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AIBU?

to not expect my boss to go through my bag after a suspected theft?

62 replies

fartmeistergeneral · 31/08/2011 08:50

I work in a very small business. I've been there 5 years, one person has been there 10 years and the other 3 full time staff (including the owner) have been there since the beginning (20 years). There is also one temporary worker who none of us know that well (keeps himself to himself). Recently a 3 figure sum has gone missing. We do open to the public and it is possible (though unlikely IMO) that someone has come into the office and managed to find money, taken it and left without any member of staff seeing them. However, it's also possible that it's been mislaid and bundled away in a file somewhere to be found in a few months' time (or years!).

The staff were talking when the boss wasn't there and saying they'd be happy for him to go through their bags to check they weren't the thief and I was the only one who said that I'd be pissed off if he had so little trust in me or the others that he would actually go through our stuff. They then said it would be totally fair if he went through everyone's bags not just one person - but that would make no difference to me. I'd still feel he didn't trust me after all these years.

AIBU? (never posted in AIBU before and am bracing myself for impact!!!).

OP posts:

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ChaoticAngeloftheUnderworld · 01/09/2011 13:08

YANBU I hate this "If you've nothing to hide..." bullshit too. I may have nothing to hide but I have a right to privacy. How many who use this would be happy to have someone come into their home and go through their cupboards/drawers etc? After all, if you've nothing to hide...

duckdodgers · 01/09/2011 12:30

think the thing that gets me is that we are so small with only 5 full timers who have all done years and years of service. It's like a family.

Sadly when theres a theft at work it can be the loss of trust thats particularly upsetting for other staff and of course the "boss" to. But it doesnt matter how long we have known people, worked with them, they have worked etc - no-one really knows someones personal circumatnces that could precipitate theft at work like this. You see loads of stories in the media about someone who has been at a company for yonks and is in a position of trust - only to be charged with fraud, taking money etc. And theres always "shocked" colleagues saying things like "I would never have thought ity of them" type of thing!

So at your work either there is a thief - and then yes your Boss has every right to search peoples bags I woudl think - its not about not trusting 1 particular individual but trying to find a thief.

Or if the money is lost then cash handling procedures need to be tightened up.

Im completely [shocked] though at you snowgirl - poor you stripping down to your underwear?? OMG - surely thats illegal??

Huffythetantrumslayer · 01/09/2011 11:50

Am at snowgirls experience. If a manager can't legally look thru your bag I'm pretty sure getting you to strip off would be illegal! I wouldn't mind showing my bag but anyone tried to make me strip off would get a fuck off from me.

TheHumanCatapult · 01/09/2011 06:54

You often get your bag looked at when in London etc and I don`t mine .But he person face that looks through mine goes bright red pretty often .

No not vibrator but I carry my equipment for self cathing and bowel program and once they see that they dont look any further .Rather handy for taking own food to the cinema underneath

Tortoiseonthehalfshell · 01/09/2011 06:49

I'm with you, OP, and in any event, what's it going to prove? Ok, so 150 quid is stolen, they check your handbag and you have 170 quid on you. Are they going to demand an ATM receipt to show that you withdrew that amount recently?

I'd loathe anyone looking through my bag. What if I have a pregnancy test in there? Suppositories? A vibrator? You're an adult who's worked there for a decade, I know the UK's got a reputation for being a nanny state but are people seriously happy to have their privacy violated so easily?

tyler80 · 01/09/2011 06:37

elliejjtiny when I worked for a large supermarket we were meant to have receipts for anything in our bags/lockers that could be bought in store. It was far easier to buy branded stuff from another supermarket instead :-)

If you worked on checkouts I believe you could be asked to remove shoes and socks and undo and turn up your collar as part of regular checks.

TheDailyWail · 01/09/2011 06:25

OMG snowgirl! They made you strip down to your underwear?! I am sure that was never in the contract when I worked there.

Stealing happened a lot there. My DBro had a workmate who used to lunch at the same time as him and share his locker. He found out his PIN and took money out of my DBro's account on his teabreak.

Snowgirl, I've boycotted River Island for over 11 years now due to the way they treated my family and friends. Hope that makes you feel better!

FabbyChic · 31/08/2011 23:07

Someone where you work has stolen money, it is an inside job, if I was your boss I'd be getting a security guard to check everybody before they left, only those who had something to hide would be concerned about it.

BimboNo5 · 31/08/2011 23:03

I was under the impression only the police could order this

AmyStake · 31/08/2011 22:58

YABU. If I'd been accused of stealing the first thing I would say to my boss is please search my bag/coat/etc.

