Legal Aspect of Business: Handling Employee Theft

Legal Aspect of Business

Table of Contents
Case..................................................................................................................................................3
Legal Advice....................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

Case
Adam runs a small cafeteria where he employs part-time staff members. In last two months, he
realized that the value of collected money was not in accordance with the receipts. Adam
mentioned about his concern in a general meeting to all the staff members and starts suspecting
Jane who seemed stressed when he explained about the situation. In addition, another employee
Hillary told Adam that she saw Jane acting suspiciously while ringing order into the cashbox
however, she did not provide any details. Adam does not know what to do because when he
called Jane in his office and asked her about the missing money, Jane became seriously
depressed. She came back and asked him to grant her the maternity leave within few months.
Adam is confused because he wants to resolve the issue of missing money and if Jane has stolen,
he wants to dismiss her but, he has the fear of getting sued by Jane for dismissing her when she
is pregnant. Furthermore, he is also concerned that he has no proof for claiming that she is
responsible for stealing.
Legal Advice
Dear Adam,
I am here to inform you about the best possible ways you can apply to handle this situation. The
ACAS Code of Practice provides practical guidance for the purpose of handling disciplinary and
grievance issues in the workplace. This Code of Practice include consideration by the employer
and the employees to resolve disciplinary and grievance issues within the workplace (ACAS,
2015). Various potential disciplinary or grievance issues can usually be resolved informally such
as minor misconduct or unsatisfactory performance with the effective use of this Code of
Practice. It will help you to deal with the issues fairly, consistently and promptly and

investigations can easily be made to gather all the facts of case (UK Government, 2018). In
ACAS, there are stepwise procedures to conduct workplace investigations.
As it considers the organizational preparation for the investigation to take place, the rules should
be followed by you along with precise investigation and if you prefer, you can also choose a
suitable investigator for investigating the matter. The policies and procedures existing within the
organization should be taken into consideration in order to conduct formal investigation of the
issue (UK Government, 2018). However, if the policy does not have a clear approach regarding
such an issue, an investigation should still be conducted depending upon the seriousness of the
issue as it is a matter of theft.
In this case, you should decide whether the investigation of the case is necessary or not. As he
wants to resolve the issue of missing money, he should establish the rules to be followed during
investigation and should select a suitable investigator who must not be biased towards any of the
party (UK Government , 2018). You should try to resolve the issue through preliminary
investigation if possible by gathering evidences and, if evidences go against Jane, then you will
have the legitimate reason to dismiss her from the job. ACAS considers informal approach for
resolution of the issue to be as the most suitable option at any stage of the process. The clarity in
the terms of reference is essential as it assists in completing the investigation on time, clarifies
the exact remittance of the investigator, and reduces disruption to the daily business requirements
of the organization (Citizens Advice, 2018). You should keep it in mind that the matter remains
confidential as you have already discussed the issue in general meeting. But now, when you have
suspicion over Jane, you should make every possible effort wherever possible to keep the matter
confidential. It should be ensured that there would be no negative impact upon Jane till her act is
proved. The morale of the other employees should not be affected due to the matter and the