Employee stealing from a food bank

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NC'd for this. I run a food bank. I have a (paid) assistant Mary, along with lots of volunteers. My assistant used to be a volunteer, for context, but this is now her first proper job. She's on the autistic spectrum but very high-functioning. She is due to leave at the end of this month (travel, then uni). She's 19.

Anyway - I'm pretty sure she's stealing stock. Not donations from the public, but corporate type donations - bulk packs of biscuits, crisps etc. Always treat-y things rather than the (many) more mundane foods we have. Eg we receive two boxes of Dairy Milk at 2pm on Monday, I see them on the shelf, I head off at 3.30 and leave Mary there to finish whatever task - and when I come back in at 7 the next morning, one of the boxes is open and two large bars are missing. That sort of thing, again and again. On some of these occasions other people are in too, but the common denominator is Mary (and she'd always be the one in last/locking up). It's also extended to leaving the wrappers lying around on occasion, which is both dumb and infuriating.

Lives at home in a very well-off house, no expenses/money issues, no shortage of food - I'm quite certain. It feels, instinctively, like "teenage bottomless pit" type behaviour.

So:
Catch her out definitively?
Give her a vague but pointed chat about our stock and what it's for?
Say something before I wave her off at the end of the month?
Ignore?
Some other thing?

I don't think the value of what she's stealing is any great shakes, but a) really, who the hell steals from a food bank? b) theft is theft c) I trained her up and gave her a brilliant opportunity with this job, so I find it quite hurtful. I also would rather she learn her lesson now rather than when she's, I dunno, Chancellor of the Exchequer.

I don't have any other managers etc to bounce this off. I have trustees, who I suspect will leave it with me to make a decision as I see fit. WWYD?

I told her not to see out the rest of the month (two days really) as she was supposed to, and sent her off.
so rather than tackle the problems (performance, theft, lying) much earlier, when you could have intervened in a mentor/manager style & asked for improvement, which would have benefitted everybody concerned, even peripherally, you left it til the last minute, then dismissed without due process?

I suspect I’ll be in for some abuse from some quarters now but there we are.
If you're lucky, the only abuse you will be in for is here.
If your luck fails, your Trustees, or Mary's parents, may have quite a lot to say to you.

Stealing is gross misconduct, ie you can legally be dismissed on the spot even with no proof, just reasonable suspicion. Of which there was loads.

Entirely correct practice OP, although it’s harsh and must have been tough on both of you.

It’s awful but here’s hoping Mary’s learnt a lesson worth a lot more than two days’ pay. She won’t get far with light fingers.

Just as likely you'll be in for an Employment Tribunal for direct discrimination against a disabled employee/unfair dismissal.

Doesn't matter that she was leaving, you didn't follow employment and equality laws there.

Don't forget, her parents are educated professionals on good incomes - there's no problem in respect of affording legal representation. You're not firing a skint disabled teenager who cannot afford to risk a poor reference without following employment law - you've sacked a disabled teenager whose parents may be very motivated and able to pursue this, especially if it turns out that somebody else did tell her she could take the items.

Stealing is gross misconduct, ie you can legally be dismissed on the spot even with no proof, just reasonable suspicion.

No you cannot & this is dangerous advice.
OP did not document her suspicions, did not share concerns with Trustees or any other seniors/colleagues. She therefore cannot "prove" theft by what a good lawyer or employment regulation practitioner could choose to term 'her word against the employee's'.

In the absence of any written protocols, let alone an Employer Handbook, if Mary or her parents wished to challenge her dismissal OP could be in some very hot water. Especially if OP claims that she had known of the theft for months, chose not to challenge it, & gave no opportunity for apology/redress. And certainly exacerbated by the fact that she never bothered (or could not face the awkwardness of) actually TELLING her ND employee that stock was never to be consumed by staff - either before or after she noticed that it was being taken.

smallbusiness.co.uk/can-i-dismiss-an-employee-on-suspicion-of-theft-1642098/

Yeah I don't think you've handled it very well at all. I think you need to get some kind of HR training. Pay her the two days, she'll probably leave it since she was leaving anyway.

I'm very much not a "blame the autism" person but impulse control is not a strength. You could have easily set her back on track if you'd handled it better.

I'm very much not a "blame the autism" person but impulse control is not a strength. You could have easily set her back on track if you'd handled it better.

I'm curious as to how she could have 'easily set her back on track'? The woman knew she was stealing, she didn't say oh no, I didn't know I wasn't supposed to take food belonging to the charity she tried to lie and drop other colleagues in it to cover up for her theft. The same way she tried to pin the previous issue the OP raised with her on another colleague. She clearly knew what she was doing was wrong when she stole, she was slacking on doing her work and she is a liar that would happily try and take others down with her. I'm curious what easy fix you think there is for what is clearly a pretty dreadful employee and colleague?

Everything in that link was covered by OP. She had a suspicion, investigated and narrowed down the list of suspects to just Mary. When confronted, unless I’ve misread OP’s post, Mary admitted it. Theft is gross misconduct. You don’t have to explicitly tell staff they cannot eat your stock. You do not have to give staff a heads up you’ve noticed pilfering so they can stop until you let your guard down again. You do not need to give them an opportunity to change.

