Who owns a pound left in supermarket trolley?

[Zippyzoppy]

My son has a part-time job at weekends with one of the major supermarkets. One of his tasks is to round up any stray trolleys and put them back in the trolley park.

Apparently, from time to time ( maybe one/twice per day) people can’t be arsed to put their own trolleys back and so leave the £1 coins in the trolley. If this happens, he keeps the pound and puts the trolley back as required. When he first told me about this, I was quite pleased for him and thought it was a nice way for him to make a few extra quid.

However, when I mentioned this to a friend, she was aghast as she thought that he was cheating /stealing from his employer as the money is rightfully theirs.

Who is right?

without anyone having a word first.

without anyone having a word first.

But it's because those items don't belong to them that there is a policy of what to do with them.

The policies are actually designed to protect employees from any kind of misunderstanding as long as they are abided by properly. They ensure that if a staff member is accused of something then, provided they have followed policy, they can prove they are not guilty. So if someone was to say "The till is short, can you empty your pockets please?" if you're following policy and have no money on you then you can show you couldn't have taken any money ... If you're not following policy and have money in your pockets the onus is then on you to prove it is your own money and not the missing money.

It also means that there is consistency with how things are handled if there's a blanket policy - IE "Anything you find that does not belong to you on store premises must be handed to Customer Services" ... That way nobody is making the judgement call of where the cut off is as you treat every item the same way - £1 in a trolley slot is fine to keep but what about if there's a £5 note lying in the bottom of the trolley? What if it's £10? Or 20? At what point is it no longer OK to keep something that doesn't belong to you just because you found it at work?

Please, you're talking like other posters don't understand.

I . get. policy.

I'm interested in this kid being fired for Gross Misconduct.

You would have to be a total tit to bregrudge a lad the odd pound in this way. I would advise he kept it to himself though, it’s likely a sackable offence due to many shop managers being jobsworths.

Begrudge

If a young lad who is presumably also juggling school, exams, extra curriculas etc has got his act together to apply for, gain and hold down a Saturday job took the one pound coin I had left in a trolley which I had dumped in the carpark causing a hazard to other drivers and shoppers through sheer laziness, a random emergency, a hole in the space/ time continuum, I would not consider that theft, I would bless his cottons for putting it away safely and consider the £1 well earned by him. That some people/ organisations can consider this dishonest or 'gross misconduct' or a sackable offence blows my mind.

And you’ve been repeatedly told by posters who are management in this industry that we routinely see this kind of thing happen.

In the real world most people would go on day one of finding a £1 in a trolley and ask "What do I do with this?" if they didn't know what the policy was, and most places would be lenient with someone early on in their employment who had made an error but was apologetic and promised not to do it again but the longer you work for a company the less likely the "I didn't know the policy" is going to wash as an excuse.

I'll be honest, as many disciplinary meetings as I have sat in where someone has been sacked for gross misconduct due to a minor action, they're rarely cases where it's gone there for the first offence - 90% of them had at least one occasion where someone has given the employee a discreet "FYI you need to stop doing XYZ before you get caught as it is against policy" chat that had been ignored until they got caught.

If it's a rare occurrence of policy not being upheld by someone in a discreet and unobtrusive way then supervisors will often turn a blind eye as they couldn't care less if the porter gets a couple of quid extra a shift or the thank you card, that the customer came back with after being told they couldn't give a staff member a tip, probably has the same £5 stuffed in it as they were originally offered. However if the staff member go talking about it to anyone and everyone, make it really obvious what they're doing or start to take the piss, then whilst most would then just tell them "Oi, stop it before you get pulled into the office for a meeting" those that don't give them a warning and instead start the disciplinary process are not wrong to do so because all staff have to follow the policies of their company, and it's your responsibility to check what they are if you don't know.

I'll be honest, as many disciplinary meetings as I have sat in where someone has been sacked for gross misconduct due to a minor action, they're rarely cases where it's gone there for the first offence - 90% of them had at least one occasion where someone has given the employee a discreet "FYI you need to stop doing XYZ before you get caught as it is against policy" chat that had been ignored until they got caught.

We agree then.

And you’ve been repeatedly told by posters who are management in this industry that we routinely see this kind of thing happen.

Really. I've been repeatedly told by you the procedures for gross misconduct.

No one despite me asking, has come up with a trolley £1 Gross Misconduct situation.

There have been variations of we weren't allowed cash on the floor, money went into a jar, can't accept tips and some who said supervisors wouldn't give a shit.

You are being deliberately obtuse though.

I have seen someone fired for misconduct where their "crime" was taking an item left behind by a customer - it doesn't matter if it was the £1 in their trolley or the change left in a self scan they are both taking items that don't belong to you which is gross misconduct under the company's policy.

Just because nobody can say "I have personally seen the specific situation of someone working as a porter taking a single £1 coin left in a trolley and be fired for it" doesn't mean it cannot, does not, has not and will not happen to the OPs son.

90% of managers would not fire someone for the first instance of them pocketing £1 (they'd probably put them on a warning, explicitly explain the cash handling policies so there's no excuse in future and put them under closer supervision for a set period) but the 10% managers who would are not wrong to uphold the policy as that's the purpose of having it - everyone knows what behaviour is acceptable and what is not.

I've never argued that these policies don't exist.

Or people don't get fired.

Or that people on here don't correctly know reams of company policy.

Just the kid keeping some £1 trolley coins does not mean inevitable gross misconduct exit.

Just the kid keeping some £1 trolley coins does not mean inevitable gross misconduct exit.

It does if he gets caught and he has one of the 10% of managers I have met who is zero tolerance when it comes to policy being breached.

I cannot definitely say that he will be sacked because I don't know his manger but equally you cannot say he definitely won't either.

I cannot definitely say that he will be sacked because I don't know his manger but equally you cannot say he definitely won't either.

🤞🏼

The person who extracts it.

@sunglassesonthetable Still defencing thief's you practically live on this thread all day, do you not work?

Your MO which clearly shows vigour's defence of theft and the nastiness oozing from all your posts says a lot 🤔.

@wotsitsorhoops

hiya👋🏼

You have a nice day too😁

At least she can spell, understands plurals and the use of the apostrophe. So there is that.

Funny how you always pop up in defence of @sunglassesonthetable 🤔

Just the kid keeping some £1 trolley coins does not mean inevitable gross misconduct exit.

Technically, could he not argue that he was emptying and clearing the trolley, ready for it to be used again by the next customer in the intended manner - just like you might suitably 'dispose of' an old shopping list or food wrapper that somebody left in it?

I also think there could be a potential legal case as to whether £1 is widely considered a significant sum or not - bearing in mind that it was deliberately abandoned by the previous owner, who apparently considered it effectively worthless.

It would indeed be funny if it was true but, as far as I’m aware, this is the first and only time.

Denial nice.

Funny how you always pop up in defence of @sunglassesonthetable 🤔

Apart from criticise me you've not really contributed. Maybe that's a bit funny. 🤔

Oh and @Blossomtoes is a me as well obvs.

( soz Blossom )

I'm going to suggest this as an alternative to 'take in some ironing' on the next thread about how to make extra cash.

That and 'finding' lost golf balls, to sell back to the players - before they've stopped rolling