Hi everyone,
Recently one of my employee lost her shoes in one of our shops (we are a mid size company)
Our shops have policy requiring customers to change shoes before entry, same with employees. Our other employees have checked the cctv footage, unfortunately the place she left it is a blind spot with restricted views (She has choice to enter through office entrance). There are multiple possible suspects, all of whom are customers, so it is impossible to identify who might have taken them.
This incident happened two days ago, and the only action has been done was looking at the footage. The employee hasnt reach out to me / other management / hr / have further discussion with her manager, so no decision has been made.
Suddenly this morning, the employee informed the manager that her parents want to call the manager & management regarding compensation for the shoes and have even compared the company's responsibility to the restaurant she has. She is 25 yo btw and so far has done a good job.
Is that ethical?
I want to handle it fairly, but dont want to set precedent where employees take it that company is responsible for their personal belonging.
Thank you!
Employees lost personal belonging and parents want to call management. How do I respond?
byu/Soft_Arm_3079 inEntrepreneur
Posted by Soft_Arm_3079
7 Comments
Yeah that’s a tricky one. I get why she’s upset, but it doesn’t really sound like the company’s fault if it was a personal item. Maybe just talk it out calmly so it doesn’t turn into a bigger issue than it needs to be.
I would buy her new shoes if I were the owner. I will not go into detail why, but seems like common sense and an easy slam dunk on multiple levels to me.
I personally wouldn’t. Let them call the manager if they want. Show them the security footage. I think it’s a bit ridiculous for them to expect you to compensate for that.
This comes from years of owning businesses and learning the hard way that sometimes it is the best decision to make decisions that aren’t necessarily popular.
I’d probably replace it, unless the shoes are outrageously expensive. You’re not responsible for personal belongings but if you have a policy that employees need to leave their belongings unattended, then their loss can be a result of that policy.
**However** I’d then change the policy so that employees are only permitted to leave their belongings in locations where you have camera coverage. Or provide lockers or something similar which can be locked by the employee.
Why is the parent of a twenty six year old getting involved? It’s none of their business. She’s an adult and should handle her personal affairs herself. Shoes are cheap these days. She can buy her another pair. Life is tough buttercup. Next time place them in a locker.
I want to know what type of business requires staff and customers to remove footwear and wear something different in the building.
If you know a customer stole her shoes, replace them and provide lockers. It’s the right thing to do
Just blimmen buy them new shoes that will solve the problem lol