Tesco Employee confidentiality??

[dottyjo110]

Hi... This is my first post in this forum so I apologise if i dont get it right

Basically my mum is employed by Tesco and 3 weeks ago she was suspended with pay pending investigation for misuse of her Privilege card along with a fellow employee.

She was accused of using her fellow employees privilege card dishonestly as only the card holder can use it (her fellow employee). This, according to her Tesco store manager, is gross misconduct and a sack-able offence (an honest mistake on my mums and her friends behalf). Her fellow employee, after her investigatory meeting was sacked as it was her privilege card which she had let be used by someone else. She was devastated about this and very upset.

While the 2 of them were suspended with pay, they were told not to tell anyone in the store as it was to be kept confidential. They only told close family (husbands, children). When my mum went into Tesco while she was suspended to do some shopping, another fellow employee came asking her if she was getting sacked and informed her that 'everyone was talking about it'. This information could have only came from the people who were present in the meeting or the admin staff who done the paperwork? Surely this should have been kept confidential and Tesco should ensure that???

She was very upset and distressed by this (the fact people in her workplace thought she was a dishonest person) so she didn't go to her investigatory meeting as she felt she couldn't face it with the way she had previously been treated.

In the mean time, she had found herself a new job at a new company as she felt even if she kept her job she couldn't return so had handed in her notice of resignation to Tesco.

She was due to start her new job on Monday but was called today to go in for a meeting (at the new company) where she was told they were retracting their job offer has they had had a call from the store manager of Tesco informing them that 'they were about to employ an untrustworthy person who was under investigation for allegations of gross misconduct'. The manager at the new company was a bit suspicious so called Tesco back and spoke to a personnel manager who confirmed the previous statement made by the manager of Tesco.

Am I wrong in thinking that Tesco not only mistreated her in the first place by disclosing confidential information to fellow members of staff but also was completely out of line by calling a new employer to sabotage her new job???

ANY HELP OR INFO WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!

(SORRY ITS A BIT LENGTHY)

[bluebottle]

Re: Tesco Employee confidentiality??

Hello Dotty Jo,

Okay. There's a number of issues here. The first is a breach of trust and confidence on the part of Tesco. The second is a serious breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 by whoever was at the meeting or the admin staff. There may also be grounds for proceedings against Tesco under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

Tesco have a history of making allegations which subsequently prove to be false or without foundation and this appears to be yet another episode.

Accusing someone of acting dishonestly is a very serious allegation and must never be made unless there is rock-solid evidence to substantiate it.

Your mum needs to speak to her trade union rep and/or an employment lawyer asap. She has 3 months from the day she left Tesco's employment to lodge a claim with an Employment Tribunal. Tell her to check her home contents insurance as most policies provide up to £50K cover to pursue a claim against an employer at an ET.

I would also recommend your mum speaks to ACAS who can provide her with free impartial advice. Their website is at Home - Acas.

[dottyjo110]

Re: Tesco Employee confidentiality??

Thanks for your advice,

She is going to seek some advice via ACAS as her union rep reccommended.

Just to add, she only handed in her notice of resignation on Tuesday and is allowed a 7 day 'cooling off' period so she is going to retract it tomorrow in order to go ahead with the disciplinary meeting and try yo clear her name before bringing about a grievance.

[miliitant]

Re: Tesco Employee confidentiality??

when an employer sends a reference to another employer, the reference must provide a true, accurate and fair reference. The reference must not give a misleading impression.

Essentially, this means the employer must be able to substantiate the comments they have made in the reference with hard evidence and the employer they must not give misleading information, whether by the selective provision of information or by the inclusion of information in a manner that would lead a reasonable recipient to draw a false or mistaken inference. For example, the employer should not allude to an employee's misconduct if the employer has never carried out an investigation into that misconduct and you do not therefore have reasonable grounds for believing in that misconduct.

[bluebottle]

Re: Tesco Employee confidentiality??

Thanks for your prompt response Dotty Jo.

Tesco is guilty of a serious breach of trust and confidence by allowing what should be a confidential matter to become common knowledge and thereby prejudice your mum's right to a fair hearing. It is also a serious breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 and Tesco could be fined up to £500K by the Information Commissioners Office.

There are laws against making allegations of dishonesty against others and unless Tesco have very strong evidence to substantiate their allegations your mum could sue them under Section 3, Protection from Harassment Act 1997. The onus would be on Tesco to prove their conduct does not amount to harassment. She could also seek an injunction preventing Tesco from repeating such allegations under the Act.

I have noted that she is going to retract her resignation and if her TU rep has any sense, they will point out the seriousness and consequences of what the store management allowed to happen to the store management. If my gut feeling is correct, this should be sufficient to make the store management drop this like the proverbial hot brick.

[labman]

Re: Tesco Employee confidentiality??

I can foresee a problem here. I did not realise it was gross misconduct, but I have seen this 'offence' being committed many times while shopping. I believe all checkouts have cameras and that the tills store, electronically, transactions through the till. It should therefore be easy for them to substantiate the allegation.

