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Can I sack an employee?

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littlened

Basically, I employ a web developer part time. His days are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

I am away in holiday this week, and due to the jubilee I gave the lad Tuesday off, but said to be working in the office on Wednesday and Thursday as normal.

Yesterday a client asked us to make some urgent changes to a site, and I couldn't get any response from the employee. Is phone, texts or our company email. I had to resort to ringing a friend who did the necessary work for me.

Our office is in a shared office building, so I asked reception if my employee was in the office, and they said no! That was at 4pm, he doesn't finish until 5pm.

Also, we use something called Dropbox to store project files. By logging in I was able to see what files he had modified that day, and the last file was modified at about 10am!!!

It seems to me that because I am not there he has just knocked off from work. Thi isn't the first time either. We came in holiday last year an he didn't work the days he was told so, but instead worked over the weekend. So when we needed him on his working days, he wasn't there.

I have had a text message at 2am this morning telling me he didn't have his phone on him. But that doesn't explain why he wasn't tresponding to emails or why he wasn't in the office.

I have had enough now, he has clearly took the michael. I have ha to spent my time whe in holiday trying to get someone else to do the work, I have had to pay that person and being abroad my phone bill is going to sky high!

We literally could of lost a client over this, and what's worse is it's the same client who was affected when my emoter disappeared last time I was away!

Can someone confirm that I am within my right to sack this employee?

Thanks in advance.

Sorry if my grammar isn't great, I wrote this in my phone, and we all know how hard that can be.
 
In order to reply fully, one needs to know:
* Does the person have a written contract of employment?
* If so, what notice period is he on?
* Do you have a disciplinary procedure?
* Have you asked him to explain his conduct?
* How long has he been employed for?
* Has he had any previous oral or written warnings of his conduct before?
* Have you had any similar problems with other employees and if so how did you deal with them?
 
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He has been employed 15 month
He does have a written contract which states one weeks notice.
The contract makes reference to a verbal, written and final warning process.

So far we have not asked him what happened, mainly because we don't want him to know we are considering sacking him while we are away as he could easily cause damage to the business.

We have had words with him about his attendance in the past.

He has been repeatedly told be be on Skype during working hours, he wasn't signed in yesterday when I needed him.

So far I don't think he knows that we know he wasn't in the office, so thinks he has probably got away with it.

To me I would class this as misconduct and instant dismissal, but I just want some confirmation.
 
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littlened said:
To me I would class this as misconduct and instant dismissal, but I just want some confirmation.
Click to expand...

If he wasn't in because he got run over by a bus, it wouldn't be misconduct. If he wasn't in because he was skiving, it would be misconduct, and you may be able to dismiss.

You'll need to wait until you get back, investigate the potential misconduct, and then consider whether there's a case to answer.



Karl Limpert
 
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Employment Law Clinic said:
If he wasn't in because he got run over by a bus, it wouldn't be misconduct. If he wasn't in because he was skiving, it would be misconduct, and you may be able to dismiss.

You'll need to wait until you get back, investigate the potential misconduct, and then consider whether there's a case to answer.



Karl Limpert
Click to expand...

Ok thanks for that.

Another thing to add. This employee is currently working on a single project while I am away. According to dropbox no files were changed on Wednesday. Situation says to me he didn't work Wednesday at all, or he has worked from home when I told him not to.

It looks like he worked yesterday in the office until 1.30pm, and then went home.
 
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I think you'll have to make 100% sure that he is, essentially, skiving off work.

I'm not too sure about the whole procedure, but it sounds a very sackable situation to me.

But wait until you get back and can completely assess the situation, ask your employee directly, and see what they say about it.

Good luck.:)

(p.s. I wish I was on holiday somewhere hot right now. Freezing.)
 
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RevaxMedia said:
I think you'll have to make 100% sure that he is, essentially, skiving off work.

I'm not too sure about the whole procedure, but it sounds a very sackable situation to me.

But wait until you get back and can completely assess the situation, ask your employee directly, and see what they say about it.

