Is This Gross Misconduct ?

golwaycat

Hi

I work for a MNC company as a Team leader . 2 months ago my Boss authorised me to pay overtime by expenses for my team . I have a written email from him where he has requested me to pay overtime through expences. I requested a few members of my team to get dinner receipt so that it could be put through as expense dinner bills so the ovetime could be paid. I got the money and distributed the cash. Now i am being investigated by my company. Id this gross mis conduct and can i be fired
even though my manager has approved this in a email ? Pls advice as i look forward to hear from you on this.

Thanks
GC

Eoin

Print out that email and any other ones that are relevant, and talk to a solicitor and/or union rep. I don't know how much anyone here can tell you.

connundrum

If his email said something about dinner then you should be covered.

Also - look at your employee handbook/contract to see what constitutes gross misconduct.

If you took it upon yourself to issue the expense for dinner, without the say so of your boss, then you could be in trouble. If it was a genuine mistake/presumption on your part then it should only be a warning in my opinion, but that is my opinion.

Sposs

I wouldn't worry , just tell them what happened and i can't see it as an issue. It would only become an issue if your manager doesnt confirm your story.

AARRRGH

Another example of why having a paper trail is so important!

The e-mail has you covered, so don't worry.

golwaycat

Thanks To All , yes i have it printed and in a file with me and also have provided this to the investigating officer. Also I have 1 witness with me who was on a call with me when my manager said to pay this through dinner bills. The email from my manager states to pay by expences and does not mention dinner. The reason why i am worried is that investigating officer is stating that these dinner bills are fake. My manager is also being investigated. Can anyone recommend a good lawyer ?

Thanks to all for your help

GC

Eoin

Where are you based? I know a guy in Dublin who does some employment stuff.

AARRRGH

Do you really need a solicitor at this stage? I understand this must be stressful for you, but let them complete their investigation before taking legal action. It's totally possible they will realise their mistake and issue an apology.

I'm not a solicitor though so maybe the above advice is poor.

golwaycat

Thanks for the responces Folks , I am based in Galway. Just want to get good legal advice so that I can conduct myself in a porper manner when the investigations are over if i am accused of Gross Misconduct.

thanks
GC

AARRRGH

It might be worth your while posting on askaboutmoney.com; lots of solicitors use that forum.

leeroybrown

If I were to deliberately take a slightly negative view of this I could argue that you knowingly conspired with your manager to circumvent an overtime ban by filing/authorising fraudulent expense claims. If you put through all the expenses in your own name it looks even worse. The investigator is correct that the bills are 'fake' - regardless of whether they were real or not they were used for claims that wouldn't have been valid expenses. The real question becomes how the company apportion the blame between the two of you.

I'd say that talking to an employment law solicitor now might be a good idea. It'll cost a few quid but it might be worth it in the end. You need to start moving them towards a position where they realise that you were instructed to do this, believed that your manager was in a position to authorise it from a budget they had control over and are able to get some corroboration from the others that they supplied receipts and received expense money in lieu of overtime.