employment law and an issue of rights

[joko]

i am being held responsible for the mistakes made by a member of my team, that we are being charged for.

My wages are being docked to cover these charges, about �200!! - yet the guy who caused the problems is being paid fully.

I am of course angry about as i cannot control the actions of someone if i don't know he is doing them, especially as he was suspposed to be my second in command and know the job properly so i assumed he knew what he was doing.

i shouldn't have had to watch him every second, as i may as well do it myself!

theres is a huge list of his mess ups and i had to deal with them as best as i could - i sorted them all out except for these two issues that only came to light after it was too late.

but just because i am head of the dept i am personally responsible - it is a freelance job that has now ended and i had never met him before - he was not qualified for the job either really - still a student.

he continuously went behind my back and ignored my instructions seemingly having a problem with me being in charge.
i told the bosses what was happening but was expected to just deal with it.

unfortunately my contract state that payement will be made at the producers discretion, so according to her she is within her rights to do this, as i signed the document.

anyone know of a way i can confront her about this?

i think she knows it not down to me but just doesn't want to have to pay out the cash an is trying to blame me.

i need some legal jargon etc of things i can say to her so that she knows i am not just going to accept this and will fight it.
i have given her the 'morally wrong' stance but now i need some legal knowledge top back myself up.

many thanks

[les saisies]

If you are an employee of a company then your employers are ultimately responsible for your actions. I cannot see that they can hold you financially responsible for their losses.

They may be able to dismiss you from your job and say in a case of gross misconduct bring a criminal case against you but I do not think that they are able to recover their losses. The Barings bank/leeson case springs to mind.

Have you any union representation? If not see a solicitor or maybe the CAB.

If you are working for the firm as a self employed person or independant contractor then you are not an employee and the firm may have a case.

[dot.hawkes]

It does seem as though you had alerted her and identified issues with this person's working practice and inability to recognise the management structure. Unless you were also specifically responsible for the training of this person, which would involve following the company training manual, then you cannot be responsible for any of his unforced errors, whether or not they resulted in a financial loss to the company.
I would also ask for the details of this amount to be broken down and shown to be a direct result of the students error.

It would be worth asking if this deduction can be used for your self-assessment tax return, as it would be income u never had, that may make her think again.

[Rock'n'Roll]

if the firm made this person your second in command,then I would think they should bear some responsibility for their actions. If you knew he wasn't qualified,then maybe you should have made a point that your not happy with his capabilities and would be unable to accept full responsibility for any mistakes he made.

[jaffacake]

Did you break the health and safety regulations by doing what you did or endanger anyones life?Otherwise I don't see how you can be held responsible for this incompetent bossy student.

[cat66]

I would read your contract of employment very carefully. In some industries particularly retail, this kind of action is very common, and widely accepted. It is not illegal, as long as it states clearly in your contract that these kind of deductions will be made. Your employer does however have a legal obligation to notify you in writing of the amount to be deducted and when it will be taken from you, BEFORE deducting it from your wages. If you are not happy about these deductions, I would suggest looking for another job where this does not happen.