stealing from work and still keeping your job??
@quietlttlgrrl (33)
United States
February 21, 2011 11:06am CST
to fill you all in, one of my co-workers was caught stealing hours from work... he would clock in twice, one for today, one for tomorrow and when he would clock out, he clocked out twice, one for today and one for tomorrow... then not come into work tomorrow... my boss found out and they had a heated discussion and my co-worker ended up leaving in a fit of rage, denying it all, demanding all of his money.... that was last Tuesday, and i didn't work all week.... today i came in and my boss told me that he gave "Fred" another chance b/c "Fred's" wife lost her job 3 weeks ago and they wouldn't have a place to stay if he didn't start working soon...does anyone have a similar story or thought and input on this topic? personally i think my boss is not thinking this through and is at risk of having something like this happen again...
2 people like this
9 responses
@quietlttlgrrl (33)
• United States
21 Feb 11
i dont think he will steal items, it would be too obvious if it was bigger than a notebook or something. But you can bet that we will be keeping tabs on when he works and checking hit time cards. thank you for your response :)
@sudiptacallingu (10879)
• India
22 Feb 11
Yes, we’ve had similar situations in our office too, though not so blatantly! We’re supposed to come in by 10:!5 in the morning and any latecoming is dealt with severely, with paid leaves being deducted for regular latecomers. Well to avoid this, on and off we have people who’ll befriend the security guys or the receptionist and have their cards punched before they actually land up! The management came to know this and reprimanded both the latecomers and the receptionist/security guys...
But frankly speaking Fred’s been too audacious...how could he think that he would just be absent and nobody would notice it and then just punch his card the previous day!!! Yes, I think this is akin to stealing, more seriously so as if this went unnoticed, he might have done this again and it’s a breach of trust with the company.
@quietlttlgrrl (33)
• United States
22 Feb 11
o think that he would have kept doing it until he got caught, my boss only allotted him about 20-30 hours a week, and we get paid on the 15th and 30th of each month... so my boss looks at our paychecks and kind of keeps track of how many hours we work, of course Fred got caught, his hours jumped from 40-60 to 80-90!!
@cream97 (29087)
• United States
21 Feb 11
Hi. quietlttlgrrl. I can understand his situation. It still gives him no right to clock in twice on his job. That is a case of bad level of dishonesty on his part.
This boss needs to give him some kind of punishment. He needs to know that just because he is dealing with personal issues at home, does not mean that he can steal from the company and from others!![](/Content/images/emotes/angry.gif)
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@quietlttlgrrl (33)
• United States
21 Feb 11
you're absolutely right! i think my boss will be putting him on a very short leash, and it will take a very long time before he will earn our trust again! thanks for commenting!
@kenzie45230 (3560)
• United States
21 Feb 11
That's a nice boss and I hop your co-worker appreciates him. But he probably won't.
I would be wary about all of this co-worker's dealings. Most people don't "just" steal or cheat with their time. If they get away with that, then they probably also try other things - like stealing products from the company.
@quietlttlgrrl (33)
• United States
21 Feb 11
apparently when he came back, he was extremely humble, and i would hope so, his family needs him to work if they want a place to live! thank you for responding :)
@lologirl2021 (5542)
• United States
21 Feb 11
If i was your boss i would be checking Freds time and making sure he is doing the right thing. I hope there is a way to check his time and to check up on him to make sure he isnt doing this anymore.
Of course everyone deserves three chances at everything but something like that is hard on the employer and stealing money is a harsh thing to do, i would have the employee fred work the days he stole money from until he catches up on that and then start paying him for the days he hasnt clocked in yet. Its the only way to get the employers money back and be on a win win situation instead of loosing money.
@quietlttlgrrl (33)
• United States
21 Feb 11
yes, fortunately, we have one of those old punch machines that print the date and time on the card. we also went back and checked all his cards and didnt pay him for the time that he forged.... it was easy to see, he was plainly writing in times and forged our bosses signature. thank you for your response :)
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
21 Feb 11
Your co-worker is very lucky as it would be absolute immediate termination around here and would not qualify for unemployment either.
I suppose your boss has a caring heart, however now as another employee having an issue would he forgive also or does he now develop a double standard??
Something a boss needs to consider as someone could actually sue and scream discrimination, at least that is how it is around here.
I don't have a similar story but do know a few who fidgeted with the time clocks and were immediately fired.
@quietlttlgrrl (33)
• United States
21 Feb 11
yes, my boss has a caring and generous heart, which is sometimes is his downfall, i was very surprised when he told me that my co-worker was getting another chance! Thanks for the comment! :)
@AKRao24 (27424)
• India
22 Feb 11
Hi Dear Quietliilgrrl! I can understand your feelings! It is not a good thing that your co-worker did in first place. This shows his dishonesty and criminal mentality! Now since your Boss has reconsidered him, he should really behave himself and stay away from repeating the mistake! I must appreciate your Boss for the consideration he had for the employee who was not only guilty but also was adamant and arrogant in nature! If your co-worker is having any emotions, then he would definitely appreciate this kind gesture of your Boss and will repent his fault!
Now coming to my experience! In India most of the Government Offices are working like this only. Here most of the government offices don't have Time Punching Machines , so people often come late and leave early. Some times they leave the office after second shift. Some times people will never turn up to the office and sign next day! I am saying these things so confidently because I know few friends of mine working in Government offices and they could accompany me when ever I wanted them to do so!
This is a regular story and no body is really not bothered about this and the Nation as a whole is getting into severe loss because f this attitude of these employees. I don't say every one is like that, but you have many people in almost in every department who are spoiling the game!
One side Government has disproportionately given the higher increments to these employees thus facing severe financial crisis and to add to the miseries these employees are acting in a irresponsible manner, to make the country economy a poor one!
Thanks for the discussion! I liked participate in it! ![](/Content/images/emotes/thumbup.gif)
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@SIMPLYD (90722)
• Philippines
22 Feb 11
In our company, one of the things therein, which you have to read and sign when you are hired, is the provision that no one is to be caught punching their Daily Time record in that manner, or even punching the DTR of others.
A memorandum will be given to him , giving him the chance to explain. Then, he will be put on suspension while being investigated and if proven to be true will be fired or terminated from the company.
@iva75cpb (729)
• Bulgaria
22 Feb 11
I think this person should've been fired after so many cases of stealing from work. If this is a respected company such an act of tolerating thieves doesn't speak well of company's reputation no matter what happened to this person. One time forgiveness with just a warning would be good, even two times, but more... It's not moral to do such thing even more that your co-workers and you might have to compensate the company's losses since I doubt it your boss will be willing to take over the losses himself. Eventually you will all end up paying for other people's mistakes.
Not to mention that once such a person has been forgiven, there is a big probability he would do that again. How much betrayals can you, your colleagues or your boss can handle?
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