Fired from Job - Holding Pay

ubern00b

ubern00b

ubern00b

Soldato
Joined
25 Nov 2004
Posts
3,792
Hi All

Ill try give all the facts here as best I can. My ex g/f was the manager of a pub up until recently. Basically she had been having lock ins quite frequently recently (She always writes down what is taken and then pays for it after, one thing she is not is a thief) and the stock take has been poor so she was fired as they thought she was stealing from the pub.

The facts. Yes, she was stupid (for having the lock ins), but she is no thief and they have no proof that she ever took anything. The stock take was down by a large figure and she is adament its an accountancy issue or something else. She accepts the fact they fired her and thats that, except now they are holding her last pay cheque (3 weeks annual leave pay) "due to the results of the last stock take". Surely they arent allowed to do this, especially as they have no proof of her ever taking anything? Sure they are most likely in their right to fire her for the stock take being down but to make her pay for it out of her wages surely cant be legal.

I am just hoping someone on here will know more about where she stands (I know you dont have the WHOLE story and you dont know the other partys side or point of view but just take my story as the facts and base any opinion on that) and what she can do about it all. Any advice is appreciated. She will be calling CAB and legal advise on Monday but I just thought I would try get a general idea of what to expect. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide :)
 
did the pub go down the correct channels and giving out verbal \ written warnings first before sacking her?

its near enough impossible to get sacked from a job these days
 
I would imagine they've viewed it as gross misconduct having lock ins (I'm assuming she told them about this as part of the shorts).
 
You dont need verbal and written for stealing lol. Its Gross Misconduct and is instantly sackable in most contracts. Do you think they let you steal from them 3 times before they let you go?

Granted, she may not have stolen but thats what they have binned her for.
 
Rich said:
You dont need verbal and written for stealing lol. Its Gross Misconduct and is instantly sackable in most contracts. Do you think they let you steal from them 3 times before they let you go?

Granted, she may not have stolen but thats what they have binned her for.
Click to expand...

didnt know that :)
I thought they would have given out warnings first though if they didnt have any proof of her stealing
 
Well the proof side of things is clearly where they are in the wrong! I would have thought suspension was more appropriate. If she has admitted the lock-ins then she is a gonner either way i expect.
 
FishThrower said:
didnt know that :)
I thought they would have given out warnings first though if they didnt have any proof of her stealing
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Surely the books doesn't balance is proof itself?

As for didn't know about not needed warnings to be sacked? lol Lets all go work for Bank of England's printing press :p
 
Yes she was sacked for Gross Misconduct and as such didnt need any warnings and as for the books not balancing being "proof she was stealing" thats hardly right is it? There are many other channels as to how the books may not be balancing, she isnt responsible for the entire chain of stock/money etc from getting delivered to banking the cash for it. The owners of the company are just as involved in the whole chain as she is. My thinking and reasoning for all of this is that they have no proof or evidence that she actually did steal anything. Surely they would have to have her on CCTV actually taking a barrel out the pub or something to be able to implicate her in theft?

Edit: books not balancing could be for many many reasons, other staff taking things or giving free drinks to friends on the site or any other number of reasons for which no one would know of or own up to anyway.
 
Lets take the books not balancing out of the question for the moment.

Wouldn't a lock in/serving alcohol outside the licencing hours for that particular pub itself a misconduct? thus a seriously enough offence to be sacked?
 
if she is the manage she is responible for all the above, but i doubt she can have her wages withheld for doing a poor job- go see CAB, they will advise better than anyone here
 
In the eyes of the law no money was exchanged making a lock in "legal". Whatever was consumed was paid for the next day during business hours or replaced. As for the rules the owners decide to set for their pub, thats up to them. There is no question about the being fired, she owns up that she overstepped the mark and accepts responsibility but its the fact of what they are trying to pin on her and holding her pay that she (and I) desperatly need in order to survive.
 
I very much doubt they can legally withold pay she is entitled to. If they think she has stolen then they can take her to court and prove it there and if they can convince the court she has stolen then attempt to get it back.
 
AtreuS said:
I very much doubt they can legally withold pay she is entitled to. If they think she has stolen then they can take her to court and prove it there and if they can convince the court she has stolen then attempt to get it back.
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This is my thinking! Its the age old "innocent UNTIL proven guilty" and if they wanted to take it that far she has plenty of material witnesses to testify to the fact that they paid for everything that was consumed at the time of the lock ins. Besides that fact they have no hard evidence she ever took anything, just speculation.
 
Well for anyone who is interested it seems they seeked legal advice and are now back tracking and have issued a cheque. Suspicions were correct that they would need to sue and the guilt would need to be decided by a judge in a court of law. Lesson learnt the hard way but at least it worked out in the end.
 
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