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Original poster

Work cf stories. Anyone else work cheeky fuckers?

487 replies

PizzaFecker · 24/07/2024 12:49

Our business has passed an important audit so we ordered dominos for lunch.
Enough dominos pizza to give everyone 1/2 a pizza each and sides and drinks.

Total cost was £450.

One of the senior managers just had to have a word with one of the other senior leadership team that putting 3 entire pizzas, sides and a drink in his car because 'he wanted to take it home for his family and would freeze the leftovers' isn't appropriate when the admin staff haven't even had chance to get any pizza yet.

Our work generally have No issues with people taking leftovers but not when other people haven't even had lunch yet!!

Anyone else work with cheeky bastards?

OP posts:
CeruleanDive · 25/07/2024 03:20

Lunde · 24/07/2024 21:45

I worked in a central government department in the 1980s. All of the office phones blocked international calls - BUT - nobody had thought to block the emergency phones in the lifts .... until they got bills for thousands and thousands of pounds.

Amazing!

Kitkatcatflap · 25/07/2024 03:38

Salumthecat · 25/07/2024 01:33

I worked nights and was dieting, I brought really big salads (yes I’m a mumsnet cliche 😂) to work with olives, feta, grilled peppers, home made humous, capers and roasted new potatoes or deli meats, pickles and cheese.

Other staff members commented on how nice it looked but then suddenly my lunch boxes started going missing.

Everyone denied it but it coincided with a new staff member starting, for the sake of this I’ll call her Vicki - it’s also her name and if she reads this I hope she recognises herself as a thieving little cheapskate.
I got sick of spending all night on a 12 hour shift with no food, all the shops were shut and I didn’t want to order a takeaway when I had spent considerable time preparing my meals!

I bought a George Foreman grill and griddle and put it in the staff room and said others could use it as long as they cleaned afterwards.
Vicki admired it and said she fancied getting one for herself and said she’d seen one in the sale on Amazon.
I bought mine from Argos because although it was cheaper on amazon I noticed a lot of reviews saying the griddle had stopped working.

I still had my food going missing but a lot less since I’d ordered the grill, it was easier to nick a ready prepared meal rather than ingredients that needed the effort of cooking.

I came in for my shift after two nights off and went to grill some chicken for a salad, unfortunately the griddle had stopped working.
I suspected Vicki had ordered hers off amazon and swapped mine with hers unfortunately I couldn’t confront her without proof.

I asked the security guard to check the CCTV footage of Vicki leaving and arriving on my days off, lo and behold there was footage of her arriving early carrying a box and then later leaving holding a grill!

Management asked me to just let it go when I complained and asked if I could just return my grill if it was under warranty. We had a big argument and they weren’t happy I wanted her holding to account but they asked me to keep it quiet from other colleagues to prevent the possibility of bullying.
In the end she just got a slapped wrist so I handed my notice in and got a much better job.
I did tell Vicki I knew it was her and had seen CCTV footage of her swapping them, she refused to admit it and said she’d brought hers in to compare it to see if they were the same model!
It was an obvious lie but unfortunately CCTV didn’t show her actually swapping them and she wasn’t going to back down.

The little thief finally got her comeuppance when she continued stealing food until she had a severe reaction from ingredients in else’s meal and had an allergic reaction and had to finally confess she’d been helping herself to identify the allergen.
Everyone knew it was Vicki all along but I wish I’d been present to see her fess up after months of denying it.
She left a few weeks later after being teased mercilessly, I still don’t think she was officially punished though.

I don’t know what causes people to feel entitled to other people’s food at work, I’ve experienced it in a few jobs. Reading some of these stories though it’s prolific.
Stealing is stealing and stealing other people’s work meals is as low as you can go, you are stealing time, ingredients when food isn’t cheap and leaving the victim either spending more money to replace it or going hungry.

I heard a rumour that Vicki has had her lunch stolen a few times in her current job, I know it’s mean but I really hope it’s true.

I saw a 'skit' (I hope it was a skit) on Instagram the other about work food thiefs. A worker sitting at the next desk was tucking into a nicely filled bread roll but stopped and pulled out a condom from the middle.

Blankspace35 · 25/07/2024 04:08

I had a manager running her ‘side hustle’ from the shop selling competitive products to her other business. Shed get deliveries of those products to work and sell them to our customers. She also only turned up for work from 10-2 and was claiming for 9-6. It was a happy day when hr found out and she was gotten rid of

WalkingonWheels · 25/07/2024 04:20

When I was in my NQT year, one of the other teachers had a child at the same school, in her own class. Guess who was chosen for absolutely everything? Class rep, Eco council leader, football captain, lead role in the Christmas concert, in every photograph taken by local papers.