Good luck.:)

(p.s. I wish I was on holiday somewhere hot right now. Freezing.)
Click to expand...

Yes, I have heard its raining back home in Durham. Can't complain about the weather, too hot to be in the sun here in Bulgaria.
 
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littlened said:
According to dropbox no files were changed on Wednesday. Situation says to me he didn't work Wednesday at all, or he has worked from home when I told him not to.

It looks like he worked yesterday in the office until 1.30pm, and then went home.
Click to expand...

It sounds like he is skiving, and an investigation when you're back will determine whether there is a disciplinary case to answer.

If he can't explain his absences, convene a disciplinary hearing for him to answer the allegations, and if he can't decide what action to take - which could include dismissal if he's destroyed the trust.

Just make sure you give him proper notice of a disciplinary hearing, so he can't try to bring a claim on a technicality.


Karl Limpert
 
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Just wanted to add I think the employee is still going to do the work I assigned to him, but on the days of his choice rather than they days I told him to work.

There's multiple issues.

It looks like he didn't work Wednesday.
It looks like he didn't work Thursday afternoon.
Because he didn't work he wasn't on Skype which is something I always tell him to be signed in to.
We could an may still have lost a client because he took it upon himself to work the days he wanted rather than the days I told him to work, not for the first time.
It's also in his contract to notify the company on each day of his absence, which hasn't happened for the two days he was AWOL.

Having looked at his contract, most of that is misconduct so no instant dismissal.

However, he has brought the company into disrepute in my eyes by his actions, which is gross misconduct.

I am not happy about getting rid of the lad, but really feel he has taken the Micky far too many times now.
 
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When you get back, use Event Viewer on the office PC he used, to see what time(s) he logged on/off on the given days.

Alternatively, if you can get LogMeIn (or similar) installed on that machine, check it remotely whilst you're away.

Should provide reasonably solid proof of evidence as to his presence during the days in question.
 
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Do you have any insurance in place for your premises/employees, I always consult my insurance company first as my policy includes legal cover for employee disputes.. Check yours first....
 
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* If so, what notice period is he on?
* Do you have a disciplinary procedure?
* Have you asked him to explain his conduct?
* How long has he been employed for?

---------------------------
Travesti.
 
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To the poster above, I think u have already answered those questions earlier.

I found out today via drop box that the employee did 5 minutes work on the Wednesday from the office, but there are no other events logged for that day.

On Thursday there are events logged from 11:30 to 1:30pm, and then nothing for the rest of the day.

So it looks like on Wednesday he did 5 minutes work. I can't tell if he spent the whole day in the office or went home, but he certainly didn't do any work.
 
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Sorry, ignore the post above.

He did a change to a site at 3am on Thursday morning, Dropbox is showing that he made the change on his office machine, but that's not possible.

So I have absolutely no idea whether he was in the office or did work from home those two days, all I know is he wasn't there at 4pm on Thursday and he did halve a days work on Thursday and 5 minutes on Wednesday.
 
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If he hasn't told you that he didn't turn up for work and is contracted to work specific hours, and you have paid him for working those specific hours, in my book, he is stealing from you.

Stealing is gross misconduct.

Guy needs to get the boot.

If he 'fesses up, and supplies a reasonable explanation for his absence, then I would issue a final written warning for not informing you of his absence.

I think you need to explain to him that in your absence from the workplace he is the representative for your company, his company too, and that he has jeopardised a client, causing problems for both the client, you and subsequently himself... In fact, could you not 'let him go' if you client leaves your company, as there wouldn't be the work to justify him being there?

That would certainly make him feel responsible for his actions, and may make him think about how he conducts himself in the future...

Just thinking out loud...

Pete
 
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Ding Dang Doo said:
If he hasn't told you that he didn't turn up for work and is contracted to work specific hours, and you have paid him for working those specific hours, in my book, he is stealing from you.

Stealing is gross misconduct.

Guy needs to get the boot.

