Reason to Believe Dishonest Employee

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.

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