Ever stolen anything from your workplace?

[JaneMackintosh]

Has anyone ever stolen anything weird from their workplace when leaving??

I took home 4 forks during lockdown because the kids lost them at school (lunches) and couldn’t get any. 🤷‍♀️

Not weird especially but I used to work somewhere with the most amazing scissors. When I left they may have accidentally ended up in my bag. I feel no guilt and am still using them almost 5 years later.

A mug - it belonged to my former boss, and he'd left already. When I went to work for him again (headhunted) I presented him with it.

pens. but to be fair, i steal pens everywhere I go. Unintentionally.

Post it stickers. Paper.

When I was in my early 20s, I rented a flat, the rent for which was almost as much as my take-home pay. I'm ashamed to say that I regularly stole toilet roll (one a week) from my employer as I struggled to make ends meet.

The usual envelopes, post its, paperclips and biros! Put in my bag in plain sight as everyone else did it too

no

Extension cables and a dictionary. I was the only one who cares about the dictionary and the pay was dreadful.

Briefcases, printer, laptop, paper pads, rulers, staplers, hole punch, pens/pencils, files, etc. Not so much "stolen" but never asked for them back when I left. I was a "mobile" worker, so needed loads of supplies when working at client's premises. There were lots of us "on the road", so walking out of the office with hand fulls of office supplies etc was pretty normal. Employer had no system of checking out/in the office equipment. But, in any case, the bigger stuff was pretty old anyway and would probably have languished in a storeroom for ever even if I'd handed it all back.

No! I did always threaten to take a print that was put up behind my desk because everyone else hated it a I really liked it! Just as well I didn’t because (as I realised later) it was a numbered print by a famous artist and worth £££ (our company owned loads of amazing art and would put them in the offices).

@JovialNickname

The usual envelopes, post its, paperclips and biros! Put in my bag in plain sight as everyone else did it too

I think pragmatic employers accept that things will go walkies.

At one of my firms, they'd buy in large boxes of cheap A4 paper refill pads. Funny thing was, no one ever used them. In the office, we used expensive personalised A4/A3 analysis pads, with the firms' name and logo printed on them, so no need for plain/lined paper. Despite no one ever using them, they regularly disappeared from the storeroom in large numbers.

Apparently, the "trainees" took them to do their evening/day release studying for notes and to write essays etc. The firm's bosses had sensibly decided it was cheaper to buy in and let the trainees take it rather than the trainees taking the expensive pads for their study work. Quite a good idea really.

I know someone who nicked a couple of rolls of super posh arty wallpaper from a restaurant they worked in and flogged them for thousands.

And another one who pinched a full dinner service from pizza express in the year they worked there. Including one of the blue vases they used to have.

I don't think I've nicked anything intentionally- pens and post its seem to make it home with me though.

When our old offices were emptied prior to demolition, a colleague stripped put the kitchenette from each floor to build his own fitted kitchen at home. He did have permission though

I steal company time to look for other jobs

I was once tasked with finding out why the department phone bill was so high and was given a fully itemised bill and asked to Google / call all of the numbers to find out who they were.
It turned out one of the secretaries was using work time (and their phone bill) to do the vast majority of her personal admin - insurance / utilities / catalogue shopping etc (this was in the early 00s when most of the above were done by phone rather than internet - on fairly expensive 'National rate' numbers). She also had relatives overseas who she regularly called for their weekly catch-up on the work phones. Cheeky fecker

I stole, or rather salvaged, the ancient heavy duty office shredder, which was being thrown out as it didn’t meet Health and Safety requirements.
We had shredded crepe paper for presents and shredded newspaper for pet bedding for years. It was very useful.

Notepads but not by intent. I take one from the cupboard, use it earnestly for work stuff then inevitably leave it in sight of my children. Next time I try using the notepad it's full of lovely little doodles that make me smile but renders the notepad unusable in a professional setting because I don't need my team thinking I draw Spongebob fighting a Llama and other such oddities so they become my at home notepads instead.

Lockdown working has meant far less notepad wastage!

They stiffed me for £80 on my last pay cheque. That’s a lot when you’re 18. So I bagged £80 worth of stock and threw it into a bin down the road. Twats.

A laptop.

The company went bust owing me two weeks’ salary, so I kept their laptop and ignored the administrators’ requests to return it.

@carlywurly

I know someone who nicked a couple of rolls of super posh arty wallpaper from a restaurant they worked in and flogged them for thousands.

And another one who pinched a full dinner service from pizza express in the year they worked there. Including one of the blue vases they used to have.

I don't think I've nicked anything intentionally- pens and post its seem to make it home with me though.

A lot of it about. I know someone who, when the restaurant underwent a refurb and the enormous chandelier was stored in one of the innumerable storerooms, waited a bit and then flogged it on eBay for a small fortune. The company (another chain; not PE) was so effing hopeless that they bear some responsibility for not noticing, but I couldn't fucking stand her and wish I'd dobbed her in.

A teaspoon. I took it from the staff kitchen after a dental extraction and was eating soft food. Washed it and put it in my desk drawer. Packed it up when I left the job.

Family member worked in a posh hotel.
Workmates gave them a full dinner service from the hotel including coffee pots, cruet and vases. Can't remember if it was when they moved in together or got married.

I'm contemplating stealing an A4 envelope from work.

I keep forgetting to buy a pack and I only want one. It would be much easier to take one from work. Nobody would care. I would feel bad though.

A rucksack from one, headphones from another. Probably random note pads and post it notes as well.