Will I get fired for this?

Weirdlittleman

As has been suggested it goes beyond whether they believe your brother acted without your knowledge or not.

If there is any indication you condoned or took part then definite dismissal
If not I would suggest first thing tomorrow you present a cheque for the full amount along with a sincere and complete apology for the neglect of care of company property along with a willingness to report a theft if they want to take it down that path.

Any suggestion of blame to them in my view would see you out on your backside. A lax policy doesnt give you the right to misuse or neglect to care for company property and pass part of the blame.

woody01

As much as I hate to see it like this - I have been a victim of theft. Can the company blame me for that

That's one way of looking at it i suppose.
I am sure though, that your bosses will look at it in the light that the phone is your responsibility.

This phone was not kept safeguarded as you state. There was obviously no pin lock of keypad lock either which adds to the problem.

Mischa8

My final tuppence worth of this - you say you were involved in a *very unlucky and unfortunate situation last year which resulted in me getting a Final Written Warning*.

Come on now, a HUGE company like they are do not just give out FWW which involve you (the employee) being *very unlucky and unfortunate* - their HR dept can sometimes close ranks but you can also consult CAB/lawyer about this etc - and they've like you said put you on a 12 month probation period after the FWW.

It seems to me, whatever the reasons for your FWW (scrolling back through your past posts no reference is made to this FWW) this situation now could be similar - ie fraud, breach of passwords etc.

You were more than foolish to leave your combination lock for a briefcase available and if your HR dept/company realised this (do they know that your combo lock for your briefcase containing your mobile phone/BB etc was known to your immediate family?) then you certainly would be fired. They've got no idea of your brother's character etc.... I am in no way doubting him but you have been extremely negligent.

Just paying back the money is nothing to them, it's the honesty policy of THEIR procedures and whether this will happen again...

sho_me_da_money

dmg24 wrote: »

If someone took your car keys it would be your responsibility to report it immediately, or as soon as reasonably possible. You did neither of these things.

Sorry, but you have been negligent. You need to admit this, trying to deny it implies that the same type of could happen again. I would rather retain an employee who is willing to learn from their mistake, than one who thinks he has done nothing wrong. The former is human, the latter is a liability.

Yes you are right in your first paragraph BUT how could I report something I didnt know had happened until Friday last week?

Tell me what I should have done?

Here is something I am guilty of - if one expects me to monitor something that is reasonably safeguarded on a periodic basis, then sure Ill admit to that.

Mischa8

sho_me_da_money wrote: »

Glad your not my boss then.

So your saying it is reasonable to expect one to treat everyone including your own family as potential thiefs? Is it reasonable to treat your family members as people to hide secrets from? Sorry it doesnt work like that in our home.

And a briefcase with a combo lock (at home) is the safest place I have. I do not have a safe, I do not have hidden key locked compartments.

Congratulations, you are the first person that has scarred me.

I'm sorry - but in this scenario IF Your company realise you've shared your passwords with your family then you'll be out on your ear. Does your company manual/handbook not have rules for this?

I've worked for central government as well as private companies and if we even give out passwords to other people who are NOT APPROVED then we get sternly spoken to. That's what passwords are there for and why companies have measures in pleace to protect them.

sho_me_da_money

Mischa8 wrote: »

My final tuppence worth of this - you say you were involved in a *very unlucky and unfortunate situation last year which resulted in me getting a Final Written Warning*.

Come on now, a HUGE company like they are do not just give out FWW which involve you (the employee) being *very unlucky and unfortunate* - their HR dept can sometimes close ranks but you can also consult CAB/lawyer about this etc - and they've like you said put you on a 12 month probation period after the FWW.

It seems to me, whatever the reasons for your FWW (scrolling back through your past posts no reference is made to this FWW) this situation now could be similar - ie fraud, breach of passwords etc.

You were more than foolish to leave your combination lock for a briefcase available and if your HR dept/company realised this (do they know that your combo lock for your briefcase containing your mobile phone/BB etc was known to your immediate family?) then you certainly would be fired. They've got no idea of your brother's character etc.... I am in no way doubting him but you have been extremely negligent.

Just paying back the money is nothing to them, it's the honesty policy of THEIR procedures and whether this will happen again...

Thanks for this.

I completely get what you are saying.

Mischa8

woody01 wrote: »

That's one way of looking at it i suppose.
I am sure though, that your bosses will look at it in the light that the phone is your responsibility.

This phone was not kept safeguarded as you state. There was obviously no pin lock of keypad lock either which adds to the problem.

I have to agree with pin lock of keypad lock, especially with it being a company mobile.

dmg24

sho_me_da_money wrote: »

Yes you are right in your first paragraph BUT how could I report something I didnt know had happened until Friday last week?

Tell me what I should have done?

Here is something I am guilty of - if one expects me to monitor something that is reasonably safeguarded on a periodic basis, then sure Ill admit to that.

You should have been aware of where the phone was at all times. It was not reasonably safeguarded - if it had been your brother would not have been able to get to it.

Weirdlittleman

sho_me_da_money wrote: »

Yes you are right in your first paragraph BUT how could I report something I didnt know had happened until Friday last week?

Tell me what I should have done?

Here is something I am guilty of - if one expects me to monitor something that is reasonably safeguarded on a periodic basis, then sure Ill admit to that.

You have a company mobile phone. It would be reasonable to expect you to be using that most days hence know when it was missing on week days and take reasonable care on non work days. Therefore I would suggest that with the exception of weekends it should have been reported as being out of your posession within a maximum of 24 hours.

If you werent using it you should have returned it or had it kept in a secure location.

Have you reported this theft? are you willing too?

Regardless you have been neglient in your treatment of company property and some companies can class this as gross misconduct. In your case any sort of misconduct could mean dismissal. I would strongly hope you improve your attitude from this thread as if you came to me with this story and attitude the P45 would be issued by Friday.

Mischa8

sho_me_da_money wrote: »

Thanks for this.

I completely get what you are saying.

I don't want to insinuate that either you, your brother, family etc are liars and untrustworthy but sadly in this day and age companies with this sort of case (misuse of phones) don't see it that way.

Finally - just grovel and I dunno, maybe remind them of your good service. Perhaps a really apologic letter and maybe character reference (how are they to know your brother hasn't been in trouble before etc?) may swing things your way.

best of luck mate.