Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 73 total)
  • How to deal with theft at work?
  • pinetree
    Free Member

    Not at my work (as far as I’m aware) but at the soon-to-be-mrs Pinetree’s office (at a large uni in the south-west)

    This may seem fairly small, and insignificant, but I think it’s a bit disconcerting:
    My missus buys a box of porridge sachets and takes this box to her office, and places it in her desk drawer. It contains 24 sachets, and she has 1 for lunch every day (so it’s basically a month’s worth of lunches.)
    It started out with 1 or 2 sachets going missing which, while annoying, was ultimately harmless.
    A couple of weeks later she noticed a good handful had been pinched, so she put the box in a locked drawer and the thefts stopped.
    The next month, she bought two boxes of porridge and took them into work, forgetting to put them in the locked drawer. She took a week off and arrived back to work to find one box (which she’d opened) completely empty, and the other box (which was left sealed) half empty and the lid replaced to look like it had never been opened!

    To top it all off, she took in a pack of biccies yesterday, put in the top drawer unopened, and arrived in this morning to find they’ve walked too!
    I find this absolutely galling- just because something’s not locked in a drawer doesn’t make it fair game!

    Given the grand sum of the thefts totals under a tenner, it hardly seems worth kicking up stink over, however I’m of the opinion that theft is theft. Also, that’s now £10 she’s had to spend twice to replace the ones which have been pilfered.
    We’re pretty sure it’s one of the night porters or cleaners, as they’re the only people who have access to her office after hours, but as the office doesn’t have CCTV, it’s impossible to prove. I doubt the uni services would be willing to install CCTV for the sake of a few boxes of porridge and a pack of biscuits.
    Theft of property (of any kind) from anyone else is an instantly sackable offence at her work, so although it’s a fairly small theft, the consequences for the culprit, if caught, would be quite significant.

    We’re not really sure what to do with the whole situation, as she’ll feel a bit stupid going to the campus management about something so small, but this really can’t be tolerated.

    Other than making sure her desk is locked, and preventing the thefts, does anybody have any ideas?

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    leave a tenner in the drawer and see if that goes? Might make her feel more comfortable reporting it.

    Harry_the_Spider
    Full Member

    Lace the porridge with rat pioson. See who doesn’t turn in for work the day after.

    I am not a doctor.

    BoardinBob
    Full Member

    Home made cakes laced with laxatives.

    RobHilton
    Free Member

    Lace the porridge with rat pioson picolax

    & stand well back

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    paint that ‘stop biting your nails’ stuff all over the chocolate on the biscuits?

    toppers3933
    Free Member

    put a large sign on her desk asking whoever keeps stealing her things to stop it. worked for me. 😀

    yossarian
    Free Member

    She needs to lock her stuff away and put a quick email to the campus security manager.

    I’m a college security manager amongst other things and I can tell you that its most likely the night cleaners and there’s no way you will catch them and it won’t stop even if you do.

    thegreatape
    Free Member

    Lace the porridge with rat pioson.

    Not screenwash though

    annebr
    Free Member

    She should report it to her boss. It maybe many other people are having things going astray to but all think “it’s just a small thing is it worth mentioning?”

    It is pretty shit that this happens but it may not necessarily be the cleaners either unless no-one else ever works late and doesn’t have access to the office.

    neilsonwheels
    Free Member

    Somebody ate my pot of yogurt once at work. Not a sealed pot but an already opened one.! Who the hell eats an already opened pot of yogurt.?! I purchased and ate half of another pot of Greek yogurt and left a sample of my DNA in it and popped it back in the fridge. Much to my annoyance nobody helped themselves to it.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    wheres the picolax !

    johndoh
    Free Member

    Happened to me at my old work place with food.

    I spoke to my bosses, they laughed it off.

    I kicked off and demanded they do something about it. Turned out it was a director doing it and thankfully it then stopped.

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    left a sample of my DNA in it and popped it back in the fridge. Much to my annoyance nobody helped themselves to it.

    maybe you left it too salty?

    binners
    Full Member

    uwe-r
    Free Member

    That would annoy me. Seems easily fixed by just locking it away, its not like your going to get it back and I would not want to get someone sacked over it.

    cranberry
    Free Member

    clicky

    Leave a note in the drawer asking the criminal to smile for the camera and giving directions to the dole office.

    samuri
    Free Member

    Report it to the security people. It might be an isolated incident but probably not. I’d suggest after she’s done that to leave a note on her desk saying she’s done it.

    nick1962
    Free Member

    I find this absolutely galling- just because something’s not locked in a drawer doesn’t make it fair game!

    Thatcher’s Legacy 🙂

    logical
    Free Member

    Mrs Logical has had money taken from her purse. Total of £60 altogether. She knows who it is as that person is the only other person who has been in at the same time. She won’t say anything though and I don’t know why.

    nick1962
    Free Member

    BTW these tales of spiking food/drink reminded me of this tragic cautionary tale.
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1510198/Antifreeze-prank-left-man-deaf-and-blind.html

    footflaps
    Full Member

    Thatcher’s Legacy

    That would be stealing it and then asking the original owner if they wanted to buy it back!

    blisterman1962
    Free Member

    Some sort of motion detection webcam left hooked up to her PC?

    bigjim
    Full Member

    we had snacks going from our office honesty box, upstairs office had had thefts and installed a camera, our office cleaner was recorded stealing from them, got sacked, stuff stopped going from our honesty box. cool story bro!

    TuckerUK
    Free Member

    there’s no way you will catch them and it won’t stop even if you do.