As for the DPA breach, gossip in these places is rife, and it would be easy to jump to the wrong conclusion about the breach. It could well have started off with a canny member of staff putting two and two together, albeit possibly over the wrong thing.

Sorry to be a killjoy, but I made a serious complaint to Tesco last month, and it was only upheld after reviewing camera evidence. This involved staff allowing queue jumping by off duty staff, giving them their discount while telling me they were busy, along with other more serious things.

[Banksters]

Re: Tesco Employee confidentiality??

How does this card work?, were both employees entitled to the same privilges at the time? if so I personaly don't see a loss has incured to TESCO? in this case gross misconduct I would say is a bit harsh, this is in my humble opinion. bluebottles advice is sound, you should contact the union rep, do they have one on the shop floor?

[bluebottle]

Re: Tesco Employee confidentiality??

Unfortunately, even with these cameras, Tesco have gotten it badly wrong in the past and wrongly accused staff and customers, which has resulted in damage to Tesco's already tarnished reputation.

Even if it was a canny member of staff who put two and two together, it has still prejudiced Dotty Jo's mum's right to a fair hearing and the store management should have taken steps to ensure this sort of thing did not happen or, at the very least, minimised the likelihood of it happening.

In my considered judgement, this is a case where the store management have seemingly bungled or been very lax in their handling of this matter and would be best-advised to drop the matter altogether before it comes back on them and Tesco.

[dottyjo110]

Re: Tesco Employee confidentiality??

Hi militant, my mum didnt put Tesco down as her reference as they do not give references as a company only personally so she put a team leader down so i assumed that they shouldnt be giving any references regarding an employee unless they have been contacted by the new company.

Labman/Bluebottle... regarding the cameras. When her fellow employee went to her meeting they showed her the receipt with the discount card being used and also on camera my mum using it so they do have evidence. She has a reason for using it (the other employee left it at her till so she put it in her pocket to give her back the next day and then must have accidentally mixed it up with her own). She had no reason to use the other member of staffs when she had her own.

Banksters, this is a 10%discount card that every employee gets after 12 months of service so she had one herself

[bluebottle]

Re: Tesco Employee confidentiality??

Thank you for clarifying that point, Dotty Jo. Under the circumstances you describe, there is no dishonest intent on your mum's part. The onus is on Tesco to prove there is. If they try to dismiss you mum by saying she acted dishonestly, I think they want to be very sure of their evidence which is very circumstantial. As for the remarks that were made to her when she went into the store, I am still of the opinion that the store management should drop this matter asap.

[leclerc]

Re: Tesco Employee confidentiality??

Hi militant, my mum didnt put Tesco down as her reference as they do not give references as a company only personally so she put a team leader down so i assumed that they shouldnt be giving any references regarding an employee unless they have been contacted by the new company.

Labman/Bluebottle... regarding the cameras. When her fellow employee went to her meeting they showed her the receipt with the discount card being used and also on camera my mum using it so they do have evidence. She has a reason for using it (the other employee left it at her till so she put it in her pocket to give her back the next day and then must have accidentally mixed it up with her own). She had no reason to use the other member of staffs when she had her own.

Banksters, this is a 10%discount card that every employee gets after 12 months of service so she had one herself

Couple of things struck me whilst reading this post:

Why is it an offence for another member of staff to use another's privilege card since both persons were eligible for a discount due to length of service?
Had your mother not been eligible and had used it then I would have seen how it can be seen as gross misconduct.

The second point is this: if tesco does not give references then why is a team leader able to represent the company by doing so?

The third point is this: Did tesco accept your resignation because they have the right to reject your resignation and proceed with a formal disciplinary meeting?

The fourth point is that the phonecall to the new employee is unacceptable and is a Data Protection Act breach. They have the right to withdraw a reference or not give one but are NOT allowed to state that your mum is untrustworthy. They are only allowed to give factual information, ie that she resigned whilst under disciplinary since she has neither been given a disciplinary meeting to be able to defend herself or been able to present her own evidence.

The fifth point is that the other employee was sacked yet I am surprised she did not claim that she had no knowledge of the alleged misuse but it kinda ties in with point 1. I think that for a mistake her sacking was a bit harsh.

If I was suspended from work I would not use the same store as I worked in, cos that is just asking for trouble. Gossip is something that you have to expect so I am not too disturbed by the tittle tattle going in with members of staff since 2 members were suspended and one sacked.


The question of the new job is about the fact as to whether tesco did or did not accept the resignation. From the new job ask for something in writing about what was said and a name of the individual.

[Mrs James]

Re: Tesco Employee confidentiality??

Hi militant, my mum didnt put Tesco down as her reference as they do not give references as a company only personally so she put a team leader down so i assumed that they shouldnt be giving any references regarding an employee unless they have been contacted by the new company.

Labman/Bluebottle... regarding the cameras. When her fellow employee went to her meeting they showed her the receipt with the discount card being used and also on camera my mum using it so they do have evidence. She has a reason for using it (the other employee left it at her till so she put it in her pocket to give her back the next day and then must have accidentally mixed it up with her own). She had no reason to use the other member of staffs when she had her own.

