Searches at work

[whatevenisthis]

I work in a retail environment. All of a sudden we are being searched daily. Lockers emptied, bags searched, pockets emptied and we have to take our shoes and socks off. Even cars are being searched.

We are surrounded by cameras so it's impossible to steal anything. The things we sell wouldn't fit in our shoes and socks anyway. It's a very stressful environment but this is all legal and above board??

Here's the thing. Nothing has been stolen so why is this allowed? The company I work for does not recognise unions.

The shoes, socks, car etc sound demeaning and degrading, and completely disproportionate to any alleged offence. I agree with whoever said you should contact ACAS or whatever body regulates employment where you are. It must also be incredibly inefficient - is the time while you are being searched on the clock? If not it should be.

It is Dickensian and horrifying that this level of intrusion is permitted and normalised.

Are you all being searched equally across all levels? When I was in a department store there was constant bad feeling because shop floor staff were treated like criminals while HQ staff (who had full access to shop floor, stock room and samples) could come and go as they pleased. It was really shocking how there was no attempt to even hide the discrepancy when we had more opportunities than shop floor staff had to pilfer.

I worked in a places visited by high profile people. Cars were searched too on arrival and on departure, and randomly: so you couldn't guess a high profile was going to turn up the following day based on the car searches.

So cars, lockers and bags searches were as much a security issue as a theft issue.

taking money from your car is not acceptable!

Shoes and socks being unreasonable depends on what you sell really. For a jewellery environment it's a sensible precaution, for a supermarket maybe not as much.

I can't say where I work in case management see this. It's just not worth the crap I would get in work.

If something has been stolen then that's fair enough but it is impossible. We're never allowed to work alone and we have cameras everywhere. It's like working for big brother and I'm not saying that's a bad thing. It protects us the workers but being thought of as a thief before you even start your shift is just too much

Sounds like they're trying to catch someone as they know someone is stealing. The car is ridiculous though. I once worked in retail and being a bit dim didn't twig when they started checking tills every shift and searching on exit. Turns out my colleague and fellow sixth former had been stealing epic amounts of stuff!

Shoes and socks being unreasonable depends on what you sell really. For a jewellery environment it's a sensible precaution, for a supermarket maybe not as much.

I dunno, those cucumbers can get about a bit.

Have they taken your money from your car or did that happen to someone else? I’d report their theft to the police.

Have just spoke to dh he is a union rep for USDAW he says if 51% of the company want a particular union in than the company have to accept them for the purposes of wage negotiations etc, but you are entitled to your own union rep anyway for disciplinaries etc he also said searching your car is not on.

Are they looking for bombs?

If something has been stolen then that's fair enough but it is impossible

Not true. I worked in retail and the things people invent to be able to steal would shock you. If they are stepping up security, it is because something has happened that you are not aware of.

You might try parking your car away from the business (especially if they own the car park) or try public transport for a while if that is feasible. That will make them lay off the car search.

I don't think head office or any higher management get searched. I've never seen it it heard about it.

They full access to all stockrooms. It's my day off today so I'm trying not to let it get to me but I know that all the other staff are panicking and moral has gone out of the window

I worked in retail and my store did the same searches as yours, even going as far as making you remove your name badge to make sure you hadn't hidden money behind it..

It's not customer facing, but I wonder if Amazon is as bad thorough as that.

I'd think that taking money from your car is illegal.

Bag searches are normal for retail I'm afraid.
I often see the cleaners leaving Primark having their bags when I walk past each morning. I daresay the shop assistants are also searched at the end of a shift.

I've worked with two people who have stolen considerable amounts of money from the safe. Not known anyone stealing goods though.

What do they do with the money they remove from your car ?

I don't know about the money. It's never happened to me before.

I declare everything I have

I’m quite shocked by the searches. I did retail Saturday/summer jobs for 6 years and was never once searched or saw anyone else being searched.it doesn’t really create an atmosphere where staff feel they are trusted and valued does it?

Start looking for another job. If the company you work for think they have the right to take money from your car they are seriously taking the piss! If they believe you have taken their money, they’d be sacking you or calling security and police etc, but to just take your cash because they believe It’s theirs is just wrong.
They sound a really horrible company to work for.

join a union, recognition is a separate issue. At the very least get some guidance from Citizens advice. The car searching is really out of order but i'm not sure if its actually unlawful. I've seen old legal guidance but its over 10 years old so not reliable. Taking money from your car- at the very least you need to be given a receipt, they could be pocketing it. Next time insist on that. Sounds an awful place to work, leave as soon as you can.

How much money did they remove from the employees car?

This happened in a place I worked in. Sudden searches everyday, it went on for weeks and weeks...turned out it was the manager stealing money.

OP do you work for Amazon? I have heard similar stories about them...

Taking money from someone's car is theft as has been pointed out already, and searching people's cars is a breach of privacy. The onus is on the employer to explain their justification for doing this, they can't just help themselves to their employees' money as a blanket policy.

I suggest you join a union regardless of whether it is recognised, you may want to check out your employer's grievance procedure (maybe consider raising a collective grievance along with other colleagues?)

It is up to you of course what you decide to do though. Ultimately your best course (though I know it is easier said than done) may be to try to find another job with an employer that values and respects its staff. Companies who treat their employees like this, assuming criminal behaviour and operating on the basis of distrust and disrespect, don't deserve to have good people working for them.

That is really stupid! Think about how much it cost them yo pay guards to perform these searches and employee time lost as well.