Simon Perjubs
New member
As a security officer in the UK, can I search employees without a witness present? I have been asked to search all employees alone, however it was my understanding that it was required by law to have a witness present, be that manager or another member of staff who would be neutral to the situation. I have also been told that I should prevent anyone from leaving site for up to 40 minutes if I do not wish to search them alone, this again causes problems as I do not believe I am legally entitled to withhold someone for this amount of time without any real grounds. At present no member of staff has yet been accused of theft only suspected as items have gone missing, can I keep them on site fr 40 minutes on such grounds?