Suspension pending investigation

[Poppyb]

I have recently been suspended from my work due to a report being flagged up to my manager to say that a large amount of commission has been claimed by my work user I'd.

I have confirmed this was not me and after the call ended I checked my bank account and seen my wages were higher than normal I don't check my wage slips I only check if I have done any overtime.

Basically my manager tolde this is very serious and I'm suspended until this is investigated. However I am also in my second stage consultation for redundancy I have been with the company for nearly 16 years and I would not be so silly to put my redundancy at risk. However now I'm suspended for claims I have not made.

I have a union rep and she will be attending all meetings. I'm concerned that my user ID is showing that I have logged these claims however I have not. How on earth do I prove that I have not made these claims and if I had of checked my wage slip I would have told my manager about the extra on my wages.

Please help me i am willing to take this as far as I need to as I have not claimed this money and I already suffer from panic attacks and anxiety and on medication this is making me ill and I can't function with worry. If they dismiss me I will lose my redundancy.

Also I have work through the full pandamic from home this is New to me and I have a 8 year old at home to look after also

[ULA]

Hi, sorry but I need to ask some more questions to be able to help:

1. Are you in a commission based role?
2. If so does your commission need to be approved before being processed to for payment?
3. Does anyone else have access to your user ID who could have logged on as you?
4. How qualified is your union rep to deal with an employment law issue such as this?

[ostell]

Can you obtain the logs of your access to the system? If access is made at time that you were not present that would help.

Do you habitually leave your computer logged in and leave it? Perhaps someone else put in that claim thinking they were logged in to their own account? Is there anybody complaining about commission not being paid?

[Poppyb]

It's not a commission based role.
Not sure if it has to be approved and no one should have my passwords.
I'm unsure how qualified my rep is

[Poppyb]

No I work from home on a laptop. And not sure about other people's commission. Work have said this has been on my last 3 pays. I think there has to be a system error

[Poppyb]

These claims have been made when I'm logged on so I do not know how to explain any of this other than there has to be a error

[ULA]

Firstly have you gone back and checked your payslips to see the commission payments that have been processed? You then need to double check your bank account for your salary payments to check they match.

If you are paid monthly have you not checked your bank account over this period and noticed that your salary has been higher than expected?
If so did you think that it was related to any overtime payments which you were expecting if you had earned it?

I think you need to review all the above points as this information would be useful to have if you are invited to an investigatory meeting during your suspension.

One thing I think needs to be followed up is why if your role is not commission based have commission payments have been processed against your payroll number/name?

I just want to let you know that if you are invited to an investigatory meeting as part of your suspension you are not legally entitled to be accompanied, so your union rep may not be allowed to attend. Although that said some employers will allow an employee to be accompanied at such a meeting.

I presume that everything related to your suspension has been confirmed to you in writing by your employer

[Poppyb]

I had not checked my payslip or my bank until after I was informed about this.

I am aloud to claim commission when I earn it however I have not claimed these.

My concern is that they have the dates and times of when these have been logged and its when I have been logged in, how do I prove it was not me

[paulajayne]

How is the commission normally claimed? Online form, Done on Hrs worked form ETC

[Poppyb]

It's like a app called a direct debit logger

[paulajayne]

It's like a app called a direct debit logger

Does the app have history of claims? If so can you check back on it?

[Poppyb]

I'm sure it will have history however I can't view this.
IT has to be a system error or my user number is being used or linked to another person

[ULA]

How do you access the app? From what you have said it may be via your company's computer network, if that is not correct then how do you access it?

Have you yet been asked to attend any investigatory meeting? If not have you been given a status report on the investigation?

[Poppyb]

Yes it's through a company network app I have a meeting on Tuesday for the investigation.

I'm due to leave through redundancy and due a large amount of money and they are saying that this has been going on my wages for 3 months, surely these things should be checked by a large company and flagged up sooner than this?

I feel there trying to get rid of me before Im redundant.

[ULA]

You will need to do some preparation for your meeting next Tues which will most probably be about your company trying to find out your version of what has happened and why commission claims have been made using your login details. Things you may need to think about are:

Not knowing the process your company has for authorising claims made by the app, if for example there is a manager who has to sign off on such claims you may need to ask how this happened if it appeared your claim was inaccurate.

Do they have the log history of the dates and times you were supposedly logged into the app that they can provide for verification?

How was this picked up by payroll and why did this not get picked up earlier?

You will need to have an answer for why you have not realised you had been overpaid. To have not checked your bank account/wage slips for 3 months and seen you have more salary than you were expecting, given you say you did not make any commission claims, will be an obvious question they will ask.

You will need to be very honest and open to questions that they ask you.