If he 'fesses up, and supplies a reasonable explanation for his absence, then I would issue a final written warning for not informing you of his absence.

I think you need to explain to him that in your absence from the workplace he is the representative for your company, his company too, and that he has jeopardised a client, causing problems for both the client, you and subsequently himself... In fact, could you not 'let him go' if you client leaves your company, as there wouldn't be the work to justify him being there?

That would certainly make him feel responsible for his actions, and may make him think about how he conducts himself in the future...

Just thinking out loud...

Pete
Click to expand...

Thanks pete, that all makes sense.

So far he hasn't said that he didn't work those two days. It's in his contract to notify the company on the day of his absence.

He did send me a text at 2.30am on the Friday morning saying sorry he didn't answer his phone or texts, but he didn't have his phone with him. I responded asking why he didn't pick up the emails I sent him while he was in the office working, so far almost two days later, no response.

Our rooms in the shared building have individual alarms, so I have asked if its possible to get a log on the alarm on my office for Wednesday and Thursday. That would tell me whether he was at the office or not.
 
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I forgot to mention. When using dropbox is stores the name of your computer along with any changes made.

His computer in the office is called abccomputer.

The change he made at 2.30am is logged against his office computer, which is impossible as he doesn't have access to the office out of hours. So it looks to me like he has purposefully renamed his home computer so it looks like all his changes were done in the office.

That's blatant deception.
 
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littlened said:
I forgot to mention. When using dropbox is stores the name of your computer along with any changes made.

His computer in the office is called abccomputer.

The change he made at 2.30am is logged against his office computer, which is impossible as he doesn't have access to the office out of hours. So it looks to me like he has purposefully renamed his home computer so it looks like all his changes were done in the office.

That's blatant deception.
Click to expand...

Yeah, he should have changed the time on his computer as well.... Rookie mistake.
 
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littlened said:
Sorry, ignore the post above.

He did a change to a site at 3am on Thursday morning, Dropbox is showing that he made the change on his office machine, but that's not possible.

So I have absolutely no idea whether he was in the office or did work from home those two days, all I know is he wasn't there at 4pm on Thursday and he did halve a days work on Thursday and 5 minutes on Wednesday.
Click to expand...

I use Dropbox and I can tell you Dropbox is NOT a monitor of your employee's working times/locations. So I wouldn't rely on it to tell you the story. Dropbox is a cloud storage service. Just talk to your employee. You don't know anything until you do.
 
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silverfirefly said:
I use Dropbox and I can tell you Dropbox is NOT a monitor of your employee's working times/locations. So I wouldn't rely on it to tell you the story. Dropbox is a cloud storage service. Just talk to your employee. You don't know anything until you do.
Click to expand...

I know for a fact I couldn't get hold of him via phone, email or text on Thursday afternoon and he wasn't in the office during working hours. So far with no explanation.

The project he is working on is one where it's common to save the file every 2 minutes, that file wasn't updated all day on Wednesday and only for a few hours on Thursday.

As far as I am concerned Dropbox is reliable enough got me to gather the information I need. Especially when he is only working on one project, so there is absolutely no chance he was working in anything else instead.
 
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littlened said:
I know for a fact I couldn't get hold of him via phone, email or text on Thursday afternoon and he wasn't in the office during working hours. So far with no explanation.
Click to expand...

So when you're back from holiday, you can complete your investigation into potential misconduct by asking him for an explanation.

If no satisfactory explanation is offered, terminate the meeting and follow the formalities necessary for a fair disciplinary hearing, after which you can make a decision on what (if any) action to take against him.


Karl Limpert
 
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Employment Law Clinic said:
So when you're back from holiday, you can complete your investigation into potential misconduct by asking him for an explanation.

If no satisfactory explanation is offered, terminate the meeting and follow the formalities necessary for a fair disciplinary hearing, after which you can make a decision on what (if any) action to take against him.


Karl Limpert
Click to expand...

Can I just confirm what process we should follow?

