Case of bullying and harassment at work

[snt74]

The goal of this message is to find out the legal position of a female colleague at work. The details of the case are that a PDA handset owned and used at work, (retail outlet), was stolen at work when the colleague in question put down the handset for a few moments, and when she went back, the handset had been taken by a shoplifter. There is CCTV footage to confirm this. The employer recouped the cost of the loss of the PDA via insurance. However, the female colleague is being made to pay back a total of £850 in monthly instalments taken directly from her pay, she received a final written warning, and her probation period has been extended as she is a new starter to the firm. Since the incident, she has been constantly hounded by the operations manager and store manager, (she is a supervisor), and is being victimised by the afore mentioned duo.

[ULA]

So I think there are two points here the repayment of the lost PDA and the conduct of the two managers.

In regard to the former then your colleague will need to review her contract to see whether there is any provision for the repayment of lost PDA's/property.
Is the money being deducted from her salary and if so is there a clause in her contract that allows for deductions from salary for items such as lost PDA's or has she signed an agreement for the deductions to be taken from salary?
Does your colleague know whether the full cost of the PDA was recovered from the insurance?

In regard to the potential issues of bullying and harassment then your colleague will have to take note of date, time, place and specific conduct and by which manager and then she will need to raise a grievance. I suggest that this is done informally first and then if the matter is not dealt with/resolved then she may need to consider a more formal route.

[snt74]

The full cost of the PDA handset was claimed via insurance. The colleague was ordered to pay just over £70 per 4 week pay period for a duration of 12 months. She signed this initial agreement. The operations manager later tried to alter the agreement, wanting around £170 per 4 week pay period, over a duration of 5 months. His reasoning for this was she had only been with the company for 2 months. She refused to sign this new agreement.

[jaguarsuk]

The full cost of the PDA handset was claimed via insurance. The colleague was ordered to pay just over £70 per 4 week pay period for a duration of 12 months. She signed this initial agreement. The operations manager later tried to alter the agreement, wanting around £170 per 4 week pay period, over a duration of 5 months. His reasoning for this was she had only been with the company for 2 months. She refused to sign this new agreement.

I'm sure their insurer would be very interested to hear that they have paid out on the policy and the business are recovering the cost of the PDA from their employee.

Just because she signed the agreement doesn't make it binding, your colleague needs to look if her employment terms allow for deductions for lost property as advised above. The agreement is easily defeated as signed under duress, although the refusal to sign the second agreement muddies that a little.