A finance worker who falsified timesheets when working from home has lost her claim for unfair dismissal from a university students’ union.
In one instance where she had claimed to have worked five hours, IT records showed that she logged in for just 11 minutes.
Employment Judge Hallen found that the students’ union had conducted a reasonable investigative and disciplinary procedure and that its decision to dismiss was within the range of reasonable responses open to a reasonable employer.
The claimant, Ms Wiltshire worked as a senior finance co-ordinator for Bath Spa University Students’ Union from 2017 until her dismissal for gross misconduct in February 2024.
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She managed most of the day-to-day finance tasks, including processing supplier invoices, processing income from the bar, café and shop, and raising sales invoices.
The students’ union IT systems were supported by Bath Spa University. In July 2023, the system transitioned from a Google platform to Microsoft 365, which the tribunal heard Wiltshire found “very difficult”.
Her line manager, Ms Boulton, head of finance, helped Wiltshire with the transition, taking some of her tasks from her to make the transition process easier and less stressful for her.
By November, Boulton raised concerns about Wiltshire’s performance and wellbeing. She had been refusing to do tasks normally expected of her, and there had been incidents of rudeness on her part. Wiltshire blamed stress-related issues, and it was suggested she take some time off, which she did.
Another wellbeing meeting was held the next month, attended by Wiltshire, Boulton and Ms Martinez, former head of people and a retained HR consultant, to discuss Wiltshire’s performance and attitude. Wiltshire acknowledged that she was aware of staff training videos and briefings released before the IT switch, but said she had not used them.
As part of a review of concerns about the service provided by the finance team, Boulton wanted to build a business case to request further resources to support the team. She was also concerned about the number of hours Wiltshire was working and wanted to review the situation.
She asked Wiltshire to record how long various tasks took to complete, but she refused.
Major discrepancies
Boulton also asked IT for Office 365 logs, so she could analyse the time spent on various tasks. During these investigations, Boulton became concerned that the logs did not correlate with Wiltshire’s manual flexi-timesheets.
Most major discrepancies appeared to have happened when Wiltshire had been working from home. During an 11-week period, these included 10 occasions where her start time was recorded earlier than she logged on, and six occasions where her finish times were later than she logged off.
The students’ union held an investigation meeting with Wiltshire on 22 January 2024. She could not provide an explanation for the discrepancies, but mentioned completing some work from home on her personal laptop.
Despite the meeting being adjourned for 24 hours to enable her to look at both her personal and work laptop and files to assist her, Wiltshire was again unable to provide an explanation.
Following the reconvened meeting, she was suspended on full pay, pending further investigation. Later that day, Wiltshire emailed her line manager to say she had been signed off work by her GP due to stress.
On 24 January 2024, the employer invited Wiltshire to a disciplinary hearing on 1 February 2024, identifying a potential outcome of dismissal. The letter also expressed regret at the impact the investigation was having on Wiltshire’s health, and provided the opportunity to explore other meeting options should she feel too unwell to attend.
Wiltshire responded, saying she was too unwell. She did agree, however, to attend a welfare review meeting, where she raised issues regarding Boulton, her line manager. This was the first time she had raised any concerns regarding Boulton. Martinez advised that she could use the grievance policy to raise the concerns formally, but Wiltshire did not.
Adjustments for disciplinary hearing
The disciplinary was rescheduled for 13 February with numerous adjustments, including additional time for Wiltshire to review the evidence, and for the meeting to be held in a different location, with Boulton in a separate room.
Based upon the evidence, the disciplinary panel concluded that on the balance of probabilities, Wiltshire had falsified her timesheets, and she was summarily dismissed on 29 February 2024 for gross misconduct. She appealed the ruling, but this was not upheld.
The judge found that Bath Spa Students’ Union adopted a reasonable procedure in this case: Wiltshire was provided with all relevant evidence; the period between the invitation to disciplinary hearing and the hearing itself was reasonable; and the respondent made adjustments to the hearing to accommodate the claimant’s illness.
The judgment said: “I find that the claimant had the time to prepare her case, and the opportunity to present it, and have it properly considered.
“After weighing up the evidence, I find that the dismissing officer imposed a penalty that was within the band of reasonable penalties open to her. I am conscious that my job is not to step into the shoes of the employer or substitute my own opinion. Rather it is for me to determine whether, based upon the evidence before this employer in respect of this investigation, the employer imposed a penalty that was open to it after considering all of the relevant evidence, taking into account the seriousness of the claimant’s conduct.
“In my view, the penalty imposed in this case, which was summary dismissal for gross misconduct fell within that reasonable range. It may be that other employers may have imposed a final written warning in this case, but nonetheless, I find that dismissal for gross misconduct in this case was within the band of reasonable penalties.”
The judge concluded that Wiltshire’s claim for unfair dismissal was unfounded and dismissed the case.
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