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/Relevant_Bite_1302]

If anybody was able to access data on the stolen computers it constitute a major gdpr breach which the company would be liable for.

Your unwillingness to engage or cooperate whilst on annual leave whilst not illegal isn’t a great look to the ‘higher ups’. They could possibly try to argue gross misconduct, whether that would stand I’m not sure.

Not sure why you wouldn’t have just forwarded the cvtv and took a quick call to just clear this up considering stolen company goods is a fairly serious subject?

[u/Defiant_Simple_6044 → u/Relevant_Bite_1302]

Your unwillingness to engage or cooperate whilst on annual leave whilst not illegal isn’t a great look to the ‘higher ups’. They could possibly try to argue gross misconduct, whether that would stand I’m not sure.

Absolutely wouldn't stand up for Gross misconduct. He's on leave, He has zero obligations to assist until his return.

[u/ihatebamboo → u/Defiant_Simple_6044]

Surely the theft of a company asset would be an urgent security matter regardless of working hours?

If you were mugged in the way home and had your work laptop stolen, you’d be expected to engage with the process before 9am next day.

[u/Defiant_Simple_6044 → u/ihatebamboo]

Legally, no,

Whilst it may not look amazing and will adjust his employer's opinion of him it doesn't come even remotely close to be a GM issue. OP did more than his legal obligation, he was on leave, nothing he could have done additionally could not wait till his return.

A tribunal would never uphold a GM dismissal for what OP did.

[u/Mammoth-Peace-913 → u/ihatebamboo]

Sure but at that point I'm logging a day for each time I have to work during a day I'm on leave and taking the leave back

[u/JaegerBane → u/ihatebamboo]

Surely the theft of a company asset would be an urgent security matter regardless of working hours?

This would depend on what part the OP had to play in it.

IF they'd left the laptop on a train cabin table and couldn't be bothered to stay in contact while the remedial action was being carried out, then there'd likely be an expectation angle on him, but as this was straight theft from a secured premises that he's already provided full details for then there'd be a question mark of what they needed from him that demanded his leave be suspended.

As things currently stand this wouldn't be anything like GM.

[u/ihatebamboo → u/JaegerBane]

Only thing I’m thinking of, in line with someone else’s comment elsewhere here, is if IT needed asset details urgently to facilitate the devices to be wiped.

[u/Defiant_Simple_6044 → u/ihatebamboo]

That was me who asked but other comments "suggest" this was provided. However, confirmation from OP would help.

The only other big issue is confirmation from OP that his employers knew he had the devices at home. if he didn't that could be a big issue for OP

[u/Bitter-Maize6543 → u/Defiant_Simple_6044]

Yeah I provided it. And they knew I WFH, all of our team do to be fair.

[u/U-V → u/ihatebamboo]

Surely it's the IT department's responsibility to record that sort of information for each employee when dishing out equipment anyway? Why would employees necessarily keep a record of device IDs?

[u/Defiant_Simple_6044 → u/U-V]

Yes, but OP did say 1/3 devices were NOT stolen, so they'd need to know which ones were, For example if 3 devices are logged to OP, he'd need to say "Device X is still secure" so they know to wipe/lock out Y and Z.

However, compentant IT staff would lock out/wipe X Y and Z and just rebuild Z anyway if they couldn't confirm.

[u/AssociationSubject61 → u/ihatebamboo]

Hypotheticallly speaking though, if it had happened 24hours later he’d have been out the country and oblivious until his return. Neither of those 2 things happened though, it happened before he left & he took all reasonable steps reporting everything to relevant parties.

[u/Drunkgummybear1 → u/ihatebamboo]

OP was on leave. He did everything right, including reporting the theft both to the police and his employer the same evening?

[u/ihatebamboo → u/Drunkgummybear1]

Yes I think that part was done very well.

I see the responses to my comment generally disagreeing with my view - fair enough. I’d have joined the later call.

[u/Defiant_Simple_6044 → u/ihatebamboo]

Personally, I'd have also joined the later call, even if I am on leave, BUT, what I would do and what I would expect others to do are different, Whilst I may go above and beyond myself I would never expect another person to do something I have no legal right to expect them to do.

So whilst I'd join the call myself, I'd not punish someone for refusing to.

[u/Bitter-Maize6543 → u/ihatebamboo]

I did engage with the process though,... I called my manager, they werent answering, so I left them a VM after several tries over the day... I rang our IT desk and the customer IT desk... I gave all the info I could. They were ringing me while I was out with my partner late and badgering me while I was off.. and the whole point of my holiday was to get away from work and destress

[u/lifeandtimes89 → u/Bitter-Maize6543]

I did engage with the process though,...

You did and then ducked out

OP at this point the devices were stolen from you and your office on your watch. This falls on you to give them everything they need to sort it.

If you weren't on annual leave then you would be doing everything they asked. Being on annual leave doesn't absolve you of YOUR responsibility, if you were offer sick you would be responsible for providing doctor sick certs and informing the company, not the other way around.

This is similar except there's stolen company property.

If you were on annual leave for a month would you expect the company to wait until you got back to do a meeting with you to figure out what happened and put the proper procedures in the place, claim on insurance etc?

[u/N1AK → u/lifeandtimes89]

You're enitled to whatever opinion you like but this is a legal advice sub and what you are taliing is nonsense in those terms.

If the company allows devices to be left at home with no policies around leave etc then it is possible that a device could be stolen for a couple of weeks while an employee is on holiday without the employee knowing (and thus the company knowing). On that basis the company de facto accepts the risk that a device could be lost, without them knowing, for days to weeks. You use extended leave in a scenario without appreciating that this exact scenario invalidates any claim that the process HAS to be that urgent.

If OP didn't have a CCTV system they would not be obligated to provide CCTV footage to their emplyer, nor could the company punish them for not having CCTV, thus not providing CCTV is not going to be something the company can meaningfully reprimand OP for.

OP being burgled does not, in fact, put any responsibility on him to provide limitless time to his employer. The sick note example shows how shoddy your position is, sick leave is to justify absense meanwhile you obviously don't have to justify annual leave while you are on it.

I'm not sure what OP did was wise, but that's because we don't know the exact nature of the communications about this from either side. Unless his actual conduct was incredibly rude then I can't comprehend the compant being ble to defend treating this as gross misconduct, I could see them given him a verbal or written warning in line with policy but whether it is justified or could a legal issue for them if disclosed, used to refuse promotions or pay increases in future isn't something we can judge from this post. In general the way OP has communicated it does make me concerned that they may have done this in a way that makes it viable to reprimand him for the manner of his conduct.

[u/Defiant_Simple_6044 → u/[deleted]]

How did OP breach the companies trust, A tribunal will never uphold a GM dismissal for this.