I spoke to my Mum yesterday.

She works Monday and Tuesday for our local Post Office (my old Local Post Office) which is franchised through Martins Newsagent. She went into work Monday as normal, after 10 days holiday and was met by a "fat man" who took her aside and said that £2000 had gone missing from her cash bag in the safe. They said they are investigating, but she is suspended (on full pay) until the disciplinary hearing.

Speaking to Mum it turns out that she puts her till cash into her cash bag every day with an envelope with her intials on. The manager and everyone else at the Post Office (and the newsagent) has access to that safe because the key is left in it and there is a security number-lock thing on the door into the backrooms. That's point number 1.

Point Number 2, the new manager of the Post Office (Carla) is completely useless, and has been cooking the books. When the fund doesn't add up right at the end of the day, she just makes it up to the right figure with a few quid here or there and says "oh, it'll turn up" all of the evening ladies at the Post Office have seen her do it and she doesn't seem to care. My thoughts are that either she, or Pauline (one of the other n00bs) realised how far out they had got and nicked the cash from mums bag while she was on holiday so they wouldn't get found out.

Point Number 3, Martins don't really give a toss about proving one way or the other, and there is the chance that they will just fire her rather than have to do a proper job of it. They know they can replace her easily enough.

First of all, I'm angry that none of the evening ladies will do or say anything to jeapordise their own jobs. I understand that, but FFS this is Fraud, it's a criminal offence we're taking about here which makes them all complicit!!

Secondly I'm angry that someone is trying to make my mum take the fall for their own incompetence!!

Thirdly I'm angry with my mum that she's not even preparing a defence for her disciplinary hearing. Her take on it is that she'll go into the hearing, they will say that the money is missing, she'll say she didn't take it and that's that.

Her friend Sheila is going to attend with her as a colleague, but only on the proviso that mum doesn't ask her to say anything incriminating (which leads me to wonder WTF is the point?) I've offered to attend with her if she wants me to, Dad can't, he'll just lose his temper.

I said 2 things. The burden of proof is on them. If they can't prove she did it, and if they try to fire her, she can have them call in the Police to make a proper criminal investigation. If they refuse she can sue Martins for unfair dismissal and something legal that means character assasination.

Secondly (because I know my Mum) if she doesn't want to make that much of a fuss, she can tell them that because they can't prove she did it, she won't accept being fired and they can accept her resignation instead.

Either way, she's a 62 year old woman who works part-time at a Post Office within walking distance of their house, their household income will get hit to the tune of about £300 per month which when you consider that they are both living on pensions otherwise, is a hell of a lot! She has a bad back and can't take a job which will involve her being on her feet humping and dumping boxes, she'd have to look at a till job at Sainsburys or something like that instead. It turns out that neither the PO nor Martins give references so that shouldn't be a problem in terms of her getting another job, but it still sucks.

I've spoken to her again today and she's got a bit more fight in her, I've typed out a series of statements for her to print out and take with her (in case they do her hearing when I can't get there) she can read them off the paper if she has to. I have copied them in here because I generally wondered what you thought, whether there's anything else she can do or say:



So, what do you think?

The points you have made all seem valid to me. Hope it all goes well for her.

Go to the CAB ( Citizen Advice Bureau ) would be my first thought to be honest.

Sorry to here of her troubles though.

I think you're ABSOLUTELY right. But I suppose it depends how far you wanna take it. If you're Mum feels upset by it, then go for it. If she could just get another job and isn't really bothered, then leave it. Everything you say is correct, but I would argue that truth, justice and the American way are the domain of Superman and for most people these days - perception is reality.

Good luck though. I know how angry I'd be.

Go to CAB and if you have time go to the local police station and tell them whet is happening and that you may be calling for a police person to come round .
The same thing happened to me in London years ago and it did help that I had forwarned the police ,when they turned up they were on my side from the off so when it was explained that i was away at the time of the crime the company was asked to look in other directions ,that being said they re examined all the possibility's and found the culprit .
good luck .
hope this helps .

Good luck - all the points you make are valid IMO so go out there and pwn them

On a more serious note, I would take action against the Post Office to as full an extent as you can - what they've done to your mum is not OK. Good luck with whatever you choose to do but the CAB advice is certainly good advice.

I would let them fire her (if all above didnt work out). Because then you can sue
Doesnt seem to be much difference in the two to me, seeing as no references get given, apart from 1 is of your own accord and the other you can still keep fighting them.

(that is of course assuming none of the 4 ideas above it mentioned sueing, sueing, or more sueing...)

(why am i so financially orientated at the moment )

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And sorry to hear of her difficulties

Mum Update

Well, Mum had her meeting this morning at 11am, she had prepared some notes and spoke for nearly an hour about the situation, how the money could have gone missing, the general laxness of the procedures and her history working in positions of authority in a financial situation.

After that, the woman conducting the meeting asked a load of questions about what Mum normally does, how does she bank at the end of her week? What does she do with her stamps etc and was cross referencing Mums responses with the audit trail till roll that they obviously took from Mums history.

Now that's all done, Mum just has to wait for a decision in writing, she has the option of appeal if it goes badly, but we're just in a holding pattern again. Mum did say that the woman seemed practical and down-to-earth, quite approachable and willing to listen, not desperately looking for a scape-goat or anything and she was also one of Martins Newsagents High-up-muckity-mucks so they didn't send just anyone to do a half-@rsed job which she said made her feel a lot better.

And so we wait........

(x-posted to LJ and The Silly Plaice)

a couple of questions please …

did your mum have representation at the meeting was representation offered at the meeting

was a complete copy of the notes taken at the meeting given to your mother

does your mum have a house hold content insurance policy

if you give me the answers either on the thread or by PM i will be able to advise …

as no official rep was at the meeting or an official rep chosen by the meeting
then this is grounds for automatic appeal against any decision made by that meeting

keep the copy of notes safe as they maybe needed at any appeal or further hearing

on your house insurance with legal assistance this will give you access to a solicitor so a tribunal case (if required) can be presented as the insurance will cover the costs of a solicitor

make an appoint to see and inform the police that a serious theft has taken place with the rest of the details that you have too hand at this time
once the police are informed no company hearing can take place untill after the police investigation …

Yep, she's got the paperwork safe.

We've already checked out the Police business and were told (by the Police) that unless the company call them in (as the wronged party) they won't begin an investigation, so the best hope there lies with threatening the company into calling for a criminal investigation.

Mum's looked into the legal assistance business and knows she can use it if necessary, although for a part-time job 2 days a week I doubt she'd be happy with a premium hike, unless as a last resort.



I'm now a bit concerned that I've misunderstood your meaning of "official rep" the only representation she's entitled to (as there is no union) is another "elected person" and Mum elected her friend Sheila to go, so according to ACAS they are following procedure by the book.

Thanks for your info.

if a company hearing moves to dismissal then an official rep must be present
you can ask for one and if none is available then the company must supply one
part time employees have the same rights as full time employees that is law …

Oh, you mean someone to represent the company?
I suppose the person taking notes would be their choice, she was second in command to the woman chairing the meeting.

your mother has the choice of official representation at any meeting that could lead to dismissal
but she will have to request this at the meeting if they refuse to have a trained official rep then there is grounds for appeal …