Office Theft: More Common Than Many Think

Workplace Theft: More Common Than Lots of Believe

The good news: Many workers feel rather in the house in the office. The trouble: A few of them feel a lot at home, they take the workplace home with them in methods they should not. In fact, 58 percent of office workers have taken workplace products for their personal usage, according to a new study carried out by Harris Interactive and lawyers.com. These individuals need to understand they’re putting themselves at threat of being fired and of possible legal effects for taking house business building, even something as small as a stapler or a pen.

Amongst those who admit to taking office materials for individual use, the most typically stolen office materials include pens/pencils (77 percent), followed by self-adhesive “sticky” notes (44 percent) and paper clips (40 percent). 2 percent of employees even take designs such as plants, paintings and workplace furnishings.

It can happen more easily than you might recognize. “People often forget that workplace resources are not their own and are really thought about business property,” stated lawyer Alan Kopit, legal editor of LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell’s lawyers.com, which is considered the most detailed and reliable online resource for discovering legal representatives. “We are not simply discussing pens and paper here; staff members are likewise taking expensive things, too, like computers, software and books.” Kopit recommends employees examine their workplace policy and make certain their habits follows the regulations.

Worker theft costs small companies billions of dollars a year-costs passed on to customers in terms of higher costs and to other workers in regards to lower wages and less advantages. After all, in addition to pens and paper, some individuals likewise steal resources straight associated to the performance of the company, such as classified info, patents, corporate contacts, case studies and periodicals.