On tuesday when we get back, I will pop into the office and find out what happened last week. If we are not happy with the response then we suspend him pending further investigations.

Once investigations are complete get in back in for a meeting to tell him our decision and why we made that choice?

How long do we have to give him to appeal?
 
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littlened said:
If we are not happy with the response then we suspend him pending further investigations.


How long do we have to give him to appeal?
Click to expand...

Don't suspend any employee unless you have good reason to. Potential misconduct is not grounds to suspend in all cases, and should not be automatic.


As for the appeal (although even discussing that is a bit premature before the employee has had a chance to answer any disciplinary allegations), what does the employment contract state as length for an appeal?



Karl Limpert
 
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Right, the office company have checked the CCTV, he wasn't at the office on Wednesday

He works Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Because of the jubilee I said he could take Tuesday off. I have a feeling he is going to say he was ill on Wednesday or thought I said he could have Tuesday and Wednesday off.

I told him verbally to have Tuesday off, and work Wednesday and Thursda as normal. We have no written evidence I said it. Could he still be disciplined for taking Wednesday off and getting it wrong?

For Thursday the CCTV shows he arrived at 8.45, but they can't see him leaving, but know he wasnt there at 4pm. I suspect he is going to say he finished at four because he didn't take a lunch. I am assuming he can be disciplined for that too as he doesn't have a flexible working hours contract.
 
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Email him without letting him know that you know he wasn't there.... it should be easy to get him to trip himself up by lying and saying he was there on Wednesday. Ask him if any parcels or a specific phone call or something came from you, if he legitimately thinks he didn't have to be there or he was off sick, then he will say that.
 
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I have emailed him asking for his times for last week and a progress update on the project he was working on.

Will see what his response is.
 
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Got back to the UK today.

I had an e-mail from the lad today saying that he worked last wednesday and thursday as normal.

He should have been working today, but when we got into the office he wasn't their. My wife rang him and he said he was working from home. He also said he got so 'wasted' over the bank holiday that he didn't work wednesday, which totally contradicts what he said in his e-mail.

Ontop of that we've checked the history on his computer. He hasn't been in the office at all while we were away. And the week before when he was supposed to be working his history shows he spent almost all day watching videos on youtube.

This lad has just blatenly been taking the micky.
 
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We sought some advice from a HR director who said basically have a review with him, highlight the problems, give him a written warning (I was shocked at only a written), and them stick him on performance review for the next couple of month.

We asked him to come into the office this afternoon, seeing as that's where he should be anyway. Once he got hear we were going to have a review and talk about everything.

I got an e-mail saying he can't bring himself into the office, so thinks it's best we part company.

We've rang him and tried to get him to come in and talk about it, but if he still wants to leave we need a proper resignation notice, and if he doesn't want to work his weeks notice period then to ask if we could allow him not to work it.

Basically, he's probably afraid he's going to get wrong. Now we're worried he'll say he left because he felt he had to.
 
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littlened said:
We sought some advice from a HR director who said basically have a review with him, highlight the problems, give him a written warning (I was shocked at only a written), and them stick him on performance review for the next couple of month.
Click to expand...

That's just lame! Too many advisors err on the side of caution, and that's what this sounds like.


Karl Limpert
 
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Employment Law Clinic said:
That's just lame! Too many advisors err on the side of caution, and that's what this sounds like.


Karl Limpert
Click to expand...

I agree... But it sounds like the guy wants to go anyway... With all of the problems you've highlighted, I think you could be looking at a blessing in disguise.

So what if he leaves, you are NOT the one who should be feeling bad about it; he knows he has been rumbled, and can't hold his hand up and admit it's been a fair cop!

Let him go.

Pete
 
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We have told him he can email us to say he is quiting, but so far we have heard nothing. We has also told him he needs to return his office keys if he is quitting.
 
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Got a resignation e-mail from him last confirming he wants to leave, and that it's all about him and nothing to do with the business.

He's handed is keys in too.

So now I have to start the search for a new developer.
 
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