Cake theft at work

[Villagegreenpreservation]

I work in an office where people bring in cake or treats pretty often- think every birthday/ anniversary/ rainy day/ Monday.
Usually the last to leave wraps them up and then we tuck in to any leftovers the next day.
Could explain my weight gain but I digress. We now have strange happenings however. For three weeks, any leftovers have disappeared. Not just the odd doughnut/ slice of cake but whole, unopened cakes and whole boxes of doughnuts and tubs of chocolate.
We have been told the cleaners likely think it's a perk and to take them and we need to communicate they should be left in the office. I think this is odd. Shouldn't you just leave the stuff especially if unopened and not immediately going out of date? Cleaners are external agency if that makes a difference.

This is easy to check, last one out of the office checks, do a photo.
First one in checks, photo again.
Report cleaners for theft.

I’d be really surprised if it was the cleaners. They would be putting their jobs at risk by taking stuff.

Well you say that about cleaners/ theft but people here (couple at least) are saying maybe they see it as a perk and we should assume they think it's ok. I just think no! I'd never help myself to stuff. Last night two full boxes of doughnuts best before today have been taken. And I'm hungry. This may be clouding my judgement

Is the person that is blaming the cleaners often the last one to leave?

Just curious.

People always point the finger at the cleaners. Theyre a very convenient scapegoat and people are all too keen to believe it’s them.

When I've been a cleaner, you never took anything from the premises as it was classed as theft. Even if we were told that "X is leftover in the meeting room, help yourselves", we'd not take it unless it was written in the handover book.

I'd doubt it was cleaners.

Put them in a drawer or cupboard with a note saying don’t touch on them. That’ll soon clear up the “they think it’s a perk” issue.

I would leave a sign on them saying 'please leave for tomorrow' and see if that makes any difference. If its a team of cleaners they may just be eating them thinking they are shared for everyone. Sounds like a LOT of 'treats' though maybe a habit your office should get out of? Two full boxes of doughnuts 'left over'?!?

We have a different x got stolen, y is missing issue Every. Single. Week.
Someone always says "I bet it's the cleaners"

It's never the cleaners...

Look for the person who is putting on the most weight!

Or scoff it all before you leave

On a more serious note, is someone struggling financially and can't afford food? Has someone an eating disorder? Tred carefully.

Or it could just be a gf (greedy fucker)!

I also doubt it's the cleaners. We have a big box of treats permanently out on a desk. The cleaners and facilities staff are here at all hours and nothing ever goes missing.

It could be cleaners, security, last person leaving, first person arriving, somebody returning to the office in the evening....... I would put it in a tin and lock it in a drawer/cupboard.

I did used to work in an office where the cleaners were allowed to take any food left over from meetings, birthdays, leaving parties etc. Anything left out they were free to take, are you sure it's not them?

We have lab staff and office staff at our work. Lab staff can’t eat anywhere but the canteen but office staff can eat at their desks if they like. Lab staff bring cake for birthdays and leave it in the canteen. Office staff bring cakes and have them in offices, fair enough. Until they sneak it at 5 looking for any nice (still boxed) cakes they can steal, not realising there are still lab staff on shift who were looking forward to that cake

Now there’s a semi passive aggressive (laminated) sign saying ‘birthday club members only’.. might seem petty but seems unfair that office staff don’t contribute through the year but are happy to take what they fancy.

Sounds like a LOT of 'treats' though maybe a habit your office should get out of? Two full boxes of doughnuts 'left over'?!?

Yeah - our office had a feeder problem. Woman who thought of cake and biscuits as love. Everybody's noticeably slimmer since she left.

(I shit you not, for a meeting of 12 people she would bring 14 different full boxes of cake and biscuits 'so everyone would have something they like')

I worked my way through university as a cleaner and I can assure you that I didn’t want your nasty half-eaten cake. People who blame cleaners for things like this are vile. Now as someone who manages a team of 30+ highly-paid professionals, any sort of disrespect to cleaners, coffee cart staff, or administrative staff is dealt with in a way that ensures it doesn’t happen again.

Lock your stupid cake in drawer, or just get over it. There is always more cake.

I don’t think it’s the cleaner either. Most cleaners I know/have spoken too know that it isn’t worth the hassle to touch anything they’re not meant to and a whole box of doughnuts is just too obvious.

I have, however, worked with plenty of people who think nothing of taking office treat home to give to their children/grandchildren. They’re usually quite open about it though, because obviously everyone is delighted to share with children they’ve never met

I should also add that a few years ago there was a spate of thefts of the various tins of soup and breakfast cereal that people kept on and around their desks- it turned out to be the extremely well-paid marketing director, who was staying in an Air BnB nearby while his massive house was being gutted and remodelled- he didn’t feel like shopping for his own food apparently.

It’s not the cleaners.. we leave stuff all the time in offices (packets of biscuits and sweets) and also cakes etc in the kitchen and they never go missing via the cleaners.

we had an issue with a cleaner who was throwing it all in the bin, even tins of wrapped sweets. We dont have a lot of food around or treats but we do have birthday cakes and if anyone is on holiday they will usually bring back a box of sweets or local delicacy, we leave the left over cake for next day, occasionally will have a meeting with sandwiches the left over platters are left in kitchen area for anyone to have if they want, and the cleaners were asked to rhrow anything left over out and put platters in dishwasher for collection the next morning, a new cleaner took this to mean any food left about, even boxes of cereal and a large tin of roses, at end of day was to be binned,

It’ll be either the bossy boots of the office or the youngest apprentice/work experience person.

Just stick a post-it note on them saying they need to be left where they are.

It’ll be either the bossy boots of the office or the youngest apprentice/work experience person

Why?

Experience.

I wondered that too Claudia?

Aren’t you asking others why they suggest the cleaner?