Legal trouble

mrsbowden

okay...lets say you have an employee. They get arrested on what seems to be a misdemeanor charge. But, the arrest is ONE shown on the nightly news of course and TWO the EE is wearing their work uniform and announced as being an employee of X company.

First, I would like some thoughts on what you would do about this. (please keep in mind this company is nonprofit and much of their buget comes from the community)????

Second, if the ER were to suspend this employee pending "further investigation" , outcome of his hearing, would you send him a writen notice of ..."We are suspending you with pay"? if so I need some ideas for wording.

I know this is a big task, but I am sure the formities will rise to the occasion x:-)

Parabeagle

I've never worked for a nonprofit, but one of the key things they trade on is the goodwill and trust of the community. Your employee has violated that trust and, under the circumstances, would feel very comfortable suspending him pending further investigation. However, do you have any policies in place that provide for disciplinary action against employees who, through their actions, cast a bad light on you as the employer? That would make things much easier. In our company, we have language to that effect as part of our ethics policy.

deniseE

I agree with parabeagle...if you have any written policies that provide for ethical behavior, or suspension of employment during a criminal investigation...it will be helpful.

one other angle you may consider is that his absence, assuming he's not posted bail and returned to work, will violate your attendance policy.

I received a letter recently from a small bookstore that I deal with in my non-work life...apparently, it had an employee that was using information at the store to track down customers and hound them for cash or whatever. The letter simply stated that so and so is no longer employed with the store and customers should be aware of this fact. The business regretted any inconveniece that may be caused by this former employee and wished her future success. I think it also mentioned calling the police if the situation warranted, but not to call the store as it had cut all ties with her.

HRQ

I agree with Pookiebeagle's response too.

Re: the suspension - in the document prepared prior to the discussion with the employee, I write the the suspension is pending investigation. Whether or not the suspension will be paid will be determined upon conclusion of the investigation.

If you don't make it clear now and the employee ultimately is restored to work, they will assume the suspension is paid and you'll have to deal with it at that point.

Typically, we pay for the suspension if the employee is "cleared" of the accusation. We don't pay if the claim is substantiated. Otherwise the employee got a paid vacation and no real consequences other than a final warning.

marc

I pulled a couple of paragraphs from our handbook that show policies that would have been violated by the scenario you described:

• Employees shall act according to the highest standards and visions of the Company.
• Employees shall be responsible for advocating adherence to all applicable laws and regulations when representing the Company.
• All the above notwithstanding, employees shall comply with all applicable local, state, provincial and federal civil and criminal laws. Employees should avoid the appearance of any criminal offense or professional misconduct.

Tha above were adopted from the Ethical Standards established by the National Society of Fundraising Executives.

In addition, we have the following provision in our employee conduct section:

• In cases where the employee’s capability of performing his/her job is in question, or when there is question that disciplinary action is to be taken, the Executive Director may approve the temporary assignment of leave with or without pay, pending conduct of investigation or hearings to determine the extent of disciplinary action. Persons on “temporary assigned leave” shall continue to accrue and be eligible for all benefits and leaves outlined throughout these Personnel Policies. This policy should not be construed as preventing or limiting the Company from immediately dismissing an employee if deemed appropriate.

We have suspended two employees - I do not have a copy handy, but the letter was delivered certified mail basically saying the EE was suspended (with or without pay) for (period of time) while an investigation into the (incident) was conducted. The EE should report to work on (date) for an appointment with the Executive Director. At that point of time the issue would be discussed and the suspension would be continued or resolved at the Exec Dir discretion.

Sorry for the length, hope it helps.

deniseE

I shared your post with our attorney and he reminded me that there was a recent case in Philadelphia where a city employee committed a similar crime while in uniform. I'm trying to find the case now...it may give you some guidance...

mrsbowden

Thank you all for your great input. And DeniseE thanks for the extra mile to help a fellow HR person.

All of your posts were great, and very interesting. This is a very difficult situation for me to handle but I am using it for a ton a learning experience.

deniseE

I can't find the exact case I'm hunting...but this was similar....I'll keep looking and send it to you when I locate it...

Gillins v. Com., Unemployment Compensation Bd. of
633 A.2d 1150
Pa.,1993.
Decided Nov. 12, 1993. (Approx. 7 pages)
held that claimants were not ineligible for benefits where discharge was based solely on fact of off-duty arrest, without proof of underlying charges.