"Sit tight and say nothing" = "allowing it to fester".
Allowing it to fester = acting unprofessionally in my understanding of the law.
This may expose you to legal action depending on how you have handled and/or will handle this.
You owe it to yourself and your husband and your employees, including this employee to resolve this matter promptly.
I am also mindful that not all charges are supportable and many arise from poverty and your employee may be looking for another chance.
With this in mind I offer the following advice, to tease our some of the implications of the situation and to suggest possible means of moving forward.
Read this link -
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"Health and Safety in the Workplace for Employers
Employer’s Duty of Care Evolving in the civil courts, the employer's duty of care to each of his employees can conveniently be considered under five headings. These require that an employer must provide:
- Safe systems of work.
- A safe place of work.
- Plant and machinery that is safe to use.
- Competent supervision and/or suitable training.
- Care in the selection of fellow employees."
It follows simply and logically that if your employee presents a risk you have an obligation to discover this and take steps to mitigate or prevent it.
However as I stated in my post above, this is a delicate HR situation and there are the employee's right to consider.
A country solicitor used to wills, deaths and conveyancing may not be up to speed on evolving legislation.
Therefore I advise that you contact a solicitor well-versed in current employment law before deciding what to do.
Issues may arise as to who should know about the issue, recording what was done and said and being open and transparent with your employees.
You may be between a rock and a hard place, but taking competent advice from someone who understands this branch of law is important to avoid possible later penalties.
Some further background reading
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And also
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"Privacy in the workplace
Employees in the workplace in Ireland have a legitimate right to a certain degree of privacy in the workplace. However, their right to privacy must be balanced with the legitimate rights and interests of the employer. For example, the employer has a right to run his or her business efficiently and effectively and to protect himself or herself from any harm the worker's actions may create.
These rights and interests constitute legitimate grounds that may justify appropriate measures to limit the worker's right to privacy. The clearest example of this would be those cases where the employer is victim of a worker's criminal offence.
However, balancing different rights and interests requires taking a number of principles into account, in particular, proportionality. It should be clear that the simple fact that a monitoring activity or surveillance is considered convenient to serve the employer's interest would not solely justify any intrusion in into a worker's privacy. Before being implemented in the workplace, any monitoring measure must pass a list of tests, which are extensively detailed in this working document"
As I said, its a difficult balancing act, but allowing yourself to be drip fed by this detective is doing nobody any good.
- its not discharging your duties
- it may be infringing on the employees rights
- an unsatisfactory way to run a business, with these fears playing on your mind.
You need clarity on this matter immediately and take appropriate action.
ONQ.
All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.