where I work, with food, it happens constantly that employees take some of that food and before it goes to waste, they eat it. I’ve been doing it for the last 3 years. It’s really a lot of food.
Apparently somebody doesn’t like me and complained to our manager accusing me of eating some of that food. My manager and an employee who used to eat the food and even told me once to help myself, asked me if I took some of the food. ‘yes, like I’ve been doing for the last 3 years, exactly like him, otherwise it goes to waste.’
‘that’s stealing’ was all the manager said. ‘Don’t do that again.’
I just said fine and left it at that thinking that would be the end of it.
2 days later I get a letter from hr, asking about an accusation against me for stealing food and asking me to see them to tell them my side of the story.
It wouldn’t make any sense to lie at this point, because my manager and that other guy who used to eat that food before it goes to waste already heard me clearly stating that yes, and I don’t know who made the accusation. I did eat it, so I stuck to that story.
Stupid? Only you can decide, but would it have made any sense to claim otherwise at that point?
If this is something I should change in the future, how would I get away with it, or try to get away with it?
To those of you to the left tempted to write I shouldn’t tell on my coworkers, when one of my coworkers did exactly that, you really don’t see how stupid is that?
At this point, I’d look for a new job. They’re looking for a reason to fire you.
I am baffled by your entire post. Every restaurant I have ever worked at employees take food, provided you aren’t walking out with bags of groceries, typically on one will give a shit. Provided you aren’t a total asshole to your co-workers no one will give a shit.
To those of you to the left tempted to write I shouldn’t tell on my coworkers, when one of my coworkers did exactly that, you really don’t see how stupid is that?
Wow, I guess I know why your co-workers ratted you out.
I’m a trained union steward, I’ve been a “workplace lawyer” against hr investigations in the past. Your first mistake was responding “yes” to an investigation by management instead of asking why. Your second mistake was giving them a time frame for how long you’ve been doing it. But not all is lost, this can be recovered.
First and foremost, do not give any information that is not directly relevant. If they ask yes/no questions, only respond with yes or no. Do not give any additional information unless directly asked about it. If you don’t know an answer, don’t try to explain yourself, just say that you don’t remember. If they ask you the same question several times, tell them that you’ve already answered that question.
Secondly, don’t point to any specific coworkers. Just say that this is a commonplace thing in which several workers participate. The only person you should name is the manager that told you it was ok. Fuck the manager, he’s on HR’s side in all this. But your coworkers shouldn’t get thrown under the bus.
Lastly, form a union so you can get food reclamation as status quo and then formalized in your collective bargaining agreement.
Say nothing.
HR is not on your side, they’re not looking for justice or fairness or anything.
Don’t rat on coworkers.
“I don’t recall.” Is a complete and very useful sentence.
Don’t rat on coworkers.
even when those coworkers rat on me? really?
It won’t help you and will only make you look more guilty. Deflection never works.
Yes.
Since the it wasn’t your manager that gave you the go ahead, you can’t use it as a shield. All you’ll do is make it seem like you’ll tell on people to get out of trouble.
And since telling on a coworker won’t get you out of trouble, don’t bother.
Rat them out, then HR knows its a systemic issue not an individual “theft” issue.
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I would just say I’ve been working here a long time and thought it was policy that I could eat because that’s what I’d been told in the past. Now that I know it’s against policy, my bad! Apologies! Thanks for letting me know.
Also, add i have been told so by x when i started
Depending on the company, you just admitted to them you stole and will be fired. If it’s a large enough company HR will just walk you right out the door after saying that.
I agree, a lot of these other comments seem to be making this a huge thing. The only reason these “stealing” rules exist for this is because people will abuse it and make extra food that will go to waste so that they can eat it.
If that company is going to fire someone on the first offense without a warning because they ate food, they’re incredibly stupid.