The final straw was when the SATS papers arrived and she took her kid into the PPA office to go through the paper with him before the exam.

When other children in the class had birthday parties, she would turn up with her son, as well as her daughter, who was a good few years younger, so very little. She'd either bugger off and leave them both, or hang around and ensure the second child got food, cake, party bags etc. Because she was the class teacher, the other parents just let her do it, and wouldn't speak up. Awful woman.

FangsForTheMemory · 25/07/2024 05:40

Years ago we had a ‘bring a dish’ lunch for work. One of the guys ask if he HAD to contribute food to it. I replied ‘if you don’t bring, you don’t eat!’

Crocsforlife · 25/07/2024 06:10

Looks like I'm the cf here 😂 not bought a bin bag in years! No regrets though management consistently steal hours while I'm left dealing with the shit they should be doing

Nottogetapenny · 25/07/2024 06:37

A school where I taught, was doing a PD day, the headteacher said instead of everyone bring a packed lunch, could we each bring something for a buffet for everyone to share!
Everyone brought something, apart from him. He also invited staff from other schools to share our PD day and we later heard, he charged them for the PD day and the lovely lunch we provided! 🤪

TinkerTiger · 25/07/2024 07:10

echt · 24/07/2024 23:45

As it was a trip, the teacher would be working across their lunch hour, the one they don't get paid for, so lunch would be supplied by the school. Not CFery at all.

Show quote history

She was definitely cutting off her nose to spite her face just to have something ‘free’.

Roeland · 25/07/2024 07:33

We have a CF at work who uses all her annual leave in the first half of the year and then blocks out days and days as "not available" - usually in the school holidays, funny that

It makes me livid as the rest of us manage our leave, and it's basically theft. Many of us have flagged but the overall boss is very weak and will not tackle.

Itsallfunngamesuntil · 25/07/2024 07:34

Polkadottydot · 24/07/2024 21:45

Oh my god yes. This. Every time. People loading up with veggie option and leaving the meat. I have mentioned with pizza to get 60% veggie but falls on deaf ears

Show quote history

It's the opposite in our work.

A couple of veggies and one vegan on our team of 30 So they only order vegan pizza, which most non vegans would never order.

So much pizza left over as it's so disgusting. I just buy my own sandwich as do many others

DoorPath · 25/07/2024 07:43

Cismyfatarse · 24/07/2024 17:27

I left a job (teacher) and was bought a garden chair and a plant pot by my department. (6 people)

Some years later my great friend left too.

Years later we chatted about gifts and I told her what I got. She had donated £50 to my gift - which had cost about £10. She rang another friend who had donated £50 to her gift - approximate cost £25.

Our head of department had been collecting large sums of money and then keeping most of it.

That's really unfair. A garden chair and plant pot cost a lot more than £10.

crustybreaddarling · 25/07/2024 07:46

Alltheyearround · 24/07/2024 19:28

No one manages our post room (college) and so it has become like the Wild West. People ripping open packages and just taking what they like. There is talk of CCTV going in to prevent people pilfering.

It's not a good look is it?

I worked for M&S once, retail side. Uniforms took ages to arrive even though it was from their own range.

They advised to order a size either size of your normal size as they accepted their sizings weren't consistent even across the same product.

They also advised Hotter shoes as M&S ones were known not to hold up long.

After waiting several weeks for the uniform to arrive I arrived at work to find a package for me, ripped open, new stuff removed (all sizes) and someone's scuzzy old dirty uniform stuffed in there. Normal practice apparently.

My manager was about as interested in that as she was in everything else that didn't directly affect those above her in the food chain - i.e. not all.

No, I didn't stay long. Horrible, bullying employer.

ImplacableDiscernment · 25/07/2024 07:46

I worked in an office were lunches were being stolen. There were about 59 people working there, everyone knew everyone.

It started as stealing cans of pop, then sandwiches then anything and everything. Including leftovers brought in by a work colleague that was skint and could not replace it. The senior manager was appalled and threatened to call the police in. It lessened off but never truly stopped. I cannot understand the mentality of some people.

HuongVuong3 · 25/07/2024 07:56

StillAngryYearsLater · 24/07/2024 21:18

I have named changed for this because I have told a few people about this.

I worked for a company that ran the cleaning contract at a really exclusive London school. We were invited to a charity quiz night. It was hosted by a left wing comedian who had children at exclusive school.

Charity auction with some really expensive prizes, think a weeks stay in luxury ski lodge etc etc. The prize that went for the most money was a week's work experience on BBC Radio 4 today show. At that point, I realised the absolute inequality of opportunity in society. That the 'left' elite are just as smug and complacent as the right.

It still makes me feel cross.

Are you saying that only poor people are allowed to be left wing?