    I hope you’re not a Police person/detective/investigative journalist. 😯

    Hidden cheap ebay mini cam. Copy of evidence to perpetrator and employer. No joy go public with the footage & story.

    Edit: Just read you’re a college security manager. Right, well, can I have your job you’ve just lost please.

    stumpy01
    Full Member

    Something like this, assuming no admin rights are required to install new software?

    http://lifehacker.com/5233052/motion-detection-is-an-effective-dead-simple-security-camera-app

    joemarshall
    Free Member

    I would report it – if someone is going through the drawers to nick food, then what if someone leaves something more valuable in their drawers, could be a pain (we’ve had work mobile phones go missing, and heard of laptops and things going walkies).

    If you want to do catch them yourself, just stick a webcam on the computer if there’s one on the desk, and leave it on, running something to detect motion, something like this: http://secure-cam.en.softonic.com/
    (or others http://technoloread.com/free-webcam-motion-detection-software/
    ). Doing surveillance is probably naughty and bad though, I suspect there are laws about what you need to do relating to signs and how you store the video.

    bland
    Full Member

    Oh you could have fun with this, i know i would!

    samuri
    Free Member

    We once had a long term issue with pens going missing in the office.
    We went through them incredibly quickly. Buy a new box, distribute them out, two days later, none left. People became paranoid about who was doing it. Arguments were starting to take place.

    then one day someone was looking for a stapler or something and he opened one of our colleagues drawers who was off sick. Everyone in the office heard him swear.

    One of those huge, old fashioned desks with the massive bottom drawers on each side, both were filled to the brim with biros. Storage was clearly becoming an issue for him because we also found a load secreted in a laptop bag he had under his desk.

    I was asked to attend the initial interview as an intermediate and as soon as the guy was told we’d found a load of pens in his desk he slumped in his chair in relief. He was grateful that he’d been caught. He actually said at one point during the interview “Once I started, it was impossible to stop. I couldn’t see any way to make it better”.

    Brilliant.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    PICOLAX PICOLAX PICOLAX PICOLAX !

    this thread needs more PICOLAX !

    MadBillMcMad
    Full Member

    we had a similar theft issue.

    Set up a web cam on the PC & configure it turn on & record automatically.

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    motion detection webcam

    they’re pooing in desks too 😯

    AlasdairMc
    Full Member

    When I worked in a cinema, we had a staff fridge into which everyone left their food and drinks. We found that labelled bottles of Coke were being drunk by someone else.

    When a cinema screen needs cleaned, the quickest way to do it is pour all the remnants of fizzy drinks into one cup and then chuck that down the sink. If you instead pour that cup into a bottle, the thieving stops 😀

    allthepies
    Free Member

    equine laxatives FTW.

    salls
    Free Member

    This needs to be brought to the attention of everyone. Emails circulated etc. It might start with theft of something trivial like food, but if they’re getting away with it it could get worse. 5 wallets went missing within my work a few years back. You need to get investigating! Set a trap 🙂

    cbmotorsport
    Free Member

    As has been said, try a note first, saying ‘please stop stealing from my desk, thefts have been reported’. Might be enough to stop them. If it carries on. Get a spy cam set up on the desk.

    Or just lock everything up. Sad that you have to do this, but it will put a stop to it.

    natrix
    Free Member

    Its bizarre what goes missing, I leave a pair of trousers in the shower room at work and somebody once stole the belt!!

    yossarian
    Free Member

    I hope you’re not a Police person/detective/investigative journalist.

    Hidden cheap ebay mini cam. Copy of evidence to perpetrator and employer. No joy go public with the footage & story.

    Edit: Just read you’re a college security manager. Right, well, can I have your job you’ve just lost please.

    😆

    Firstly you need to understand who the night cleaning teams usually consist of. Then you need to understand how much money they get paid. Then you need to balance out how much they give a shit about being sacked and the likelihood of the new person that replaces them being any different.

    The security team onsite can disrupt petty pilfering using a variety of methods. Covert cameras, unannounced patrols and bag checks etc all play a part but it doesn’t stop it completely. Never has, never will. The best way to keep your stuff secured is to lock it away. Always has, always will be. The OP’s wife should defintiely report it, as I previously advised, it may be part of a bigger issue that the security team are already aware of. It happened at my place about 18 months ago and culminated in a £30k theft of computers by a very nasty bunch of career criminals who had some inside assistance. Unfortunately for all concerned we had our suspicions and the whole thing was captured on carefully positioned cameras and the property recovered within a week. Several prison sentences also.

    Using your own camera might satisfy you but without the consent of the company data controller and without an agreed surveillance plan it will count for nothing at a formal disiplinary, you might even find yourself in trouble.

    You can have my job if you like. You sound a little wet behind the ears though to be honest. 😉

    cheers_drive
    Full Member

    I audit premises as a part of my job and one of the question is ‘Does anyone other than staff have access to the premises?’ Nearly all answer no until I quiz them about the cleaners. It is a security loophole in many companies and stealing isn’t the only issue – for instance the cleaner at a old workplace of mine that was caught watching porn on a unlocked computer and having a ****. This was whilst sat at my mates desk 😆

    TuckerUK
    Free Member

    OK, I don’t need to ‘understand’ anything. I’ve been a shift manager/key holder for three companies. Two of which high security (video new releases). Theft buck stop was me. Including petty theft. High temp workforce (mostly foreign with poor English) on low pay in one firm. I found them it stopped. It was an ongoing mission obviously.

    You make whatever excuses you want.

    Wet behind the years? LMAO. Where do I send my CV? I trust its £45k +?

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