Banksters, this is a 10%discount card that every employee gets after 12 months of service so she had one herself

Hi dottyjo,
Has your Mum asked for camera evidence of this happening? As this would surely help her case I would think.

[teaboy2]

Re: Tesco Employee confidentiality??

when an employer sends a reference to another employer, the reference must provide a true, accurate and fair reference. The reference must not give a misleading impression.

Essentially, this means the employer must be able to substantiate the comments they have made in the reference with hard evidence and the employer they must not give misleading information, whether by the selective provision of information or by the inclusion of information in a manner that would lead a reasonable recipient to draw a false or mistaken inference. For example, the employer should not allude to an employee's misconduct if the employer has never carried out an investigation into that misconduct and you do not therefore have reasonable grounds for believing in that misconduct.

Whilst that is true - though it must be factual only and not go into details or make passive statements as thought they were facts, there is one thing you overlooked. They simply should not be giving any reference whilst the matter has not yet been conculded. As they have done so, prior to disciplinary and they made the clear statement "They would be employing an untrustworthy person". Then it is clear they have already made a predetermined outcome to the matter. Therefore no matter what Dotty's mum says in her defence the outcome is she is sacked as it has already been predecided. This is a breach of disciplinary procedures, as no predetermination of outcome is acceptable (unfair dismissal), and the outcome should not be decided until after the employee has given their side of things. So by making such a statement prior to the outcome being decided officially, they have committed a breach of disciplinary procedure and a breach of data protection act 1998. As they should not be making such comments even in references, when the discipilary is on going and no final outcome has officialy been decided. It may also give grounds for a slander claim against tesco for making such statements if dotty's mum is able to prove it was an innocent and honest mistake. IN order for it to be fraud (which is what tesco are probably saying it is) they (tesco) will have to prove intent, and a recording of someone using another person card is not enough to prove intent on its own.

[dottyjo110]

Re: Tesco Employee confidentiality??

hi Leclerc... the team leader was willing to give a character reference rather than a job reference which the new job said was fine.

Also it clearly states in the employee handbook that misuse of the privilege card (using someone elses or allowing your own to be used) is gross misconduct although they both get the same privileges by using it

They accepted her resignation on Tuesday but the phonecall was made to the new job the previous Friday before she had handed in her resignation. Tesco as a company offer employees the option to resign if disciplinary outcome is dismissal apparently.

The other employee didnt have any knowledge and told the management this in her disciplinary hearing but they didnt believe her. All employees were made aware the the Tesco store in question was trying to cut 600 man hours (management not keeping things confidential again) and there has been severable people sacked for petty things in the last few weeks so im wondering if the management just seen it as an easy way to cut hours.

Shes worked there for 12 years and its literally around the corner from where we live so she has always shopped there also she honestly thought shopping there wouldnt be a problem... She left as soon as someone questioned her and hasnt been in since.

She has emailed the HR dept of the new job (NHS) amd asked them to send her a letter formally withdrawing the job offer with their reasons and also asked them to give any information they recieved from Tesco... Still waiting for a response from them.

Yes they do have her on camera using the card with the receipt of the purchase but no proof she done it intentionally.

[leclerc]

Re: Tesco Employee confidentiality??

hi Leclerc... the team leader was willing to give a character reference rather than a job reference which the new job said was fine.

Also it clearly states in the employee handbook that misuse of the privilege card (using someone elses or allowing your own to be used) is gross misconduct although they both get the same privileges by using it

They accepted her resignation on Tuesday but the phonecall was made to the new job the previous Friday before she had handed in her resignation. Tesco as a company offer employees the option to resign if disciplinary outcome is dismissal apparently.
Hang on, did the team leader make the call or Tescos? They cannot say that she was untrustworthy simply because she made a mistake without thinking. That is by all account defamation of character.
The other employee didnt have any knowledge and told the management this in her disciplinary hearing but they didnt believe her. All employees were made aware the the Tesco store in question was trying to cut 600 man hours (management not keeping things confidential again) and there has been severable people sacked for petty things in the last few weeks so im wondering if the management just seen it as an easy way to cut hours.
They have simply stuck to the handbook without allowing for mitigating circumstances and without hearing your mother's side of the story. What gain would have been made by either her or the other employee? I think it is unreasonable to be honest.
Shes worked there for 12 years and its literally around the corner from where we live so she has always shopped there also she honestly thought shopping there wouldnt be a problem... She left as soon as someone questioned her and hasnt been in since.

She has emailed the HR dept of the new job (NHS) amd asked them to send her a letter formally withdrawing the job offer with their reasons and also asked them to give any information they recieved from Tesco... Still waiting for a response from them.

Yes they do have her on camera using the card with the receipt of the purchase but no proof she done it intentionally.

see above. I think there is an OTT reaction from Tesco. They have found her guilty before giving her the opportunity to put her side to the story. The fact that she made a genuine mistake is not cause to state she is untrustworthy.