4 ms·
In terms of stealing office supplies, it boils down to intent. There's a big difference between taking pens home as part of work and not bothering to bring them
by biot 11y ago
In terms of stealing office supplies, it boils down to intent. There's a big difference between taking pens home as part of work and not bothering to bring them back -vs- thinking "my kids need more pens for school" and then going out of your way to take them home. The former is mostly absentmindedness and isn't really stealing; the latter is an ethical failure and is stealing.
- everyone 11y ago1. The loss of a certain % of pens is trivial to any non-tiny business. 2. Most people dont like work. They do it because they have to in order to pay rent, bills and buy food and whatnot, and deep down they resent their jobs to some degree. 3. 'Stealing' s few pens can relieve some of this resentment as even though it is completely trivial you at least feel as though you are breaking the rules and getting one over to some degree, or at least just getting some free pens. 4. I would posit that the benefits of this pressure release greatly outweigh the cost of the pens.
- angersock 11y agoI suppose it's totally okay to not compensate workers for home power user, printer paper, toner, and phone time when asked to work from home though?
- biot 11y agoI don't think that's okay. Any reasonable expenses you incur when asked to work from home should be submitted as a paid expense. Others have mentioned overtime, which you are entitled to if you are paid hourly. If paid as a salary, then in my experience the general arrangement is time off for extra hours worked, whether that's a formal process or simply cutting out a couple hours early on a Friday if you put in a couple hours extra during the week.
- pbreit 11y agoAuren Hoffman has a theory on desirable employees: people who "steal" things from home and bring them to the office!
- knughit 11y agoLike schoolteachers, famous for self funding their classrooms.
- ZenoArrow 11y agoJust finished watching this video, it's closely related to what you're talking about, even mentions stealing stationary: https://vimeo.com/49462153 https://vimeo.com/49462153
- outside1234 11y agothe corruption runs both ways though: the stealing of employee overtime hours is also stealing yet really is only frowned on if it is systematic versus absentminded.