Husband been sacked

[missyell]

My husband has literally just been sacked from work. Im devastated. We have 4 kids aged 17, 12, 6 and 3. I only claim the tax credits and child benefit, other than that the income was from my husbands wage. I feel sick and I cant stop crying. What do we do now? x

What reason was given for him being sacked? Has he had written warnings previously?

That's awful, I'm so sorry.

What happened exactly? Was it your DH's fault? Can he appeal? Is it likely to impact on his ability to get another job?

What about you? Could you look for work?

It was my DH fault. He took something home with him by accident and it was a genuine mistake but it was his word against theirs. He's been there for over 2 years and has a perfectly clean record. His workmates enjoyed working with him and he done everything that was asked of him to an excellent standard so we are both in complete shock. :'(

Have you taken advice about possible unfair dismissal?

I can't imagine anything that you could take home by genuine mistake that is worthy of dismissal.

This sounds rather strange OP. If this is the first time he has done something like this then there would be warnings etc and he would be able to go to the union. There aren't many things you can take that could result in instant dismissal after 2 years for the first 'offence'. He definitely needs to fight this.

You both look for work and whoever finds a job first goes out to work.

Sorry to hear that.

You must both now concentrate on finding work. In any event if he does intend to bring an unfair dismissal claim then he will need to demo he's tried to mitigate his losses by finding other work.

ACAS were fantastic when DH was sacked. It was his fault too, a first offence after a perfect record and company hadn't followed process properly. They settled on 6 months pay in compensation in the end.

It won't help ATM, but what I can say is that that was the best thing that every happened to us. DH now has a job he likes far more. It's amazing how things seem to work out for the best.

He is entitled to an extra weeks pay on top of what he has already earned, if he was sacked, make sure he gets it, it's the law.

Really sorry this has happened.

roses I'm afraid that's not correct - if someone is dismissed for gross misconduct (as appears has happened here) they are not entitled to any notice pay.

Hi I was in a state last night however when my husband arrived home he told me he's not actually been sacked YET. He has been suspended on full pay until he gets a letter in the post for a meeting. Here is exactly what happened. He works in a hotel on nights and they had been taking checks all evening, my husband puts them in his apron pocket the same as everybody else does. When it came to cashing up at the end of the shift he handed the money over and his colleague counted it and he said it was correct. He left to come home and got the train, he puts his uniform in the washing machine then gets in bed as his routine has been since he's worked there. When he emptied his apron pockets he found 2 £20 notes. He took them back to work with him later on in the day when he had another nightshift. When he got in he was pulled into the office and asked about the money, to which he said yes I have it here and handed it over. He explained what happened but the manager suspended him after accusing him of trying to steal it :'(

ok, would the colleague who told him it was right back him up that he also made a mistake? If at that point he was told "no, you're £40 short" he'd have looked in the other pocket for it, so it's not just his mistake IYSWIM.

The other colleague surely will have to explain why they were happy to let your DH walk away without checking the amount handed over was correct.

Sadly, anyone handling money has to be very very careful.

Whie he's been suspended on full pay, I'd be tempted to get him to look for other work, if he can resign having found another job before being fired, all the better.

I didn't want to read and run, as my DH has also lost his job (although he was made redundant, on only one months' pay's notice), we have four children and I know how stressful it is. It's been over a month now and he still hasn't found anything - every job he goes for (and there aren't that many, he is facing 100+ other people in terms of competition).

Luckily I work full time, but it is taking a bit of a toll on me. It was hard keeping two full time careers before, but now with the added weight of worry and responsibility, I feel like a complete zombie.

We also have additional financial commitments so we need for both of us to work for a while anyway. I wish you and your DH a speedy resolution; I also would ensure you both look, at least if one of you has a job it won't feel quite so stressful..

Good news OP. I agree, the fact he was initially told it tallied, and he had it ready to hand over all go in his favour and add credibility to it being a genuine mistake.

Hope it goes well.

no he just went to bed he was shattered :/ in hindsight he should have phoned in :'( so that makes it look worse but he was so tired he just wanted to go to bed.

thank you devere x

soveryupset I really hope things get better for you too soon xxx

I hope so hermoine xx

He should obtain advice from ACAS before the meeting takes place.

I was explaining exactly this to a colleague last week. I work in a school, so different but in a similar situation.

All cash here is checked and then checked again. It's only small amounts (because most is parentpay) and some staff think it's overkill to ask someone to check it.

I was trying to explain it's not the money itself being wrong that's the issue. School budgets are tight but a missing £20 woudln't finish us. It's the fuss and suspicion that would be the fallout if the banking was wrong by £20. The checking process is vital to protect the employees involved, more than the actual cash.

Does the checker have to sign anything to say they checked? They should!

ACAS will help, especially if process wasn't followed properly

Is your husband supposed to keep cash in his apron?

I'm guessing that the money counted was actually £40 short, rather than correct, but I don't think that'll help you. It may well get the other person disciplined too, but it's not really a defence.

Was he called into the office literally as soon as he got to work? Did he attend work earlier than his shift to give himself time to give the money back and explain?

It'll be fairly easy to make a gross misconduct case from this, so I think I'd prepare for him to lose his job, and then if they give him a second chance it's a bonus.

The poster upthread who said about resigning being better than being fired is incorrect, though, it's almost certain that his reference would say "resigned whilst being investigated for gross misconduct" at this stage, and any future company is likely to take that as an admission of guilt. There's next to no difference between that and being sacked for gross misconduct. Resigning doesn't necessarily stop the disciplinary investigation, either - especially for theft, which could be a criminal offence.

It's really important that you know exactly what is happening here, so I'd recommend taking half an hour free with a solicitor if you can. If not, your husband needs to be completely honest about which rules have been broken and if he had any chance at all to hand the money in before he was called into the office.

I feel for him, I bet he really regrets not calling someone to let them know that he'd found the £40 now. However tired he was, letting a manager know or returning the £40 as soon as he found it may have been his saving grace.