A record 1,383 employees at Danish companies were reported to the national police force Rigspolitiet for stealing from their workplaces in 2015.
That is the highest number for eight years, according to the Danish business magazine DI Business. Police believe the actual amount of workplace pilfering is higher than reported.
“I think many companies choose not to report the situation and settle with the employee to avoid negative publicity,” Rigspolitiet inspector Michael Kjeldgaard told DI Business.
There is no minimum amount that an employee can steal before the company has a right to sack them.
They’ll never miss a roll to two
Enforcement by police is complicated since individual companies have different rules concerning what is and what is not okay for an employees to take home.
Office articles like pens and pads of paper are usually not a problem, but employees also snag toilet paper and soap from the restroom and carry them out in backpacks and handbags.
Sometimes employees take things they feel are no longer of value to the company, believing that it is okay to do so.
“The starting point is that everything on company property belongs to the company,” Dansk Industri workplace consultant Allan Fugmann told TV2 News. “Companies are now recycling more and more items they would have previously thrown away.”
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Fugmann said that corporate guidelines need to be absolutely clear on what is and what is not fair game for employees to take home.
