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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Disiplinery

102 replies

Bazmum · 05/12/2019 17:26

So to cut a long story short I'm a cleaner and my managers came in today saying they were doing an investigation cos a customer complained I'd stolen something from her obviously I had no idea what they were talking about but they said they had me on cctv which showed me picking what i thought was rubbish up off the floor and putting it in my pocket til I was near a bin turns out the rubish was in fact a packet of cigs that belonged to a customer I don't remember doing this as I work in a busy supermarket and I'm forever picking things up now ive got to have a disciplinary surly I can't get sacked for something as trivia as this please help

OP posts:
MrsMaiselsMuff · 05/12/2019 18:02

Cigarettes are pretty distinctive. How did you not realise that's what you picked up?

Divebar · 05/12/2019 18:03

It’s not about you picking them up it’s about what you did afterwards. Did you bin the packet and where did you do this? Did you keep hold of them? Are you actually a smoker yourself? I find it a bit weird that someone would report the loss of a packet of cigarettes and that anyone would travel through CCTV to investigate. If someone saw you pick them up why not just come up to you and say “ oh I see you have my cigarettes- thanks for finding them”

churchandstate · 05/12/2019 18:05

So they went in the bin like everything else you pick up as part of your job? I would just say that, and be very clear that you have no specific memory of any of it.

BuildBuildings · 05/12/2019 18:07

It seems reasonable that you would put rubbish in your pocket if you didn't have a bag or dustpan. If you do this a lot then there will be other cctv evidence of this and possibly you emptying your pockets in the bin. I think a packet of cigarettes very much blurs the line between rubbish and lost property so this feels really harsh!

Original poster
Bazmum · 05/12/2019 18:08

Ive worked there for over 6 years like I said it's a busy supermarket you don't keep tract of every little thing you pick up and throw away this was a genuine mistake I don't even remember picking them up and no I don't smoke

OP posts:
Spitsandspots · 05/12/2019 18:08

any rubbish I find in my way around goes in my pocket til I find a bin

What would you do with a half eaten sausage roll a kid dropped? It’s not really normal practice to put rubbish off the shop floor in your pocket. Confused

Are you actually a smoker? It would obviously help your case if you didn’t smoke, it would also be a help if you could tell them what bin you emptied your pocket in so they could check cctv in that area to see if any captured you emptying your pocket.

Spitsandspots · 05/12/2019 18:08

Ahh x post.
But see if they can find where you emptied your pocket

BuildBuildings · 05/12/2019 18:09

Also I work in a museum (non front of house) we all like it to be tidy and would pick up things as we walk around. So I think this actually show care in your job. Rather than well not my prob I haven't got a bag.

LittleLongDog · 05/12/2019 18:12

any rubbish I find in my way around goes in my pocket til I find a bin

As a teacher I would be forever doing this too. It’s just habit to pass a piece of rubbish and pick it up.

What did you do with the cigs?

BlaueLagune · 05/12/2019 18:16

I think the fact you've worked there for 6 years and aren't a smoker yourself are factors in your favour. But you need some assistance eg ACAS.

Yes again I will say, everyone can join a union and everyone should. But you have to join before a problem arises.

Original poster
Bazmum · 05/12/2019 18:18

As I've said I don't remember picking any up and every bit of rubbish that goes in my pocket gets put in the bin when I'm by one I could of understood if this had been a purse or a wallet which I would never take by the way

OP posts:
IndecentFeminist · 05/12/2019 18:20

Surely a box of cigarettes looks a little different to rubbish? Was it clearly empty.

FredaFrogspawn · 05/12/2019 18:20

This sounds very unfair. Are you in a union?

Luckingfovely · 05/12/2019 18:20

@churchandstate
*
I doubt it. The onus is on them to show that what she picked up was a full pack, not an empty one. I can’t see how they would be able to tell that from a box* 🤷🏻‍♀️

The customer complained - I seriously doubt they were doing so about an empty packet. It sounds far more likely that it was a full packet they had just bought.

I don't think we're getting quite the full truth here, and that's why I think it's going to be hard to defend.

churchandstate · 05/12/2019 18:25

I don't think we're getting quite the full truth here, and that's why I think it's going to be hard to defend.

Again, very doubtful, if there is CCTV footage of the OP regularly placing items in her pockets for disposal. However unlikely it is that a customer made a false complaint, it does happen, and they have to actually show guilt, not assume it.

Original poster
Bazmum · 05/12/2019 18:25

The truth is I don't even remember picking a packet of cigs up my job keeps me very busy and I'm forever picking rubbish up off the floor as it's my job to do so I only got pulled into the office today for something that happened on the 29th of November I've done a hell of a lot more shifts since then and as I said I can't remember every little thing I pick up

OP posts:
DanglyNippleBaublesOnThigh · 05/12/2019 18:27

I agree, contact ACAS in the morning, they can tell you your rights. If you've been there 6 years you have a great case!

I was a single parent back in the day and I've done cleaning work myself and have known a fair few cleaners in my time, and I know that putting rubbish in the pocket of your uniform is pretty standard, as it saves time looking for a bin as you go round, then you just empty it all and collect it all up in the bin bags at the end! There's so much else to do than clearing up rubbish, you don't really focus on or process the particulars of what you are clearing away if it looks like or feels discarded, you just press on with your job to clean the area.

MrsMaiselsMuff · 05/12/2019 18:30

You know where they were picked up, so you can work out where you went next and which bin you used. This can then be checked on the CCTV.

WagathaChristie · 05/12/2019 18:30

I'm a cleaner and they provide us with an apron like waiting staff wear. All of us shove rubbish in our pocket if we are cleaning and not immediately near a bin.

DanglyNippleBaublesOnThigh · 05/12/2019 18:30

Speak to ACAS they will tell you more, but also know that you are entitled to have someone else with you at a disciplinary meeting! You do not have to face it alone!

ScreamingValenta · 05/12/2019 18:31

What does the CCTV show? Does it show the customer dropping them as well as you picking them up?

ZebrasAreHorsesInPyjamas · 05/12/2019 18:33

A packet of cigs is quite distinctive I would have thought, very different from just bit of rubbish and would stand out in my memory as something different. Especially as a non smoker. From where the CCTV saw you pick the item up, can it not follow you until you get to the bin? Alternatively, from that area, where is the nearest bin that you would usually use to dispose if rubbish. Is there no CCTV covering it? Is the CCTV clear enough to zoom in to see it is a full packet of cigarettes? If not, I cannot see how they can prove anything. Is there CCTV of the item falling out of the person's pocket?

Is the person making a complaint against you someone you know? Could they be trying to cause trouble?

So many questions...

puds11 · 05/12/2019 18:33

If the customer saw you why didn’t she just ask for them back??

TSSDNCOP · 05/12/2019 18:34

From where you picked up the litter, can you think which bin you’d have then used and see whether there’s cctv of you emptying out your pocket.

I don’t think it’s at all unusual to put random bits of dry litter in a pocket until your job takes you closer to a bin, it’s not like there was a random chop lying on the floor.

I would explain what you did is your normal practice to make your job as efficient as possible. Say that you don’t smoke, and even if you did you wouldn’t keep some fags you’d found on the floor. Stay calm, but state clearly they are mistaken in thinking anything other than mid-identification of floor based crap is to blame.

ScreamingValenta · 05/12/2019 18:35

A packet of cigs is quite distinctive I would have thought, very different from just bit of rubbish

It's not very distinctive from the bit of rubbish that an empty cigarette packet would be.