Daughteroflilith · 31/08/2011 22:37

YANBU. Unless there is a specific clause in the contract, no, it's completely unnacceptable. If you haven't been pre-warned, what if you have a clostomy bag, with relevant materials in your hand bag? Medication for depression or HIV, or you are on methadone for heroin adiction? Or even a pregnancy test? Or a leaflet about help for domestic violence, or a brochure for a divorce lawyer? No, of course your employer shouldn't be allowed to go through your bag. If it's part of a routine search then that's different, as you will know in advance.

edam · 31/08/2011 22:29

Shame no-one thought of searching Fred Goodwin... but of course, big bosses like him can just waltz off, flashing their ill-gotten cash. Sorry to be cynical about this, but I've had recent experience of the acting chief exec of a charity siphoning off the cash - no undignified bag searches for him. (And of course they wouldn't have worked - but you'd think the trustees would have noticed how much he was spending on the company credit card...)

MollieO · 31/08/2011 22:19

When I was a Saturday girl in Boots we had random bag checks. We also got told off most weeks about our tills not balancing. I always thought it odd as I knew I always gave the correct change (old fashioned push button tills pre-electronic days!). There were only four of us who managed two tills and all of us could add up. Found out after I left that our supervisor (who took our takings bag) had been dipping her hand in. She had been there years and the management always assumed it was us Saturday girls not doing our jobs properly.

I never minded about the bag checks and of course it didn't catch our thief at all.

elliejjtiny · 31/08/2011 22:16

When I worked in a shop they did the bag searching thing every night. My colleague used to tease me and call me Judas because I always had a packet of paracetamol from a rival shop in my bag.

manticlimactic · 31/08/2011 22:07

YABU. Just because you have worked there for a long time doesn't mean you won't steal (I don't mean you, I mean a person in general).

A woman where I work stole thousands over the past few years. She had been there 20 years.

If they don't search everyone I suppose the next AIBU here could be ' Is it unreasonable that everyone at work didn't get searched but I did because I have only been there a short length of time'.

Mind you, YANBU to think that if someone was nicking they wouldn't put a three figure sum in their bag.

NellieForbush · 31/08/2011 21:59

YANBU. What a waste of time. Even if someone has stolen the money its not going to be in their bag.

Will he be checking your knickers for the 'missing' wad of cash?! Who will be checking his things?

What would happen if he did find it in your bag and you honestly said "I didn't put it there I've never seen it before"?

Onemorning · 31/08/2011 21:22

YABU. As people above have said, bag (and pocket) searches are usual for retail. It's not a matter of not trusting you personally, it's trying to find the culprit.

YANBU to find the situation upsetting. When someone was stealing from purses at my shop I couldn't believe one of my colleagues - who I liked and trusted - had stolen from another.

spookshowangellovesit · 31/08/2011 20:32

last job i had we had a bag check at the end of everyday regardless of length of time worked there or rank someone even had to check the managers bag, dont see your problem really.

Snowgirl1 · 31/08/2011 19:01

I had a Christmas job in River Island once. A member of staff's purse went missing and the female managers made us come into the changing rooms one by one and strip down to our underwear. After the mortification of that, someone looking in my handbag would seem like no big deal.

jennypenney · 31/08/2011 17:21

Have you checked your employment contract, OP? There may well be a section about "right of search" in there. There is one in mine. We have cash on the premises, and I'm a cash handler and a key holder, so I would expect something to be in writing about procedures to be followed in the event of missing stock or cash. The contract is careful to point out that no guilt is implied by the searching of employees' bags/coats etc.
As another poster has pointed out, if the police become involved one of the first questions they are likely to ask is whether everyone's bags have been checked, so that my boss can say "Yes, of course", and no further time is wasted. I don't have a problem with it.

AnotherMumOnHere · 31/08/2011 16:50

OP what makes your circumstances different from those working in retail. If there is a chance of theft under any circumstances then if I can prove my innocence - at least by allowing my bag to be searched - then I would not have a problem.

Many years ago I worked in an office which was attached to a warehouse when a digital camera went missing. EVERYONES bag and car were searched. Someone could easily have lifted the camera from the store room and passed it to an office worker thinking it was safe and that person could have easily put it in their car assuming that it wouldnt be searched.

I believe if someone doesnt have anything to hide then having their bag searched shouldnt be a problem. I regularly have my hand luggage looked through when travelling. Nothing I can do about that. So no difference.

fartmeistergeneral · 31/08/2011 16:35

I could practically put my life on it that it's been mislaid and not nicked..............

OP posts:

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fartmeistergeneral · 31/08/2011 16:34

Of course the whole thing of checking bags is ridiculous in itself (in my situation, not necessarily a retail situation). it would be spectacularly dim to steal a 3 figure sum and sit there in a tiny office with it in your handbag!!

OP posts:

Litotes · 31/08/2011 16:30

Actually 20 years later [old git that I am]

Litotes · 31/08/2011 16:30

In my younger years I worked in a restaurant where money went missing and another member of staff accused me
I really, really wish that the manager had insisted on a bag check, as even though I knew that I had not done it, I felt that the finger of suspicion never really left me.

I ended up leaving the company soon after as I really could not cope with the fact that I could never prove it was not me.
I still feel sad when I think about this - 15 years later.

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