Lacdulancelot · 25/07/2024 08:05

crustybreaddarling · 25/07/2024 07:46

I worked for M&S once, retail side. Uniforms took ages to arrive even though it was from their own range.

They advised to order a size either size of your normal size as they accepted their sizings weren't consistent even across the same product.

They also advised Hotter shoes as M&S ones were known not to hold up long.

After waiting several weeks for the uniform to arrive I arrived at work to find a package for me, ripped open, new stuff removed (all sizes) and someone's scuzzy old dirty uniform stuffed in there. Normal practice apparently.

My manager was about as interested in that as she was in everything else that didn't directly affect those above her in the food chain - i.e. not all.

No, I didn't stay long. Horrible, bullying employer.

Show quote history

Dh did a Christmas season at M&S. Only ever received one item of new uniform. Nothing else in the bag that was addressed to him.

I did a Christmas season at John Lewis.
Temporary staff were not invited to any Christmas functions and you weren’t even allowed the staff canteen Christmas lunch because apparently it had already been organised before you started there, in October.
They’re really tight.

Sethera · 25/07/2024 08:14

ImplacableDiscernment · 25/07/2024 07:46

I worked in an office were lunches were being stolen. There were about 59 people working there, everyone knew everyone.

It started as stealing cans of pop, then sandwiches then anything and everything. Including leftovers brought in by a work colleague that was skint and could not replace it. The senior manager was appalled and threatened to call the police in. It lessened off but never truly stopped. I cannot understand the mentality of some people.

Leaving aside the moral aspect, I don't understand why anyone would want to steal home-made lunches - you have no real idea what might be in them, and what the person's food hygiene standards are like.

There's a high chance of leftovers being used, which mightn't have been stored very well. If you are making your own sandwiches, you don't use plastic gloves as a caterer would - you might not even wash your hands before putting them together.

It isn't like eating someone else's food at their home, where you at least have a rough idea of their cleanliness standards and a level of trust. The sandwiches sitting in the fridge might have been made by anyone!

RockyRogue1001 · 25/07/2024 08:22

Kitkatcatflap · 25/07/2024 03:38

I saw a 'skit' (I hope it was a skit) on Instagram the other about work food thiefs. A worker sitting at the next desk was tucking into a nicely filled bread roll but stopped and pulled out a condom from the middle.

Show quote history

Used?
🤮🤮🤮

YorkshireTeaBiscuits · 25/07/2024 08:25

ImplacableDiscernment · 25/07/2024 07:46

I worked in an office were lunches were being stolen. There were about 59 people working there, everyone knew everyone.

It started as stealing cans of pop, then sandwiches then anything and everything. Including leftovers brought in by a work colleague that was skint and could not replace it. The senior manager was appalled and threatened to call the police in. It lessened off but never truly stopped. I cannot understand the mentality of some people.

I have a solution to this, always lace your lunch with a double dose of hot pepper sauce & Pataks chilli pickle. I do this in the first few weeks whenever I start a new job. Only one person made the mistake of stealing my lunch and nobody dared follow them. After the message goes out that my lunch is super chilli hot, I revert back to boring branston pickle!

empee47 · 25/07/2024 08:30

CF of a colleague years ago. Fancied herself as a bit of a whisky connoisseur. When we went out for drinks on a Friday after work and we’re buying rounds, she’d have a glass of water for herself when it was her round and a double whisky when someone else was paying. A few of us noticed the pattern and decided we just wouldn’t ask her to participate in the round.

TerfTalking · 25/07/2024 08:37

ImplacableDiscernment · 25/07/2024 00:29

About 20 years ago, I worked with someone that took advantage of absolutely everything they could under HR policies.If you are sick, take sick leave. If you need special leave, take special leave.

They took absolutely everything and were not in the least bit flexible. If someone got a reasonable adjustment, they wanted it too. Even when the protected characteristic did not apply to them.

There was a threshold for sick days, they took the maximum every year. When it changed to number of absences, their sick leave pattern changed too. That was just one example. They knew the HR policies by heart and took every scrap they could wing.

They didn't want to work in between Christmas and New Year and school holidays because they had DC. Every year they tried to book the best holidays off at the start of the year.

Everyone had children If other people had already booked off half term, they would kick off. If they needed them, they wanted names in a hat. If they booked them, it was first come first served.

If they were scheduled to be in over Christmas, they always call in sick. We had a skeleton staff requirement. It meant we had to up the number of people required to cover to compensate. They had 30 days a year leave, flexi leave, 14 days sick leave, 5 days special leave. I have no idea how they got away with it every year.

They did not care about anyone but themselves. They were very unpleasant to be around, lazy and kicked off regularly.

