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Reason to Believe Dishonest Employee

Theresa Muir

Hi All

I hope you are all well

We have a situation were an employee has asked for time off to attend their Gran mother's funeral, to which they were granted, however, we have very good reason to believe that the funeral that they attending was actually her partners Gran mothers funeral - have any of you dealt with this sort of situation before?

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated 

Regards

Theresa

Parents
  • Hi Theresa, personally I'm struggling with this one as IMHO there are various factors which are not entirely clear. Such as:
    the evidence which points to the alleged dishonesty - is this reliable evidence?
    the relationship between the employee and the deceased - was it that close?
    perhaps the employee felt pressured by the bereaved partner to take time off for the funeral?
    Perhaps the employee inaccurately second guessed the potential reaction to asking for time off to attend the funeral and assumed there would be a refusal? Perhaps the reaction to uncovering the alleged dishonesty points to this?

    Personally I'm with Fionnuala, a gentle conversation with the employee to establish if this suspicion is in fact credible followed by a discreet word about the embellishment if only to reassure them for future occasions. Echoing Keith's post - to do anything else seems heavy handed. I would also add that I know of individuals who were raised by their grandparents (including some cousins of mine) so it does not seem altogether unrealistic to consider the formative role potentially played by the grandmother in the partner's upbringing.
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  • Hi Theresa, personally I'm struggling with this one as IMHO there are various factors which are not entirely clear. Such as:
    the evidence which points to the alleged dishonesty - is this reliable evidence?
    the relationship between the employee and the deceased - was it that close?
    perhaps the employee felt pressured by the bereaved partner to take time off for the funeral?
    Perhaps the employee inaccurately second guessed the potential reaction to asking for time off to attend the funeral and assumed there would be a refusal? Perhaps the reaction to uncovering the alleged dishonesty points to this?

    Personally I'm with Fionnuala, a gentle conversation with the employee to establish if this suspicion is in fact credible followed by a discreet word about the embellishment if only to reassure them for future occasions. Echoing Keith's post - to do anything else seems heavy handed. I would also add that I know of individuals who were raised by their grandparents (including some cousins of mine) so it does not seem altogether unrealistic to consider the formative role potentially played by the grandmother in the partner's upbringing.
Children
  • in reply to Clare
    Good Morning All

    Thank you all for your feedback it has been quite thought provoking. We have decided to handle this sensitively with a gentle conversation. The evidence is that unbeknown to the employee, I have a connection to the employees partners family and it was too coincidently that both Gran mothers passes away on the same day and their funerals were on the same day, but hey stranger things have happened. To be honest there was no need to be dishonest about it (if she was) as she would have got the time off to attend a partners Grandmothers funeral.

    Thank you
  • in reply to Theresa Muir

    My partner and I work at the same company and we had our grandmother's funerals on the same day! This was several years ago but it was extra painful we couldn't be there for each other.
    Some people commented on the pains of having a couple working in the same organisation in a lighthearted way, but it was not the case at all.
    Like so many things, conversations rather than assumptions are sometimes hard but achieve so much more.

  • in reply to Theresa Muir
    There was a recent survey which showed that very few people knew what their bereavement entitlement is
    We wrote an article yesterday saying that in these times it is well worth publicising it (rather than hiding it away n the Employee handbook)
  • in reply to Peter Stanway
    Here it is:

    According to the survey, 77% of UK employees experience bereavement during their working lives. But despite this, 71% were unaware of their own organisation’s bereavement policies.

    Perhaps even more telling, just 6% of those who had suffered bereavement said that their organisation's policy was made clear to them at the time. In other words, the organisation had not reached out to them and explained precisely what they could and could not do.

    The majority, 54%, wanted either more time off or a phased return to work. 29% just wanted more practical support.

    And finally, probably the most damning statistic of all - only 21% of women and an even lower 12% of men felt that their employer talked properly to them and listened to them after bereavement.

    Nuff said