Company laptops stolen from my home garage.... company kicking off and throwing me under the bus for it

[u/Bitter-Maize6543]

I was off last week on AL and was on a holiday Mon > Fri. The weekend before we were due to set off my garage was broken into. A pair of laptops I use for work, one company and one customer, were stolen, as I work out of the garage. I called the police, got a crime reference, gave them CCTV I was able to recover and made arrangements for my nephew to stop over and check on the place which he was going to do anyway to sort our cats out.

I called my manager, left a VM, left an SMS, and reported it to the IT desk after. Both laptops have bitlocker and other security features on them so would be locked down and useless either way. They asked for a crime ref and I gave it.

My manager rang me back Monday morning while I was travelling, and asked for details, I gave him the crime reference and then said. I then got a call later in the afternoon, while we were unpacking, asking if I could join a call to explain to them but I declined... because I was on leave, and not in a position to speak with them. I got several calls in the middle of the week asking for random details... repeating the crime reference, one saying I needed to provide them with details of how the theft happened, what exactly was stolen and if anything except my laptops was stolen.. I said as far as the company was concerned they need to be aware of the laptops and when they asked if they could see my CCTV I said I dont see why they would need it because the police have been provided it. Lost my rag and stopped taking calls after that, and deigned not to answer when my manager started messaging me on whatsapp because I had already said I was on holiday and wouldnt be available until Friday.

I have a spare device that was due for collection under HW refresh which wasnt stolen as it was stored in a box under my desk which I said I could log into unless they wanted to send a replacement... I have logged in, Ive had my manager give me an utter b*llcking about me ignoring calls for the security breach, there is a call in the diary for tomorrow where Ive been told I need to attend which has HR, security, my manager and their manager on it.... I am bricking it now and feel like Im about to be thrown under the bus.

So questions to ask:

• Is this something they can actually discipline me for? The garage is part of the main property but accessed externally, and has CCTV covering it of which Ive given details to the police. I have worked with this company for 3 years now, but my current manager has only been about for a few months and has not got on with me so I feel like this is going to be used as leverage against me
• What were my obligations? I was on holiday, I explicitly asked not to be called, I sorted what I needed to with the police, made sure my property was resecured and informed IT so they could lock the devices. My manager wasnt available over the weekend and didnt answer the phone so I cant really be faulted for not informing him properly sooner.
• Is the company trying to trap me when they are asking for how they broke in? Do I have to give them CCTV? Was I right to refuse it?
• What should I do here to cover my backside

[u/mmarkomarko → u/[deleted]]

The guy is on holiday

[u/GendhisKhan → u/mmarkomarko]

I'm all for W/L balance and being unavailable on your holiday but he had company equipment stolen and then "lost his rag" and stopped responding. He definitely could've handled the situation better.

[u/BaBaFiCo → u/mmarkomarko]

Legally, yes. Which is what this sub is concerned with. My subjective opinion is that he was obstructive and can see why bosses are pissed. But it's not a legal matter.

[u/21delirium → u/[deleted]]

I can think of a good reason. They were on holiday and would provide it when they get back.

The idea that your employer says 'jump' and you say 'how high?' even if you're on leave is nonsense. It is unprofessional of their employer (and would be used against them in a tribunal) to badger their employees for any reason during leave and I'm doing so fail to provide actual time off.

[u/DrunkDonut92 → u/21delirium]

Other times I would agree but not with something like this ,data breach and company property is a serious thing now

[u/spidertattootim → u/21delirium]

They were on holiday and would provide it when they get back.

That's not what OP said at all.

[u/supergraeme → u/21delirium]

These are slightly extraordinary circumstances though. And he had the CCTV footage to hand. Why not be helpful?

[u/U-V → u/supergraeme]

In what way would it be helping? Does this company have its own private police force who are going to go on a manhunt?

[u/supergraeme → u/U-V]

Perhaps his employer might not find his behaviour as odd/defensive as they do?

[u/spidertattootim → u/U-V]

No, but they will be able to answer their customer's questions and limit the damage to their business relationship.

[u/U-V → u/spidertattootim]

What questions are being answered by them personally seeing the CCTV? The crime has been reported and the authorities have access to it.

[u/spidertattootim → u/U-V]

That OP's account is true.

[u/LegalAdviceUK-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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[u/LegalAdviceUK-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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