human rights at tesco ** A SUCCESS STORY**

[gforce1uk]

my wife has worked for tesco for a few years now,but last week she was suspended and marched out of the store infront of her friends and colleges. they claimed she had reduced the price of food for her own purchase. she could'nt understand this and checked all are recent reciepts and found the mistake,plus we found the packaging as it was still in the bin. she then went today to the hearing only to be dismissed without evidence so she produced the evidence and they then retreated and gave her job back, no apology nothing. my wife has been crying and so upset she has'nt eaten for days. the person that accused her didnt even have to be present at the hearing, i wasnt allowed into the hearing as they are closed to all including solicitors. surely this is in breach of her human rights at least. we are both so angry that this kind of thing can happen and tesco say theres nothing you can do about it as it there right.i want to know what if anything we can do. we have tried to contact there head office but no luck and we have gave a letter to the store manager with a compliant, but i feel the damage has been done. my wife is frightened to go back to work there. any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Karrie2129]

Ok. What was the mistake that you found on the receipt. That it was reduced or it wasn't?

 

Was she given written notice of the hearing and what it was for?

[Karrie2129]

I know you say your wife got her job back but was there any other outcome?

 

Who did the investigation and who did the disciplinary?

[gforce1uk]

on the reciept it said roast chichen 66p (sliced chicken in a vacium pack) tesco thought it was for a whole roast chicken from the deli counter, my wifes manager wanted to know how they found out about it in the first place as they must have been watching her, also she didnt actually buy it i did will i was waiting for her to finish work.she was told she would recieve written notice and it had to be hand delivered so we had to be home,but they just pushed it through the letter box.it didnt say what the hearing was about.at the hearing they produced a price tag for roast chicken at 66p,but when my wife pulled out her reciept and the packet of roast chicken they left to check it and when they returned they said she could go back to work.it was the chief of security at tesco that made the compliant, but it was a different rep that dealt with the hearing as my wife argue'd that she wanted the security manager present,but they said no.im angry that they didnt handle it with more care and had to ask her to leave her counter infront of her colleges and march her from the building with no evidence what so ever.

[gforce1uk]

also i couldnt believe they would sack her without evidence,if my wife hadnt kept hold of the reciept and found the packet she would be out of a job. it looks like they got it wrong,but they should have waited till they found out the truth before degrading someone.

[Karrie2129]

Ok lots of problems with the way tesco has handled things. Lots.

How did they find out about the roast chicken in the first place? Was she staff searched? Did she use her clubcard?

[Karrie2129]

What should have happened is this:

 

Wife is brought in for an investigatory suspension meeting which would outline the allegation. At this point your wife may have been asked some preliminary questions and could probably have sorted out the whole thing there and then. She may have been suspended to allow company time to investigate but either way she should have been informed on allegation

 

Wife is invited in writing to attend an INVESTIGATORY meeting. She should have been given a copy of the company's grievance and disciplinary procedures at this time and also informed that she is entitled to a union rep or a colleague to accompany her.

 

During the investigatory she would have been given the chance to go over all this and is entitled to see or at least be informed of any evidence against her. How it got to disciplinary I will never know.

 

If it did move to disciplinary your wife should have been suspended again and invited to a disciplinary meeting, with at least twenty four hours notice and in the same format as before. The meeting should have been held by the store manager.

 

Dis any of this happen?

[Sunny_01]

I really do feel for your wife, to be wrongly accused of something is awful but the great thing is she was able to vindicate herself of any wrong doing.

 

As for tesco the main thing would be that they followed their procedure, did they follow it according to your wife's staff handbook or grievance and disciplinary policy? it is normal for your wife not to be allowed a family member of legal representation at an internal hearing it is accepted as being ok and if you check it out on ACAS you will see that it is sadly just the way things are. Was your wife notified of her right to have either a uniobn representative or another tesco employee there to accompany her?

 

Your wife has submitted a complaint and this should also be handled under the grievance procedure, I think the next step is to see how tesco respond to her complaint. Let us know how she gets on?

[gforce1uk]

thank you for your replies. seems there's not a lot we can do except wait and see how the compliant goes. i spoke to a lawyer and they said there is a case, but it would cost. thank you again,i will let you know the outcome if there is one.

