Ask the Experts: Suspected theft in the workplace
Jeanie Lynch, Tracie Trimmer-Platman, Peter Lewis and June O'Sullivan
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Our panel offers advice on investigating theft, youth club discussions, pupil premium use and safeguarding in the "night-time economy".
Q: I suspect one of the staff at my nursery may be stealing money and items belonging to the setting and colleagues. What should I do?
June O'Sullivan: If you suspect someone of stealing respond quickly but do not confront the person directly unless you have clear evidence.
Start by sending a memo to all staff – including temporary workers and interns – asking them to be vigilant. Inform them you are investigating and ensure everyone knows stealing constitutes gross misconduct under your organisation's HR policy.
This may be enough to prevent further incidents. If not then you may have to conduct a more formal inquiry and consider involving the police. Any investigation must be carried out in line with the Data Protection Act especially if you want to monitor activities in order to collect evidence. Interview each member of staff so no one is singled out. Avoid confrontational questions and frame the interview in a way that allows someone to confess.
Think about prevention and ensure you set clear standards. Allocate lockers and restrict access to petty cash. Have a code for the photocopier and manage allocation of stationery and refreshments.
June O'Sullivan is chief executive of the childcare charity and social enterprise, the London Early Years Foundation
Q: The manager at the youth club where I work has told staff not to discuss the attacks in Paris with our young people for fear of creating tensions between non-Muslim and Muslim members. This doesn't seem right to me. Any advice?
Tracie Trimmer-Platman: As a youth worker your job is to create a safe, non-judgmental, educational environment for young people. Tensions around religion and culture often arise from misconceptions and lack of understanding and stifling debate can be just as harmful as allowing prejudice to prevail.
Instead we should be encouraging young people to ask questions and be open about their thoughts and feelings. They are bombarded with online bulletins and news stories and social media chat so providing an opportunity to share worries and concerns can only be a good thing. Talking about the Paris attacks is an opportunity to address tensions and build stronger relationships.
Make the case to your manager for frank discussion of recent events.
Tracie Trimmer-Platman is senior lecturer in youth and community work at the University of East London
Q: How do we make best use of the pupil premium for children in care?
Peter Lewis: Start by setting clear standards for schools for accessing pupil premium funds and the type of schemes that are eligible. This might include having a designated teacher for looked-after children, regular coaching or mentoring for those in care and sessions with specialist teachers for core subjects such as maths, English and science.
It's important to get the balance right. If you set standards too high there is a risk schools will not make the effort. Set standards too low and the measures put in place may make no difference to this vulnerable group. It is part of the role of your virtual head teacher to monitor what is working and what is not.
Where an initiative is having little or no impact, support your virtual head teacher in discussions with the school in question.
Peter Lewis is a freelance providing interim local authority children's services leadership, and a former DCS in Haringey
Q: I'm a youth service outreach worker and am increasingly concerned about young people I come across in the evenings in town who are incapacitated by alcohol or drugs. How I can help?
Jeanie Lynch: Young people are at greater risk of harm when out at night and particularly when affected by alcohol or drugs. They often tend to congregate at city centre takeaways and clubs and staff can struggle to manage this.
Local authority licensing officers and committees have a key role in ensuring doormen and fast food workers can access training to enable them to recognise and respond to young people at risk, particularly around sexual exploitation. Most licensing committees require "night-time economy" businesses like taxi firms to undertake safeguarding training in order to gain a license.
Twelve cities in England are taking part in a Department for Education-funded pilot to train and support those working in the night-time sector to reduce risks of child sexual exploitation. The In Plain Sight scheme is managed by Barnardo's and it would be worth finding out if it is running in your area. If not then ask your local safeguarding or licensing team for training.
Jeanie Lynch works for Barnardo's and has 25 years' experience of working with vulnerable children and families
Email questions, marked "Experts", to cypnow@markallengroup.com