She wasn’t called Julie was she? I worked with one of these. Eventually she was “encouraged” to take voluntary redundancy. She did because she was near retirement and the thought of being redeployed to another role where she couldn’t take the piss wasn’t something she relished.

It still pissed me off that she worked the way she did for over two decades then got a 30k+ pay off. 😡

NiceCutRoundDomeDormice · 25/07/2024 08:53

Blankspace35 · 25/07/2024 04:08

I had a manager running her ‘side hustle’ from the shop selling competitive products to her other business. Shed get deliveries of those products to work and sell them to our customers. She also only turned up for work from 10-2 and was claiming for 9-6. It was a happy day when hr found out and she was gotten rid of

A colleague of mine years ago who was supposed to work on print layouts spent an awful lot of time using her work computer (which I presume had better software than her personal one) to produce flyers and brochures for her sideline beauty business. The annoying thing was they let her get away with it as there was a relocation coming up about a year down the line, and they essentially decided it was easier to wait for her to take redundancy than it would be to force her out.

MysteryofNils · 25/07/2024 08:55

Dp got a huge hamper last year but it was full of shit that we don't eat. Most of it we put in the trolley at the supermarket that goes to the food bank and we maybe ate one or two of the things in it. When he got his P11d, there was a charge for £250. He queried it with the management and was told it was the hamper because it was a benefit. He told them he never wanted it in the first place and they said too bad so he ended up paying tax on something we never wanted and never used!

Fraaahnces · 25/07/2024 09:10

I have anaphylaxis and always bring my own lunch to work. I make really good salads with grilled chicken and things like toasted almonds, homemade dressings, nice avocado, watermelon, etc. They became legendary in my old workplace, and I had people asking for recipes. Not a problem at all. Sometimes my lunch just went missing. I couldn’t afford to buy it and there was nowhere nearby anyway. I put in a complaint with HR who advised that it was privacy issue to put cameras in the lunchroom but they sent out a bulletin stating that stealing food would be treated very seriously. It stopped for a while and then I noticed my lunches appeared to be picked at. The avocado was missing, or just seemed… different. I was texting on my phone when I wandered into the lunchroom to find my boss shoveling my salad into her mouth WITH HER GRUBBY FINGERS straight out of the fridge. She didn’t hear me coming so I switched to video and asked if she needed a fork. There was a bit of “Ummm, er… ah… I wasn’t… I thought it was….” and I said “Stealing my lunch, Lorraine? That’s classy….” (Fake name) “I thought it was…” I walked straight into HR with her following me and had a lovely raise and a lovely payout for staying quiet. I also had a mini fridge put under my desk to protect me from “cross contamination.”

mansviewpoint · 25/07/2024 09:15

Mostlycarbon · 24/07/2024 14:08

Secondary school teaching department. We are supposedly responsible for different year groups. I plan e.g. Year 10 well in advance, put everything on the system for colleagues to use.

Colleague who is supposed to plan Year 11 and is also head of department, just doesn't do it. Right up to the last minute before I'm supposed to be teaching the topic she still hasn't done it. The night before, I end up doing it myself. She breezes into my classroom. "O... what's that? Don't forget to put everything on the shared drive!" I end up planning everything for both year groups. She's my line manager.

Don't do it ever again. You are nothing more than a doormat if you do it, and just because you care about the children and she is lay doesnt mean you do her work. Better that she is found out sooner rather than later, for the sake of the kids.

Mostlycarbon · 25/07/2024 09:16

Fraaahnces · 25/07/2024 09:10

I have anaphylaxis and always bring my own lunch to work. I make really good salads with grilled chicken and things like toasted almonds, homemade dressings, nice avocado, watermelon, etc. They became legendary in my old workplace, and I had people asking for recipes. Not a problem at all. Sometimes my lunch just went missing. I couldn’t afford to buy it and there was nowhere nearby anyway. I put in a complaint with HR who advised that it was privacy issue to put cameras in the lunchroom but they sent out a bulletin stating that stealing food would be treated very seriously. It stopped for a while and then I noticed my lunches appeared to be picked at. The avocado was missing, or just seemed… different. I was texting on my phone when I wandered into the lunchroom to find my boss shoveling my salad into her mouth WITH HER GRUBBY FINGERS straight out of the fridge. She didn’t hear me coming so I switched to video and asked if she needed a fork. There was a bit of “Ummm, er… ah… I wasn’t… I thought it was….” and I said “Stealing my lunch, Lorraine? That’s classy….” (Fake name) “I thought it was…” I walked straight into HR with her following me and had a lovely raise and a lovely payout for staying quiet. I also had a mini fridge put under my desk to protect me from “cross contamination.”

Bloody hell, that's disgusting.