Getting off Balance

[UnderPressure]

Hello guys I am new here and have joined this forum because I am worried about my best friend and his work colleagues who work in a well known high street bank. Although in my opinion they have done nothing wrong I daren't reveal too many details in case their bosses should read this. I personally do not work in a bank so everything I tell you is what I remember being told. Meaning there may be some minor errors in my descriptions. I know when people say "my friend" it usually means them but since this post is pretty anonymous I have no reason to lie.
According to my friend anyone who works on the counter will often have minor discrepancies at the end of the day when cashing up. To avoid a lot of hassle most banks and building societies will unofficially keep a little pot of money which they put into if they are a bit over or take out of if a bit under. The existence of this pot in no way suggests they are stealing from the bank. It is simply used to make life easier. In my friends bank this pot was discovered and there were severe warnings about it and the manager was moved to another branch even though he was actually the one who discovered and reported it.
Coincidentally the bank was involved in a merger / takeover? around the same time so new people became involved. This means the staff are now under extra pressure to balance each day and are scared to do anything unofficial to ensure that they do. I think anything over 2 wrong balances in a month is now considered a disciplinary offence. In the first month my friend was out 3 times with a 20p over balance getting him a severe warning. His colleagues have faired worse in terms of balancing and one has already resigned with others taking time off with stress. They already had huge pressure to meet selling targets but this is now taking a big toll on all of them.
I am really interested in what you guys say about this. I know that I would definitely make more than 3 mistakes a month. On a side note I have often purchased foreign currency and noticed that they count the money 2 or 3 times often asking someone else to check. I suggested doing this to my friend but he said they deal with so much money and get big queues so it is simply not possible.
Any feedback or advice welcome.

[bluebottle]

Re: Getting off Balance

Hi Under Pressure and welcome to Legal Beagles.

The answer to your concerns is very simple. The sort of behaviour the employer is engaging in breaches a number of pieces of legislation.

The first is Section 2, Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (Failing to Ensure A Safe Working Environment and Exposing Employees to Unnecessary Stress). In the case of a bank, this would be enforced by local authority Health and Safety Inspectors attached to the Environmental Health Department. The onus of proof as to compliance lies with the employer.

The second is Section 2, Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (Engaging in A Course of Conduct Amounting to Harassment). It would be for the employer to prove that their actions were reasonable in the circumstances. However, this is offset by the effect the course of conduct has on the person at whom the course of conduct is directed and whether any reasonable person in possession of the same information would consider the conduct amounted to harassment. There is a provision, under Section 3 of the Act, that provides a civil remedy which enables a person being subjected to harassment to obtain a "without notice" injunction from their local county court. There is also case law - Majrowski -v- Guys and St Thomas's NHS Trust 2005 - which means an employer can be held vicariously-liable for any harassment of an employee by another or other employees. In the case of a bank, the directors and managers as well as the company of the bank, would be held liable.

I hope this of help to you.

BB

[leclerc]

Re: Getting off Balance

Hello guys I am new here and have joined this forum because I am worried about my best friend and his work colleagues who work in a well known high street bank. Although in my opinion they have done nothing wrong I daren't reveal too many details in case their bosses should read this. I personally do not work in a bank so everything I tell you is what I remember being told. Meaning there may be some minor errors in my descriptions. I know when people say "my friend" it usually means them but since this post is pretty anonymous I have no reason to lie.

According to my friend anyone who works on the counter will often have minor discrepancies at the end of the day when cashing up. To avoid a lot of hassle most banks and building societies will unofficially keep a little pot of money which they put into if they are a bit over or take out of if a bit under
I worked as a cashier for NatWest bank and this kinda thing did not happen in any branches I worked in since clearly there is internal bank accounts for overs in cash and unders in cash for the entries to be done.

The existence of this pot in no way suggests they are stealing from the bank. It is simply used to make life easier. In my friends bank this pot was discovered and there were severe warnings about it and the manager was moved to another branch even though he was actually the one who discovered and reported it.
If the manager discovered this then it was a practice that may have been local to the branch or the cashiers but one that is certainly not one that should have been started in the first place.
Coincidentally the bank was involved in a merger / takeover? around the same time so new people became involved. This means the staff are now under extra pressure to balance each day and are scared to do anything unofficial to ensure that they do. I think anything over 2 wrong balances in a month is now considered a disciplinary offence. In the first month my friend was out 3 times with a 20p over balance getting him a severe warning. His colleagues have faired worse in terms of balancing and one has already resigned with others taking time off with stress. They already had huge pressure to meet selling targets but this is now taking a big toll on all of them
Overs in cash are easier to find than shortages in cash. I have to say when I was a cashier I was pretty rubbish and spent a number of times on disciplinary for cash differences.

I am really interested in what you guys say about this. I know that I would definitely make more than 3 mistakes a month. On a side note I have often purchased foreign currency and noticed that they count the money 2 or 3 times often asking someone else to check. I suggested doing this to my friend but he said they deal with so much money and get big queues so it is simply not possible.
Any feedback or advice welcome.

With regards to overs in cash, they should have given him counselling on some things that can help to erase cash differences. One thing I would say with regards to your friends situation is to concentrate solely on the customer in front of you. That means that rather than worry about the people waiting cos they will wait anyway, deal with the customer in front of you. A second thing is to specifically tick off on the payslip the money you have taken in and put it away there and then. Thirdly, if the till is out 20p then for god sake look under the till, in the till and around the till. Re weigh all bags of coins in the till as it is easy to bag up 20p more in a bag of coins. Ultimately, if the bank is saying the till balancing is a big issue then you have to take your time to count the money firstly, then try and sell a load of rubbish to the person at the till.

Have to say Bluebottle that I have no idea what you are talking about. I know as a former cashier that balancing a till is part of your job. If you keep a kitty under the table of the manager of the bank then that is, in my opinion, disciplinary. Secondly, not balancing a till can be classed as disciplinary ie not doing the basic tasks of your job. I would however state this: For most of my career I assumed I was a rubbish cashier, yet others were a lot more worse than me and 20p differences were not even close to some of the ones I had. I do think that your friend may be exaggerating that specific issue, ie 20p differences leading to disciplinary(cos that is fairly minor in comparison to the rules I was under prior to me not being an employee of NatWest bank).

[UnderPressure]

Re: Getting off Balance

I do think that your friend may be exaggerating that specific issue, ie 20p differences leading to disciplinary(cos that is fairly minor in comparison to the rules I was under prior to me not being an employee of NatWest bank).

Thanks,
Like I say I do not work in a bank myself so perhaps I understood him wrong. I know he said 3 mistakes in a month was not acceptable. I think they then go under some sort of close watch scheme but ultimately it can lead to further action and if it persists dismissal.
I was also a bit confused by Bluebottle's reply for the same reason you mention. I do not believe there is any harassment.
BTW when I mentioned travel money before I forgot to say in a travel agents. They seem to take huge care that money is counted correctly and double checked.

[bluebottle]

Re: Getting off Balance

I may have misread it, guys. Sorry if there's been any confusion.