Lately my phone has been ringing a little more than usual with calls such as this: “My employee has a heap of copper pipes and wires in his car boot, and he’s taken them home without my permission.”
Or: “I just found out one of my guys has his own account at the scrapyard, and instead of it going into the company’s account, some of it is ending up in his account.”
Or this: “My customer saw my employee put their off-cut roofing into his van and they are fuming as they told me they wanted any scrap to remain with them.”
These calls used to be a rare thing, but they seem to be on the increase – all regarding the unauthorised removal of materials from the workplace. Business owners are phoning distressed that their employee has, in fact, stolen from them – but also upset that they can’t quite understand why the team member didn’t just ask.
As a result, trust and confidence gets weakened. But I can’t help wonder what has happened to make the team member do this? What has happened to make them take such a risk that could cost them their job?
Get your policies in place
So what do you do? First, stop and check that you have policies and procedures in place regarding scrap removal. And next, make sure employees know your process. These are the first two questions I always ask my clients – and if they don’t have them in place, then we get to work.
Many business owners often think it’s not important to put such policies in place, but having clarity around your rules, even for scrap material, creates consistency and clear boundaries.
Here’s some other key reasons why it’s so important to get your policies in place for scrap material:
- Cost control:
Materials can be the lifeblood of many businesses – whether it’s scrap materials, copper pipes/wires or electrical components – as these can bring in some much-needed revenue.
Allowing unchecked removal of these materials risks impacting budgets and bottom lines. - Security concerns:
Removing material without authorisation could pose security risks and or damage the company’s reputation, as it very nearly did with the earlier example of the customer above.
- Safety precautions:
Certain materials may pose safety hazards if mishandled or disposed of or used improperly outside of the workplace. By enforcing boundaries on material removal, employers can ensure that their staff are aware of potential risks, and take steps to mitigate them.
So how does a trusting business owner ensure that their team adheres to the rules regarding removal of scrap materials from sites?
- Communicate your policies and then communicate again:
Make sure all your employees know the rules of what they can or can’t take from worksites regarding scrap materials. One of my clients has a policy that all scrap comes back to the yard. Then once a quarter on a Friday afternoon, all the team will sort it into piles, and then off to the scrapyard they go. They all share in the profits from those scrap proceeds. His staff love it, and nothing goes missing.
- Enforce consistently:
Policies and rules are only effective if they are constantly enforced. Remind your staff through toolbox meetings to keep the company’s expectations top of mind, and hold all employees accountable for sticking to your material removal guidelines.
I had one client who let a senior foreman get away with taking, in his words “a wee bit of stuff”. When one employee gets away with it, it undermines the integrity of the processes and systems, and can breed resentment among those that are following the rules. - Review & adapt:
Regularly review your rules to ensure they remain relevant and effective. It might be that you decide to allow staff to take scrap as a staff perk, and also a retention tool, as some of my clients have done as another way of retaining their team members.
- Encourage openness:
Create opportunities for your employees to seek approval or get clarity on what they are allowed to do for material removal when needed. Encourage open communication and transparency to avoid any misunderstandings or unauthorised actions as, take it from me, no one wants to have these types of disciplinary meetings.
The formal meetings I am involved in regarding unauthorised use of company materials are particularly hard. Everyone is distressed, employees are embarrassed, and the outcome often is termination, which is really sad.
Every item leaving the workplace represents a potential cost to the company. Make sure you have all your scrap material policies and procedures up to date or, if you don’t have any, create some (and we can help you with those).
This is so your team know these rules and can play their part in protecting themselves and fostering a workplace culture of trust, integrity, and confidence that they are doing the right thing – even when no one is looking.
This article is not intended to be a replacement for legal advice