Employee Lost Mobile In Office - Who's Responsible?

Dear Sujata,

I would advise one thing from my experience. I have seen that if you get yourself involved in all these activities, you will be unnecessarily courting trouble. Today it is mobile, tomorrow it will be specs, someday it will be somebody's tiffin, and the list continues. A situation may also arise where you take action against someone based on a complaint, and it turns out to be a prank or joke. In such cases, both parties may shake hands and say sorry, while you will be left with wasted time, energy, strained relationships, and a lot of explanations.

Regards,
SC

Hi Swastik,

Well said. It could be fun for others, while I am wasting my time unnecessarily on stuff that doesn't require attention.

Thanks.

With Warm Regards, Sujata

Hi Sujata,

First, the employee should be made aware of the difference between office and private property. Secondly, you may get an informal inquiry/investigation done by a senior person in that department to bring out the facts - sequence of events, etc. Like others have already pointed out, cash, valuables, etc., are the individual's responsibility and not that of the company. All this should be done in a way that the employee realizes this in an understanding manner, not an antagonizing one.

Regards,
Kurra Sarat

Put up a notice: 💡

"Employee apne samaan (aur Sabotage) ka khud Zimmevaar Hai"
LOL 😂

Hi there,

Personal belongings that you bring to the office, its safety is the responsibility of the individual. The company need not pay. However, here is a suggestion so it does not occur in the future: Make a lost & found locker at a convenient place in your office. The charge of the locker may be given to the caretaker(s) of your office (person responsible for closing and opening the office). You can instruct them to keep such items in the locker and report the same to the administrative head for informing others in the office via circular, mail, or whatever is convenient at your place. During office hours, such items should be deposited at the reception counter or admin. dept. (whatever you have).

Daizy

Dear Daizy,

Sorry to say this, but I feel these types of issues should be nipped in the bud. Any action on the part of the management regarding lost and found will result in unnecessary wastage of valuable time. The line should be drawn between personal and professional and how much we are ready to serve and where our services end. What we, as HR, should do at most is, if somebody informs us about an unclaimed article, we circulate the information in the office and state the name of the employee from whom it can be collected. In the case of the factory, we issue a notice and keep the article with Administration. Nothing more.

Regards,
SC

Hi,

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions. I am overwhelmed with the kind of suggestions I am getting. Thanks once again for your kind support.

Best Regards,
Sujata

Hi Sujata,

Please penalize that employee for being so careless and forgetful that he lost his mobile. If he can't safeguard his own simple mobile, how can the company trust him with valuable documents and properties of different natures? Also, penalize him for having stolen the company's time by talking through the mobile during office hours without obtaining your permission for using his mobile in the office.

Issue a suspension order immediately or at least a warning memo. Without this, you have not done your job.

Jeeva

Hi Sujata,

Incidents like this keep happening in our office as well, and employees keep blaming the inadequate safety system in the office for the same. It is next to impossible to ascertain the culprit(s).

I agree with Pradeep on this that the onus of keeping one's things safely lies with the employee. What if the cell was lost at home...? I guess if adequate care is taken in keeping one's belongings safely, incidents like this can be averted.

Regards,
Richa

Yeah, I too agree that payment should not be made by the company. If payment is made for such cases, there might be fraudulent occurrences where employees falsely claim damages for items that were not lost in the office.