[gforce1uk]

my wife went back to work today and was told she wouldnt be paid for the two days she was on suspension also they wouldnt give her manager a grievance form as they there is nothing to complian about, is it me or have i just entered the twilight zone. i have never heard anything like this from an employer in my life.i have to go pick her up in tears.

[madari]

I suggest you go and speak to your local MP...

[mariefab]

You may find this Teso link interesting:

Tesco PLC - Human rights

 

Your wife has made a verbal request for a Grievance form and been refused.

 

Her next step is to send a letter requesting a formal Grievance hearing.

Keep a copy and send the letter by recorded delivery addressed to the store manager at the store where your wife works.

It might also be an idea to send a copy to Tesco's head office. (HR department?)

 

Sample letter:

your name

your employee number

your address

date

 

Dear Sir/madam,

 

I made a verbal request for a Grievance form to ...(name of person you asked)... on 26/08/09 which was declined.

 

I now request a formal Grievance hearing.

 

This is to discuss:

My suspension and removal from ...(Tesco and store address).. on ??/08/09.

My dismissal, without evidence, and subsequent reinstatement at a disciplinary hearing attended by myself and ...(names of all others present)... held at ...(address)... on 25/08/09.

The reasons for these actions and the manner in which they were carried out.

 

Yours etc.

[Karrie2129]

She has to be paid for the time she was suspended. At the time they should have issued her with a paid suspension form as this was an investigatory susension and not a disciplinary suspension.

 

She also has to go to to the personnel manager and ask for a grievance form herself, failing that union reps should have them.

 

Also if it is the management in the store she is comlaining about then at the very least an outside store/personnel manager should be brought in to hear the grievance.

 

It is your wife who decides if she wants to complain No one else. Also get your wife's union rep to get the area organiser involved. And tell you wife to if possible to speak to the union lawyer which she ahould be able to do free of charge. If you bought the meat like you say then they haven't disclosed how they came to suspect her then there may be violations of the data protection act.

[gforce1uk]

thank you again for you help, i will contact her union rep today and draft a letter to both the store and head office, this has all been very strange, if they had just took her to one side and asked her to explain it would have been over in two seconds. thank you again.

[Karrie2129]

No problem. Let me know how it goes and I will help any way I can.

[mariefab]

I've spoken to someone who used to work at a supermarket and shockingly they are not in the least surprised by this story.

 

Their advice is that:

1. While it's fresh in her mind, your wife should write down everything that she can remember about what was said at the hearing.

It might be best to write it like she's reconstructing a script so as to show the order in which things were said.

 

2. If your wife is asked to sign anything at all that isn't something that she would commonly sign as part of her normal work routine she should not do so until she has brought the document home to get advice. Regardless of any pressure for her to sign it immediately.

 

3. She should also write separately to the person who held the disciplinary hearing to request a copy of their notes of that meeting. If on receiving these notes see is asked to sign a receipt for them, or to sign to say that she agrees that they are an accurate account of what took place at the meeting, again she should not do so until she has taken advice.

 

Understandably, your wife is upset and vunerable at the moment, as a direct result of her employer's actions, these precautions may help prevent her being taken advantage of.

[gforce1uk]

thank you, my wife got the minutes of the hearlng,but two pages were missing so she has been writing down as much as she can remember.i will tell her not to sign anything, i just hope she hasnt already. thank you again.

[mariefab]

Two pages were missing?

 

Is that a guess because of the absence of certain information (for example the part of the meeting when they dismissed her without evidence)?

Or, were the pages numbered in such a way that you can tell that two pages are missing?

Or was your wife simply informed that two pages are missing?

[gforce1uk]

i will ask my wife if they were numbered,but at least two pages are missing i.e. when she produced evidence, all that part is missing, they left in things like my wife was arguementative instead of words like she denied the allegation.

[Karrie2129]

Did your wife have a union rep with her in the meeting?

[gforce1uk]

yes but he was about 19 and new nothing of what was going on

[Karrie2129]

Did he sign all the notes at the end of the meeting?

[gforce1uk]

yes

[Karrie2129]

So you will have a witness that there are sheets missing? Good.

 

Also who dismissed your wife?

[zazen.warrior]

As a rule of thumb never shop where you work and assume everything you do at work is being observed by someone who does not have your best interests at heart... sounds paranoid I know but I think it avoids a lot of potential problems.