Suspended from work

DMWG81

In answer to everyones questions, I have been at the company since June 2009 so 7 months.

Unfortunately there is no CCTV in or around the building. The only Security is a metal shutter and gate and an Alarm.

I found out today, the laptop was addressed to another colleague who is on holiday at the moment.

We have no union and as stated in my original post, we have no contract.
I would be interested to hear from anyone who is in a union or works for the CAB or even ACAS, because i am not sure what rights i or my employer have if there is no contract involved.

Zazen999

Is it a work laptop or a personal one?
What is the procedure for signing these laptops in and out?
Is there a secure cupboard that would be used to lock stuff away in?
Would a cleaner have seen it and put it somewhere safe?
Is there a senior member of staff in the building that might have locked it away?
Whose desk was it on?

ceridwen

Had anyone been in the office overnight? (eg cleaners/security people/etc). I would imagine your office has some sort of "overnight" working type personnel...

Was there any remote chance of you having been able to physically dispose of said laptop in 35 minutes flat - eg a nearby window that it could have been put out through to anyone? If there was no way it was physically possible for you to get a laptop out of the office during that time and you didnt have it on you - then how could it possibly be you?

Has anything else vanished from the office (either during the previous night or at any other time recently)?

DMWG81

Zazen999 wrote: »

Is it a work laptop or a personal one?
What is the procedure for signing these laptops in and out?
Is there a secure cupboard that would be used to lock stuff away in?
Would a cleaner have seen it and put it somewhere safe?
Is there a senior member of staff in the building that might have locked it away?
Whose desk was it on?

The laptop was a personal one and was delivered by Business Post, my colleague signed for it at 13:37pm on the 7th January along with another parcel (Which was opened because it was addressed to the office, it was a toner). The laptop was then left all afternoon on a spare desk until the Warehouse manager and my colleague locked up at 5PM. Both my colleague and the Warehouse manager said the laptop was on the desk when they locked up.

There isn't really any secure places to keep important things apart from a safe in the other building, but the owner of the company wasn't in on the 7th January and he is the one who normally deals with situations like this.

We don't have cleaners.

All of the senior members of the company are related to the owner and he has practically dismissed all of them even though many of them have keys.

The laptop was placed on a spare desk alongside mine and my colleagues.

pitkin2020

DMWG81 wrote: »

We have no union and as stated in my original post, we have no contract.
I would be interested to hear from anyone who is in a union or works for the CAB or even ACAS, because i am not sure what rights i or my employer have if there is no contract involved.

Phone ACAS direct you will get a much better response and your questions answered more quickly.
Sounds like a stitch up to me, someone knew it was a personal laptop so thought they could nick it without the company getting involved, it would just be a civil matter with no proof, either way when it comes to theft in the workplace the thief is likely to hold his/her ground and won't admit it as they know there is no CCTV or witnesses that can report it.
Once you get through this you need to talk to them about your contract!!

Zazen999

Then they are stupid to leave a laptop in full view and the person who had it delivered was stupid to have it delivered when he wasn't there.

How does anyone know it WAS a laptop unless it had been opened? Presumably it was in a box?

pitkin2020

Zazen999 wrote: »

Then they are stupid to leave a laptop in full view and the person who had it delivered was stupid to have it delivered when he wasn't there.

How does anyone know it WAS a laptop unless it had been opened? Presumably it was in a box?

Becasue the muppet who odered it probably told everyone to look after it till he gets back from his holiday/time off.

DMWG81

ceridwen wrote: »

Had anyone been in the office overnight? (eg cleaners/security people/etc). I would imagine your office has some sort of "overnight" working type personnel...

Was there any remote chance of you having been able to physically dispose of said laptop in 35 minutes flat - eg a nearby window that it could have been put out through to anyone? If there was no way it was physically possible for you to get a laptop out of the office during that time and you didnt have it on you - then how could it possibly be you?

Has anything else vanished from the office (either during the previous night or at any other time recently)?

We work in an office/shop environment. We have Ebay and Web Shop and take orders online and over the phone. The place is set up like a shop but with an office in the middle of it. (Weird i know!)

There would be no way of me to dispose of the laptop, it was snowing and soaking wet outside, i didn't have the car, i got a bus and then walked into the industrial estate where the company is. I had a small bag which had hat and gloves in, nothing else. My locker is always open (Because i only have food and my coat in) and i never left the building. There is only 2 ways in and out of the building, the front door and through the warehouse and out of the loading bay. All windows are sealed and have steel bars on them. We dont even have a fire door!

Things went missing in October but it turned out to be a warehouse operative. He was pinching deodarant and perfumes. He was sacked straight away after he was caught putting 12 cans of Lynx africa in his bag.

Zazen999

pitkin2020 wrote: »

Becasue the muppet who odered it probably told everyone to look after it till he gets back from his holiday/time off.

That may be the case; but it isn't work's responsibility to do that. Precisely for the reasons in this instance, that they are then liable if it goes missing.

DMWG81

Apparently the laptop box had Sony Viao plastered all over it. Thats how they knew what it was.

We never knew our other colleague was having anything delivered, he never told us.