If you’ve ever been tempted to take home a couple of envelopes from your employer’s stationery cupboard, you may want to think again. The consequences could be far heavier than you realised, says Philip Landau, employment law solicitor and partner of London law firm Landau Zeffertt Weir.

The Daily Express reported in March this year that a recent survey showed more than half of Britain’s employees have admitted to stealing from their employer. It was also reported that nearly one in twenty confessed to taking valuable items such as mobile phones or computer hardware.

If you steal from your employer, the starting point is quite simple – this can, and often does, amount to gross misconduct. This means that you can be dismissed immediately and without notice. This won’t look good when it comes to convincing a future employer to take you on. You may be able to bluff the reason why you left at interview stage, but all will come out in the wash when the job references come in.

Let’s now go back a stage. Say your theft from work amounts to little more than a few envelopes, a stapler, or some stamps – in other words a mini-raid on the stationery cupboard. Whilst this could lead to gross misconduct, an employment tribunal would consider wider factors such as:

• Was the offence serious enough to destroy the contractual relationship between you and the employer?
• Whether correct procedures were used, taking into consideration the law and the resources and size of your employer
• Whether the employer’s response was within a band of responses that a reasonable employer would take
• Whether the employer considered alternative sanctions e.g. a transfer, demotion or suspension
• Whether mitigating factors were taken into account, such as your past history, age, position, length of service and previous warnings

To put some of the above factors into context, while it might be reasonable to instantly dismiss a relatively new employee who is helping himself to the employer’s stationery, it might not be as reasonable to instantly dismiss a long-standing employee with a good track record.

You may have mitigating evidence (assuming you are guilty of the offence), such as health or domestic problems or possibly ignorance.

The severity of the offence should also be considered; if you have only taken a few envelopes, for example, it’s unlikely that this would (or should) be viewed in the same way as taking some electronic or other similar high value items.

But what if there’s no evidence of your stealing, only belief? It’s important to be aware that the test for the employer is not the same as a court of law. The employer only needs to have a ‘reasonable belief’ that the act took place. The employer must nevertheless carry out a proper investigation of the alleged offence and provide you with all relevant information gathered as part of that investigation. Such information should be provided to you before any disciplinary hearing. You must be given an opportunity to state your case and you’re entitled to be accompanied by a work colleague or trade union representative at the hearing. You must also be notified of your right to appeal.

I’ve seen many gross misconduct cases at tribunal overturned by a failure by the employer to follow a fair procedure, notwithstanding their reasonable belief in the offence that might otherwise have won the day.

It may be the case that your employer is not applying consistency to previous similar cases. For example, they may have let off a colleague a few months back who had carried out a similar offence. While it’s important for your employer to show consistency where they can, it’s not a necessarily a winning point for you if they don’t. An employer could try to justify why an offence by one employee merited only a written or verbal warning say, whereas a similar offence by the other justified dismissal. If no justification can be shown, you may be able to show unfairness or discrimination by the employer.

It should be remembered that ‘theft’ doesn’t just amount to petty withdrawing of stationery items. If you over-exaggerate your expenses claims for example, this is also theft and I have dealt with many such cases where the inevitable outcome will be a justifiable dismissal. If you are caught stealing outside of work, this could also be a reason for your employer to justify a charge of gross misconduct against you if it can be shown that such act has affected the trust and confidence of your employment position.

While the statistics of theft at work are shockingly high, we know that half of the British population have not been dismissed; this means that employers are either turning a blind eye, or simply do not consider the acts are serious enough to warrant a draconian response. As always, you should play it on the safe side if you want to keep your job. If you need some envelopes or other stationery for your personal use, there are plenty of outlets on the High Street where you can buy these. Or if there is an urgent need, why not simply ask your employer?

Jobsite have partnered with specialist employment law solicitor Philip Landau, to bring you expert advice on your rights in all key areas of your working life. As a Jobsite user you are also entitled to receive a free initial consultation on all employment law issues from Philip.

Philip can help with a number of legal problems; perhaps you feel your employer isn’t following their legal responsibilities, you believe you have been dismissed unfairly or you are unsure about clauses in your contract. Once he knows your specific situation he can let you know what your rights are and what action you can take.

To get in touch with Philip, click the link below and he will contact you to discuss your situation in more detail.

Philip Landau is a solicitor and partner, specialising in employment law, in the London legal firm Landau Zeffertt Weir.

Click here to here to contact Philip

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