Employee going to court

Blackscholes

I have just become aware that one of my employees is going to be going to court soon. They dont know I know but I am thinking of going to the court on the day myself to see what exactly the charges are and out come are. As an employer is this ok or could it been seen as invasion of privacy ect? I had the employee veted by the gardai and this has shown up on the report but the employee has not mentioned anything

super_furry

When you say court, what do you mean? Criminal court? Is it a civil mater? A speeding fine? Could it be a divorce?

Either way, yes I think it would be a massive invasion of privacy, and more than a little creepy. Why not just ask him/her about it outright, rather than skulking about and spying?

Kinetic^

Unless you've spoken to your employee I wouldn't turn up. It's going to be a stressful enough day and you can only imagine how he will feel if you turn up unannounced.

Voltex

Go to court OP. You have put your trust in this person. Its only right to know if your trust is misplaced. It sounds serious if charges have been brought against this person.

barneystinson

Voltex wrote: »

Go to court OP. You have put your trust in this person. Its only right to know if your trust is misplaced. It sounds serious if charges have been brought against this person.

Um, ever heard of the saying "Innocent until proven guilty"??

If the OP wants to know what's going on they only need to be upfront and ask the employee, not swoop into court unannounced and make a bad situation even worse.

It may indeed be very serious if charges have been brought, or it may mean nothing at all. I once had to give evidence in a case where a friend was accused of assault following an altercation at the end of a night out; fortunately for him I was a sober witness to exactly what had happened (he had pushed his way past the injured party, in order to get away. Unfortunately the guy slipped and keeled over backwards due to his extreme drunkenness and cracked his skull off the ground.) In that case my friend would've been convicted if I hadn't been there. So, innocent people do get charged, and sometimes convicted.

(Oh and just to finish the story, we're all from a small town, all 3 of us went to school together, and the guy who cracked his skull is still on friendly terms with me because he knows I told the truth about what happened that night. The other guy lives in Oz now, and if he'd been convicted he'd be stuck in Ireland as yet another unemployed tradesman.)

robinph

Read about it in the paper afterwards. If it doesn't make the local rag then it was insignificant anyway.

None of your business.

maxer68

robinph wrote: »

None of your business.

It is if the business the OP is in is related to the issue in the court. e.g. if the OP was a retailer and the court case was about fraud or theft.

If however the court case is about speeding on a motorway or not paying motor tax or some minor affray, then its probably of no consequence.

What the OP needs to ask is, does the issue come into conflick with any of the person duties in his line of work and would a guilty verdict have consequences for the OP's business.

If yes, dig further and find out more info, if no, forget it and / or support the employee.

robinph

As the OP had a Garda check done on the employee which showed this offence, yet they still hired them, I'm taking that as meaning it's not relavent to the employers business.

They are just being nosy.

dilallio

Blackscholes wrote: »

I have just become aware that one of my employees is going to be going to court soon.
...
...
I had the employee veted by the gardai and this has shown up on the report but the employee has not mentioned anything

Is the Garda vetting unit obliged to inform employers of future pending court-cases?

I don't know the rules, but it seems strange when Irish law has the presumption of innocence until found guilty in court, that the Garda vetting unit would inform an employer of a pending court-case.

AndyJB

Blackscholes wrote: »

I have just become aware that one of my employees is going to be going to court soon. They dont know I know but I am thinking of going to the court on the day myself to see what exactly the charges are and out come are. As an employer is this ok or could it been seen as invasion of privacy ect? I had the employee veted by the gardai and this has shown up on the report but the employee has not mentioned anything

Hi,
If your employee agreed to the Gardai Vetting and something has subsequently shown up, you have every right to raise it with the employee.

A previous poster has quiet rightly mentioned that it could be something as simple as a speeding fine, but you should ask the employee what it's all about.

It maybe an admin error, but either way you must ask the employee otherwise what's the point in doing the vetting in the first place. You're getting the vetting done for a reason, so follow it up.

I or other posters don't know what your reasons for vetting are, you could be in childcare, looking after elderly etc etc.

You should also revise/revisit your staff/employee manual in light of the Gardai
Vetting Units response.

Best of luck.

mikemac

Local papers have the court report, you'll read about it the week after

Once you know the charge just see if it's relevant to your business

If it's something stupid like TV licence or motor tax then who cares.

robinph

mikemac wrote: »

If it's something stupid like TV licence ...

But that is about as serious as things come though. Could YOU live with the shame?

PCPhoto

do you know what court or court number ?

if its Four Courts
- 21, 27, 28 (Civil Court)
all other court numbers are High Court/Supreme Court (with exceptions 26/23/25/24)

if its district court (CCJ) or Richmond or Bridewell or any other district court - its more than likely a small offence.

if its Criminal Court (CCJ) - its a fairly serious offence (continually re-offending or serious crime)

if its Central Criminal Court (CCJ) - its very serious (Rape/murder/sexual assault etc)

if its Special Criminal Court - its IRA related.

if you don't know then I have just wasted several minutes of my life typing all this out !!