Yep tell on your coworkers. At the end of the day you’re all in it for yourselves. No trust at work. HR will find a way to fire you if they want. Regardless who’s fault it is. Trust me. Exact same thing happened to me, except with printing stuff. Manager said it’s totally cool to print whatever you want. Everyone does it all the time. If its a huge job you get a discount. If it’s so small nobody notices, it’s free. I specifically said “I’m happy to pay whatever. Just let me know how to calculate it. Or have someone tell me.”
Tldr: did the same thing my manager does, who told me to do the same, after asking permission. Got in shit anyway, and I knew that since a higher up didn’t like me, neither did HR. If I brought manager into the story, it wouldn’t have mattered. They were already in the process of writing me up for it.
this is an answer I didn’t expect to read in a channel like this. Treat them the same way they treat you.
I trust you.
At an old job when I was still in high school, I requested off for a school event that I was traveling out of town for. The scheduling manager still put me on a shift for the day I was supposed to come back, and I told him about it. His exact words to me were “just don’t come in, and if anyone asks tell them I said not to.” And that’s exactly what happened.
The day I was scheduled to work when I got back, I didn’t go in. It also happened to be the new FoH manager’s first weekend there, and so that immediately soured her towards me. Literally from that moment until I stopped working there, she tried her best to get me in trouble for anything.
One of: A) Lie & Deny - Play dumb, and deal with the consequences. Least control, most wildcard. B) Throw others under the bus - Your manager and coworkers were doing it too. I’m wondering if they noticed all the food discrepancies, and need more ammo against your manager? C) Accept it - How will they get their money back if they think you stole from them?
Throw others under the bus
well, this is what I did and no matter what I’m going to be the asshole:
to hr, because I stole.
to my coworkers, because as a reaction to one of them ratting on me, I ratted on them (without naming anyone, so I don’t know if that’s even ratting).
I simply don’t have good options here, but as posted, what I want to do is to learn for the next time.
Lie & Deny - Play dumb
so, claim I don’t recall?
Lie & Deny - Play dumb so, claim I don’t recall?
Yeah, not sure what recourse or proof they have against you besides an accusation and presumably your managers word. What is their liability towards a wrongful dismissal claim by you if they do decide to terminate you? i.e. They gotta be sure and are hoping you self-incriminate to confirm.
How is play dumb the wildcard? If they had anything on OP they had him already fired. German chancellor used the prase “i dont remember” in court to get away scoff free from the biggest tax fraud case in german history. If they have anything on you, they’ll use it anyway. Saying anything besides “i dont remember taking food” is self incrimination. OP should be prepared to know the process of discarding food at the end of the shift though.
Fair play. I meant in terms of it devolving into a they said vs they said. Your point is paramount.
As far as HR needs to be concerned, the only thing you’re drinking is the corporate kool-aid. Sure, you’ve heard stories about people eating (but you’ve never seen it), and you’ve been hearing them for 3 years, but you would never. My word, the audacity of some people.
Where do you work? How hard is it to find a new job? How likely are they to fire you if you stand up to them?
The best case scenario would be that you and the entire staff stand up to HR and say that you were all led to believe this was permitted policy, and that if they’re going to declare retroactively that it isn’t, you all want a compensation raise because you considered this a job benefit.
Obviously you shouldn’t do this, though, unless you feel like you’ve got a strong position and you’re not afraid to find a new job.
If you’re looking for the safest option, I’d go with lie and deny: deny having eaten what you ate. Deny having confessed. Deny that you even work there if you have to.
Don’t bother throwing your coworkers under the bus. This is very unlikely to change HR’s reaction. They will punish you the same either way, they just might punish others too. There’s no benefit to you, so either stand up and fight or deny deny deny and promise you’ll be good.
The best case scenario would be that you and the entire staff stand up to HR and say that you were all led to believe this was permitted policy, and that if they’re going to declare retroactively that it isn’t, you all want a compensation raise because you considered this a job benefit.
ahahahaha, you sure are funny :D
your last paragraph is very true.
What’s with your last sentence? “To those on the left”?
What were the consequences after meeting hr?
