The recent premiere of the coveted TV drama series Mr Bates v The Post Office has sparked controversy over what is said to be the worst miscarriage of justice in recent British history.
In 1999, the Post Office introduced a new IT computer system made by the Japanese company Fujitsu, known as Horizon. This computer system was used by the Post Office to manage accounts, stock taking and transactions.
Dylan Friend, trainee solicitor in the employment team at Wake Smith, looks at what employers can learn from this case.
The case
The sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses (“the SPM’s”) (the self-employed contractors in charge of post office branches) began to notice a shortfall in Company accounts, so complained the system was faulty. It is reported that the Post Office insisted that the system was robust and ordered the SPM’s to make up the shortfall in the accounts, which was provided for in the contract.
In 2000, the Post Office began taking legal action against the SPMs, which ultimately resulted in the private prosecutions of over 700 SPMs. This was based on information from Horizon. After 20 years, campaigners have won a legal battle to have their cases reconsidered and, to date, only 93 of those convictions have been overturned.
The ITV drama has helped give a voice to the more than 700 people prosecuted after the faulty Post Office software made it appear that money was missing from the different Post Office branch accounts.
Since the series began airing on 1 January 2024, more than 100 new potential victims have contacted lawyers around the UK. The government is now under immense pressure to overturn the wrongful convictions and deal with compensation, along with the recent events of ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells agreeing to hand back her CBE in response to the public outcry.
Employers’ leave no stone unturned
Whilst SPMs in the above case were self-employed, the criticisms levied against the Post Office included its lack of investigation and its heavy reliance on the Horizon system.
This will serve as a useful reminder to employers to leave no stone unturned when conducting investigations and before taking any action. It has been reported that the Post Office failed to carry out ‘reasonable’ investigations and that there was a complete over reliance on the computer system records when making decisions.
The requirement for employers to undertake a full and thorough investigation before any disciplinary action is taken against an employee is critical.
An employer must hold such investigation as is “reasonable in all the circumstances” which will most likely consist of the employer’s own detailed investigation, which can include an investigation meeting with the employee so that they can provide their version of events.
Whilst not compulsory, an investigation meeting can provide an opportunity for employers to obtain all relevant information into the alleged misconduct to ensure it is confident as to whether an employee is guilty of the alleged conduct before proceeding.
The failure of an employer to carry out a reasonable and competent investigation will likely be found to be an unfair dismissal and fall foul of the ACAS Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures.
Employers should therefore ensure that they have the correct policies and procedures in place to facilitate a competent and detailed investigation process as a result of any alleged employee misconduct and any subsequent disciplinary action that can be taken against them.
HR lessons learnt from the Post Office case:
- Have a clear whistleblowing procedure in place. This will provide employees with a clear route to raise concern, like accounting anomalies and it will provide you with a clear procedure to be followed when investigating those concerns.
- Consider your workplace culture – is the organisation willing and prepared to challenge its behaviour and beliefs, including those in senior management?
- Conduct thorough, fair, timely and transparent investigations.
- Be cautious if relying on technology, especially if there is any suggestion that it is not reliable. If other explanations are raised, make sure that they are fully investigated.
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