our boss was underpaying us, we complained,now boss now accusing me of theft

[bertybassett]

My colleagues & I recently discovered that our employer had been underpaying us, we brought this to his attention, we each had an individual meeting in which he has offered back-pay. In my meeting he then went on to talk about some discrepancies on the store till, hen asked me not to come into work and has arranged a displinary meeting for tomorrow.
I have not been giving a warning, verbal or written, just told to come to this meeting.
I am thoroughly bemused, I have done nothing wrong except be the spokesperson for my colleagues when we brought the matter of the underpaying up.
I feel completely set up, what can I do?

[charitynjw]

Re: our boss was underpaying us, we complained,now boss now accusing me of theft

Your boss is wrong on so many levels.

See what ACAS says http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1774

[bertybassett]

Re: our boss was underpaying us, we complained,now boss now accusing me of theft

Thanks, I had already spoken to acas re the underpayment, they said my boss might get funny, though I never thought he would make such an outlandish accusation.

[charitynjw]

Re: our boss was underpaying us, we complained,now boss now accusing me of theft

Make sure everything is in writing (email is good!)

[bluebottle]

Re: our boss was underpaying us, we complained,now boss now accusing me of theft

Give him good reason to whine - shop him to HMRC. You can bet, penny to a pound, if he's been underpaying you, he's also been fiddling his VAT, PAYE, Employer's National Insurance and Tax. My elderly mother was with the Wages Inspectorate (part of what is now the DWP) when she was single and they used to find the fraud I've highlighted in wage underpayment cases. By the way, HMRC will not tell him who reported him - they'll turn up out of the blue and say they're doing a routine inspection on his tax records.

"Revenge is a dish best served cold"

[shell]

Re: our boss was underpaying us, we complained,now boss now accusing me of theft

If they accuse you of theft, I would be inclined to tell them to bring the police in. Tell them this is a serious matter and if someone is stealing, you would like to know who it is as it is obviously impacting on your employment. Also inform them that if they won't call the police, then you will.