What CM did

CM went to the directors and told them why she was worried.

They confirmed that employees were being paid off the payroll and that PAYE and NI was not being paid for them but dismissed her concerns. They said that it was normal practice for the food processing industry and told her to ‘leave the running of the company to people who know what they’re talking about’.

She followed this conversation up with an email and took a copy home with her.

Since there was no company grievance procedure, and suspecting that this issue might be only the tip of the iceberg, she resigned.

She decided, to be on the safe side, that she would file a Suspicious Activities Report to SOCA, but did not tell the directors she had done so, as to do so could be regarded as ‘tipping off’. She did, however, tell the directors that it was her obligation and intention to inform the relevant authorities that the company was not paying PAYE or NI and served out her one week’s notice under the terms of her probationary employment.

This case was run in the April/May issue of CIMA Insight .