HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has sacked 179 employees for gross misconduct in 2024, the highest number in at least five years, according to data obtained through a freedom of information request.
This represents a 43% increase from 2020 when 125 employees were dismissed for similar reasons, accounting for just 28% of all terminations at the time.
The recent dismissals, which now constitute over half of the 321 terminations at HMRC this year, reflect a firmer stance on disciplinary matters within the department, which employs over 65,000 staff. Gross misconduct encompasses serious breaches of conduct, such as bullying, theft, intoxication, damage to company property, gross negligence, or other actions that could harm the organisation. Specific to HMRC, it can include unlawful disclosure of sensitive taxpayer information or fraud using government systems.
In one notable case, a tax office worker was jailed for over two years after defrauding the taxpayer of £300,000 in child benefit by falsely claiming that three of her children were disabled and fabricating tax credit claims for another 15 children, using details accessed through her work computer system.
Civil servants can also face dismissal for unauthorised access to government databases. For instance, Louise Kelly, a 20-year veteran of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), was dismissed after improperly searching for her neighbour’s address in the “Searchlight” database, which contains sensitive financial and health information. Her dismissal was upheld by an employment tribunal, underscoring the importance of robust policies to prevent misuse of such systems.
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