business doctor
Business Doctor is Peter Done's weekly column; sharing employment law advice.
TP writes: I have an employee who I suspect has been fraudulently claiming commission claims. After investigation I have discovered that he has lied about the number of business appointments he has made. After questioning him he denies claiming fraudulent appointments and states that it is a mistake. We need to conduct further investigation; do I suspend him with a view to dismissal? What action should I take?
Suspending an employee in this circumstance is an action that is usually taken to get an employee off the work premises in order for the employer to fully investigate alleged misconduct, writes Peter Done, managing director of Peninsula. It is not a disciplinary sanction and should not be regarded as punishment.
Suspension is usually used when the alleged misconduct is sufficient to warrant gross misconduct and would specifically be used where the employee’s continued presence at work would prejudice the employer’s investigation in some way or where it is suspected that the employee may deliberately cause harm or create problems.
If you believe that this alleged offence is sufficiently serious to warrant dismissal with no notice, then it may be appropriate to suspend the employee. The timing of suspension is very important because the employee should be placed on suspension very quickly after the alleged misconduct has been discovered. A short delay will not necessarily be detrimental to a case if the delay is used to carry out initial investigation i.e. where a simple discussion may be able to explain the discovery and lead you to believe that no misconduct has been committed, or alternatively, used to corroborate suspicions. A large gap in time between discovery and suspension is not helpful to an employer attempting to convince a tribunal of a gross misconduct offence.
Suspension is not normally appropriate for allegations of minor misconduct.
You need to carry out more investigation if the employee is claiming that he has not been claiming fraudulent appointments. You will need to try to establish whether appointments have in fact been arranged and this may involve speaking to clients to determine whether contact was made. If sufficient evidence is gathered, you should invite the employee back into work and hold a disciplinary hearing, giving an appropriate sanction after having listened to what the employee says.
You should stick to your company’s disciplinary procedure throughout. Employees should be paid throughout suspension and should not be left on suspension for an unreasonably lengthy period of time.