There are rules an employer has to follow, and they do need written protocols. But those protocol could (and probably would) lead to Mary not coming back in, whether fired or put on gardening leave.

Even in a case of gross misconduct there is a disciplinary meeting. A chance for the person being dismissed to be heard, to present evidence to defend themselves, to have a neutral third party with them for support (esp if they are, say, neurodiverse).

This keep it simple and ask her, I'd imagine she'll fess up. Then reiterate the purpose and suggest she replenishes what she's eaten. Or she'll lie and stop doing it.

Sorry just seen whole thing. Well done I think that was right thing to do. Im sorry it must be disappointing for you given you'd trained her etc

It would help if you quoted my post.

I'm saying that in a charity as it appears here, that there seems to be few if no employment rights as opposed to a normal private company!

Yes, OP runs the whole thing but it seems really badly run in general, decisions which could have legal implications are left up to her (she may not have time to find the free resources for small charities) by the Trustees, where I think the Trustees should take on this more themselves and not leave it up to the OP!

I'm saying it's not good that this happens, in this particular circumstance, with this small charity and in this day and age. I don't have time to be googling 'small charities and the HR legal implications' myself!

@NigellaAwesome - from what I recall at my work re legal stuff is you can't just draw up a handbook with legal/HR/employment law implications.

In this case, if I were Mary, I'd actually go back to the Trustees, be firmer with them about what might happen not only in this case but with future possible scenarios and leave it up to them to see a local solicitor (draw up an employee handbook with their help)/get a HR company employed etc and then Mary can run the charity (foodbank) on that basis.

OP is being used a bit here I think because she has no HR backup and probably a bit but not a huge amount of management skills (maybe just the basics).

Put the onus on the Trustees and the name of the Trust to sort this out, OP shouldn't be doing it herself!

MNHQ - Maybe this thread could be moved to employment matters/legal so someone with actual proper knowledge could advise OP rather than the MN vipers here (I hold my hands up and say I know only very limited things but did work with lawyers for 8 years).

@GonnaGetGoingReturns I wasn't suggesting op draws up a handbook herself retrospectively.

But going forward she definitely needs one.

On reading my/OP's responses I definitely think she needs to get the Trustees/charity involved directly and put the onus on them to get proper HR company involved/or draw up a handbook with a local solicitor, as it appears that OP despite running the foodbank fairly well, like most managers, has very little HR or even management skills beyond those required in her day to day work.

In my old job we saw a lot of owners of small companies who had basic knowledge or rudimentary knowledge of running small companies but they came to us for help with legal documents e.g. handbooks, which is how things should be done professionally (and legally).

I'm saying that in a charity as it appears here, that there seems to be few if no employment rights as opposed to a normal private company!

But that's not the case. Employment law applies (as does equality legislation/ H&S legislation). Unless it's just a community organisation with no paid staff. I don't understand why you think charities are exempt from this?

I don't have time to be googling 'small charities and the HR legal implications' myself!

As you don't appear to believe me, fair enough I can't prove I have any knowledge in this, here it is for you:

'Follow employment laws and plan for risks when employing paid workers at your charity.'

www.gov.uk/guidance/charity-staff-how-to-employ-paid-workers

Thank you for enlightening me.

But as I mentioned, I don't know the law re this.

And as I also mentioned, Trustees and OP should be aware of any employment law for charities. I don't know about this, as I'm not an employment law specialist nor a specialist on employment law within charities, and also, like I said, I don't have time to look into this! You obviously have far more time on your hands to google this!

@GonnaGetGoingReturns it is actually very easy to google things. By practice you learn the correct search terms.

@OneFrenchEgg loads of people think that the voluntary sector or small companies, and different types of workers are exempt from discrimination in employment and H&S law.

You need to have the time and inclination to do this.

And I'm not assuming or thinking anything but it would seem from the way OP has gone about this, is that she thinks in her charity that her worker is exempt from discrimination in employment and H&S law. I never did say this... check my posts. OP has also been thrown under the bus by the Trustees of the charity which as I've stated several times should take ownership of this and not just throw OP to the wolves and leave an inexperienced manager to deal with this!

@GonnaGetGoingReturns or maybe I actually know this stuff? I added a link because you clearly didn't think I did. And you've got enough time to keep coming back to this thread, I'm sure you could Google charities and employment law if you wanted.

You're an employment law specialist are you? Which I highly doubt. I have enough time to come back to this thread occasionally.

No, I'm just a bit pissed off that people seem to be assuming a lot of things here... and blaming OP.

I'm definitely unwatching this thread now as it is a waste of my time.

I saw you added a link which I chose to ignore.

One of the worst things about this site is the number of assumptions others make, the amount of time you have to read, post, what you chose to ignore or not etc!

You're an employment law specialist are you? Which I highly doubt. I have enough time to come back to this thread occasionally.

Not following your logic here. You don't need to be an 'employment law specialist' to have HR knowledge - I would estimate the majority of third sector workers and line managers in any industry have HR knowledge. It's not something reserved for a tiny percentage of the population!