriminating against women and the disabled. I think a no cash policy could equally be found to discriminate against the elderly and possibly the disabled too.

I believe that Age UK have already critisised such policies.

The 94 year old would not have been young when cards became widely used

They wouldn't have been old either. Its over 50 years since the first cash machines appeared in the UK, the multibank networks have been around since the early 80s as they were already ubiquitous.

Online banking is another issue and will be until proper connectivity is treated as an essential utility (which it is these days) but basic cashcards have been around for more than a generation.

True. Women couldn’t open a bank account in their own name until 1975

In the UK?

Credit agreements/mortgages generally needed a male signature but my DM had her own bank account from not long after she started work (would have been late 1940s).

I wasn't old enough to have to have my own current account in 1975 but siblings/cousins did. I only remember credit agreements being beyond our poor little pink brains.

@InTheShadowOfTheMushroomCloud the fruit Danish is indeed superlative. Custard Danish reminds me of my nana so love them too 😊.

In the UK?

Yes.

www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/1918-vs-2018-13-things-women-couldnt-do-100-years-ago/

"Women also faced financial discrimination and were seen as a high-risk investment by banks as little as just 50 years ago. It wasn’t until 1975 that women could open a bank account in their own name.

Single women still couldn't apply for a loan or credit card in their own name without a signature from their father, even if they earned more, as recently as the mid-Seventies.

Working women were also refused mortgages in their own right in the Seventies, unless they could secure the signature of a male guarantor."

@mathanxiety

Re bank cards - why didn’t they get one in the last two months when the no cash policy came out? I am truly puzzled by it

There are older people out there who genuinely don't understand how cards work and don't trust technology, people who listen to the news and don't join the dots or it goes straight over their heads, and people who feel very timid about approaching a bank to order a card, or think the bank would have sent them one if they needed one.

Also, many bank branches were closed during lockdown, and many elderly people do not have access to internet banking.

According to this report from Citizens Advice, 10% of British adults has never used the internet and 20% lack basic digital skills.

I have an elderly friend in this situation who, during lockdown, survived on food she had stockpiled ahead of Y2K supplemented by some fresh items bought by her neighbours.

Despite it coming from a good place this was a manager who not only showed a lack of judgement once, but repeatedly over numerous transactions. Now only that she was in managerial position with all the responsibilities that the job entails. I think the company had no choice. Perhaps the only thing that may have been possible would to have demoted her. What a shame.

[quote Lexilooo]@heartsonacake

A judge recently found that landlords operating a "no DHSS" policy were indirectly discriminating against women and the disabled. I think a no cash policy could equally be found to discriminate against the elderly and possibly the disabled too.

I believe that Age UK have already critisised such policies. [/quote]
You can think whatever you want, but unless the law is changed—and that’s doubtful considering moves to a cashless society are being considered—shops can state card only perfectly legally.

majesticallyawkward

No employee handled any money? Other than the one that handled the money and put in their own purse you mean

As the article said this woman didn’t handle the money the customers put it into her purse which was out on the counter.

So no employee handled any money during working hours.

Re bank cards - why didn’t they get one in the last two months when the no cash policy came out? I am truly puzzled by it

Maybe your bank was open.

Mine you couldn’t contact them apart from if your card was stolen or misplaced or for fraudulent activity on your account.
Or if you went through the automated system.

Can I ask how Birds know that going cashless hasn’t affected their business.
Through this employee they have been taking more money each day than they would normally have done.

@Oliversmumsarmy

majesticallyawkward

No employee handled any money? Other than the one that handled the money and put in their own purse you mean

As the article said this woman didn’t handle the money the customers put it into her purse which was out on the counter.

So no employee handled any money during working hours.

Customers put money into an employees purse though. How are you not grasping that this is massively wrong? In any other context if you walked into a shop and the person serving said to put your cash into their own purse would you be so supportive?

So no employee handled any money during working hours.

Oliversmumsarmy Irrelevant.

Can I ask how Birds know that going cashless hasn’t affected their business.

They can tell through their sales, footfall, financials, guest count etc. etc. I think it’s clear through your numerous ignorant comments on this thread that you have absolutely no knowledge of how businesses work.