Discussing a work issue at home

[BR36]

Hi, hoping someone can help me guide a friend (honestly, it is a friend) on a work issue.

My my friend recently discovered something of concern in a colleagues drawer at work (I’m not prepared to share details though, sorry) and initially panicked and wasn’t sure what to do. He told his wife and his dad initially who told him to speak to his boss but before doing so, he then confided in another work colleague who gave him the same advice which he subsequently followed. He’s now been asked to attend a disciplinary investigation for discussing it with third parties. How should he play it, has he got a valid ‘defence’ for discussing it at home/with his colleague first. In a D&G policy or against his contract, what ‘offence’ might he have committed?

[mariefab]

A defence would be that he was seeking advice on what, if anything,he should do about his discovery.
The first party is your friend and the second party is the colleague who's drawer's contents is in question. So, third parties would include anyone else including his employer.

A policy broad enough to make discussing this with others would probably be invalid because it would fall foul of protected disclosure legislation.
Is this "something of concern" a criminal, legal or health and safety related matter?
Are they disciplining him for telling his employer or for telling the others?

[BR36]

Thanks for your reply. It’s a potential criminal offence he uncovered. He shared the discovery with his father and wife first as he was unsure what to do and they advised him to report it at work. He confided in a trusted work colleague before telling his manager.

[BR36]

It would appear they aren’t happy about him discussing it with anyone at all except his manager.

[mariefab]

It would appear they aren’t happy about him discussing it with anyone at all except his manager.

I wouldn't worry about that. Failing to make your employer happy isn't a disciplinary offence.

If by a "potential criminal offence" you mean that a criminal offence has been committed, is being committed or is likely to be committed, he would be protected by PD legislation.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/part/IVA

What exactly is the employer's complaint here?
Is it that he discussed it with his wife and father?
He certainly has no duty of confidentiality to the colleague who committed a potential criminal offence. He can talk to them about anything he likes.
It's perfectly natural that he would seek their advice and what he talks to them about is none of his employer's business or concern.

If it's that he discussed it with the trusted work colleague then, if the potential criminal offence is covered by the Act, this could also be a protected disclosure.
If, for example, he discussed it with the trusted colleague before telling the employer because he was concerned that his employer might be so displeased upon hearing about this that they might target the messenger (which fear was subsequently proved well founded by the current disciplinary action) and so wanted his colleague's advice before reporting the matter to his employer he will be protected by the Act.

[BR36]

At the moment, he’s being invited to an investigation which could lead to disciplinary action. Like you, I can’t see what they might consider to be any kind of misconduct. Nothing in his contract mentions confidentiality beyond business related information so I’m not sure on what grounds they could pursue it. He shared it with his colleague before his manager as his discovery could potentially lead to serious consequences for another colleague and he wanted reassurance that he was going to do the right thing by reporting it formally.

[BR36]

To be protected by PD though, doesn’t that relate purely to reporting to a formal body, e.g. police, H&S exec etc and not ‘gossiping’ to family of friends?

[BR36]

To be clear, the company are ok with him raising it to them, they have indeed reported it to the police as a result. Their displeasure and the driver behind the investigation is that he raised it with them after his father, wife and colleague. He openly told the company at the time that he’d spoken to those parties about it previously and provided a signed statement to that effect so he hadn’t attempted to hide the fact.

[mariefab]

Leaving the PD issue to one side for now, perhaps another approach would be better.
He could take a prepared document to the investigation.

I expect that when he made his discovery he wasn't sure whether he should report it to the police or to his employer. So, it's perfectly natural that he would seek advice from his family.
After his family said he should tell his employer, rather than the police, he might have wondered whether it was because they didn't like the possibility of the police at the door and so encouraged him to pass the buck to his employer. So, he also ran it by his work colleague who suggested he should tell his employer.
He had every confidence that his employer would deal with it properly, as indeed they have by informing the police.

He doesn't understand why he's potentially in trouble with his employer for discussing this matter with others.
Before he reported it his employer was innocently unaware of the contents of the drawer. So, he couldn't be said to be bringing the Company into disrepute.
Also, he wasn't in breach of any duty of confidentiality to his employer because the employer didn't know anything about it and certainly wouldn't have condoned it if they had known.
The only person to whom he could possibly be accused of having a duty of confidentiality to is the potential criminal. Surely his employer wouldn't have wanted him to keep it to himself.

He shared it with his colleague before his manager as his discovery could potentially lead to serious consequences for another colleague and he wanted reassurance that he was going to do the right thing by reporting it formally.

If by that ^ you mean that he might have been considering whether he should report it at all because he was worried about getting the potential criminal in trouble; I strongly recommend that he doesn't say anything remotely like that to his employer.

[BR36]

Thanks for your reply again.

No, his consideration wasn’t about potentially ‘covering’ any criminal activity by his colleague, it was because his discovery wasn’t (and still isn’t) confirmed as being a criminal act a) at all or b) perpetrated by the colleague. He knew he had to do something but was unsure what at that stage. He had a strong suspicion he’d found something serious but couldn’t be 100% certain.

[mariefab]

Thanks for your reply again.

No, his consideration wasn’t about potentially ‘covering’ any criminal activity by his colleague, it was because his discovery wasn’t (and still isn’t) confirmed as being a criminal act a) at all or b) perpetrated by the colleague. He knew he had to do something but was unsure what at that stage. He had a strong suspicion he’d found something serious but couldn’t be 100% certain.

Well that ^ makes it all the more reasonable for him to seek other peoples opinions, to support his own instinct, before reporting it to his employer.
If it had turned out that, in the employer's opinion, what he discovered wasn't a criminal matter and/or it was established that the colleague had no involvement with of the contents of the drawer your friend could now be facing a disciplinary hearing for the serious charge of making an unfounded allegation against a work colleague. That's definitely something he should raise.

[BR36]

Many thanks for all your input, certainly a good combination of arguments/justifications for him doing as he did, I’ll share all your comments with him when he returns from holiday and hopefully he can put it to bed before it gets past the investigation stage. Thanks again.