Milk thief at work

dktreesea

shortcrust wrote: »

dktreesea is clearly joking.

aren't they?!

I've never worked anywhere, except for myself, where the coffee and tea weren't free, and there's been a few places over the years where there were free biscuits thrown in as well.

dktreesea

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

A grievance over not providing milk...really?

Your union would hopefully just laugh at you for being petty.

It's not petty. There's a principle at stake. Presumably these people are all working for the profit of the company. For every pound they earn for themselves, based on some of the coproate profits, the company's making £10 or more. Why shouldn't the company stump up the cost of hot drinks throughout the day?

audigex

It depends where you work - most offices, for example, will provide tea and coffee

I'm nowhere near the most senior (expensive) person in my company but I must cost my company £40-50k/year with salary, expenses, NI contributions, pension etc. Paying for a few cups of tea a day to keep your staff happy is a tiny proportion of their overall cost, and a lot cheaper than recruiting and training a new employee.

I'd agree with lacing the milk with laxative, though as long as you clearly label the bottle, you could simply claim to have constipation and find that a little laxative in your tea helps. The easiest way to do this is to add it to your milk so you don't forget: that's why you very clearly labelled the milk as your personal property.

gocurlygirl

Does someone think the skimmed milk is provided as is the semi?
Have had milk etc taken from a communal fridge before so can understand your annoyance!

lady1964

Wow! I didn't expect quite so many replies.

It isn't just a small amount that's being taken and it isn't milk that's gone out of date. I write my name on the lid, other people who put milk in the fridge write their company name on it. Two or three days into the week the whole thing has gone, my bottle is not even in the fridge. Maybe I could write my company name on it, see if that makes a difference?

It is frustrating and I struggle with knowing someone is helping themself to something which isn't theirs, they know it isn't theirs but don't care, they take it regardless.

Appreciate the suggestions, thanks all ��

moneyistooshorttomention

It used to happen in my previous workplace - so I just put enough milk for the day for myself in a lock and lock container and took it in to work with me (along with my packed lunch).

That container was clearly a personal container and only contained enough for my own drinks for the day and the milk thieves just stuck to stealing some from the milk cartons in the fridges instead.

Takeaway_Addict

dktreesea wrote: »

It's not petty. There's a principle at stake. Presumably these people are all working for the profit of the company. For every pound they earn for themselves, based on some of the coproate profits, the company's making £10 or more. Why shouldn't the company stump up the cost of hot drinks throughout the day?

Why should they though, its not a legal requirement?

Also, people are working for themselves and the remuneration it brings, they are not slaves forced to work at any place for nothing are they.

It would be petty to take this to a union over the many other more serious issues I am sure they will have to deal with.

Takeaway_Addict

audigex wrote: »

It depends where you work - most offices, for example, will provide tea and coffee

I'm nowhere near the most senior (expensive) person in my company but I must cost my company £40-50k/year with salary, expenses, NI contributions, pension etc. Paying for a few cups of tea a day to keep your staff happy is a tiny proportion of their overall cost, and a lot cheaper than recruiting and training a new employee.

I'd agree with lacing the milk with laxative, though as long as you clearly label the bottle, you could simply claim to have constipation and find that a little laxative in your tea helps. The easiest way to do this is to add it to your milk so you don't forget: that's why you very clearly labelled the milk as your personal property.

Would anyone actually leave because the tea and coffee were not free? I doubt it.

dktreesea

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

Why should they though, its not a legal requirement?

Also, people are working for themselves and the remuneration it brings, they are not slaves forced to work at any place for nothing are they.

It would be petty to take this to a union over the many other more serious issues I am sure they will have to deal with.

Having colleagues suspecting each other is not just bad for business, it's a health and safety issue. Even if you knew who was doing it, it would be stressful.


Say you are a colleague and you know Joe steals other people's milk because one night, having drank a bit too much on the town, he confided this to you? back at the office, Sally and Mick are annoyed yet again, because their milk has gone down another's throat. Maybe you don't care, because your beverage of choice is lemongrass tea, sachets of which you always have at hand, and which you don't leave in the office overnight. What do you do? Do you tell Mick and Sally that you know Joe helps himself to their milk or do you just keep quiet?


The management of the OP's company are morons, imho.

dktreesea

audigex wrote: »

It depends where you work - most offices, for example, will provide tea and coffee

I'm nowhere near the most senior (expensive) person in my company but I must cost my company £40-50k/year with salary, expenses, NI contributions, pension etc. Paying for a few cups of tea a day to keep your staff happy is a tiny proportion of their overall cost, and a lot cheaper than recruiting and training a new employee.

Well said. Stingy employers take note.