Have you ever kept work equipment?

[StillHasTheMouse]

I’m talking laptops, monitors, phone chargers, that kind of thing. Maybe you weren’t asked to return it or maybe it was just… quietly forgotten. Or maybe you did hand everything back but kept something small like a branded mug or office stationery.

Be honest, have you ever kept work equipment after leaving a job? And AIBU to think most people have, even if they won’t admit it?

I was given a backpack to carry my laptop. When I returned the laptop in my last day I asked the guy from the IT department if I could keep the backpack. He looked like he couldn't care less so I kept the backpack. I find it useful to carry my laptop between WFH and office.

An old stool that was just the right height for me to sit on and teach from in the latter stages of pregnancy. It has a slight tilt backwards and is so comfortable to sit on. It was known as my ‘pregnant stool’ and I always said I’d take it with me when I retired, which I have!
A large peace lily sits on it now in the corner of the dining room.

Oh my god, that's a blast from the past! I used to love those in the days before we got into Excel!

I've got some odds and ends of stationery and a couple of branded umbrellas. Nothing valuable or exciting.

Ive got a map of the cairngorm region , a compass and a Jetboil from when I was an outdoor instructor.

I didnt deliberately take them. I think they were in an old rucksack of mine from a trip, the rucksack ended up in my shed. I got a new job and never used that particular rucksack.

We can’t return stuff as there is no where to store and cost of return means it’s not financially feasible. We do have to give laptops and passes back.

When my old company went bust we were told to keep everything that we already had at home; laptops, monitors, mouse & keyboards, iPhones, laptop bags etc.

Everyone had a remote set up even if they went into an office or site and we were based throughout the UK and Europe, it just wouldn’t have been cost effective or easy to collect everything back in.

Ditto. The only thing we have to return is the laptop, obviously.

I've a school teacher. I've had loads of stationery etc over the years. I've still got a box of staples going strong from a job I left almost 15 years ago.

The biggest thing I've still got in a box of numicon (plastic counting things). I was given it by a parent who happened to work at the company that made them. I absolutely hated that school, and knew my tenure there was likely to be short, so I took the box home thinking it might be useful in the future (it has been!)
The psychotic head teacher knew a parent had donated a box (the stuff is expensive! Close to £100 back then) and LOST HER MIND when the box couldn't be found. I shrugged and looked puzzled. There were staff memos and meetings about it, but I held firm with lots of "I can't believe it! Where could it be?!"
I did end up leaving about 18 months later, and I still have the numicon. I think she probably knew it was me, but had zero way of proving it. Tried to guilt me into "finding" it, but I never caved. ;)

I've also got a bag of counters that I found shoved to the back of a cupboard of a teacher who had gone on maternity leave. I don't know if they were hers... But now they're mine.
I have a private tuition business now, and use them at least once a week.

I’ve no regrets on taking my stapler (it was just a cheapo plastic one anyway, nothing expensive) and the odd pencil. They had more than their moneys worth out of me. I used to go in early to start (unpaid), work through lunch most days (unpaid) and they’d chuck you out at 5:25 as no paid overtime was due until you’d worked a half hour over.

Yes, a specialist chair that cost £1200. I checked with my work and they said it was fine as they wouldn’t have been able to reallocate it to anyone else anyway. I also kept a laptop stand, desk, footstool and lumi-lamp. I think that, as long as you check, it’s ok.

At the start of lockdown I was given an old laptop from the back of a cupboard. When I tried to return it a year or so later, IT had no record of it and told me it was obsolete. It was terrible - I'd used my personal laptop instead through covid and my son used the work one for gaming homeschool.

I have two monitors, a docking station and dan office chair. I got it all in Covid. They will be welcome to it back when I leave if they come and collect it. If there are any quibbles I'll remind them about all the 12 hour days, unpaid, to keep them put of court. They won't ask though.

My laptop and phone, I'll return of course.

Yes. An iPad.

Sounds like the sort of thing a journalist would ask.

And, no, of course not.

I've just found an old mobile from my previous job. Forgot to hand it in when i was given a smart phone.

Nokia. No apps, only plus points are snake and a torch. Last charged about 7 years ago so if I turned it on, would probably have about 50% battery left.

Sim was cancelled when I got the upgrade, so no ongoing cost. This phone will probably outlive me.