Sainsbury’s worker is sacked for pressing the ‘zero bags used’ button and taking bags for life at the end of a night shift after working at the supermarket for 20 years
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13321651/Sainsburys-worker-sacked-pressing-zero-bags-used-button-taking-bags-life-end-night-shift-working-supermarket-20-years.html?ito=social-reddit
Posted by JHOWES97
34 Comments
Corrected headline:
> Saintsbury’s worker is sacked for theft
No he wasn’t. Sainsbury’s just used this provable theft as gross misconduct in order to sack him.
They would have been looking for an excuse to sack him due to other reasons – maybe his poor work ethic, how he was with customers or other members of staff etc.
That sounds like more of a ‘we’ve been trying to sack this guy for years and finally found something we can use’ kinda sacking.
Worker is in the wrong, length of service doesn’t make theft permissible.
Why are people defending this?
should have gone to my local lidl…no-one seems to ever pay there
3 ways to avoid being sacked at a supermarket.
* Turn up to your shifts
* Don’t sell booze, fags or lottery to under age
* Don’t steal
Other than those, you can pretty much get away with anything
I’ve noticed some supermarkets have started searching my empty bags at tills for stolen items.
I wouldn’t necessarily complain about this because I understand thefts are up – but I notice that I’m the only one in the queue this happens to.
I suspect it’s because I’m a young man who wears trackies.
I did point out to the Aldi till worker that he hadn’t searched the elderly woman in front of me, but he just shrugged and remained silent.
I’m not shopping at Aldi again after that experience, but I worry the other supermarkets are not far behind.
I don’t think it’s even legal to single people out for searches because of their gender or age under the Equality Act (Stop & Search scandal comes to mind).
Either search all the bags or none at all. It’s humiliating to be singled out.
Edit: Why am I being downvoted on this post for simply pointing out that Aldi had illegally stopped and searched my bags when they a) have profiled me for a seach based on my age and gender which is illegal under the Equality Act and b) have no right to go through my private property anyway regardless of their intent.
I’ve asked for a bag before after checking out, been handed one and asked how I should pay o lot to be told, “this one’s on us” feels kinda similar
Don’t steal, kids. A bag for life isn’t worth your job.
Waiting for the “you didn’t see it” people to arrive and at the some time wonder why society isn’t functioning like it used to.
On the plus side, they don’t have to work at Sainsbury’s anymore.
It’s Mr Burns! Bart, help me hide the stuff I borrowed from work!
Borrowed?!
The problem is buying from supermarkets feels like being robbed in itself.
Something more must of been happening because why would they check the CCTV of his transaction
I do that regularly, pretty sure I’m not the only one
It’s theft and dishonesty is gross misconduct, an employer has to be able to trust employees around these things and the manner in which they investigated suggests there’s more to this, he certainly makes a number of less-than-robust excuses, like “tired” but not too tired to make multiple trips to get bags
It’s eye-opening how seriously supermarkets are protecting these 20p bags and you could question the proportionality, but theft is theft no matter the value, and an unfortunate consequence for the guy it’s now headline news.
I accidentally clicked to say I’d used a bag when I hadn’t the other day. No way to undo that without calling staff over, which is difficult even when the big red light is flashing, so I ended up paying for something I didn’t get. Notice that Sainsbury’s didn’t pick that up on CCTV and give me my 35p back.
It appears the comments indicate nothing short of years in the slammer for nicking a plastic bag would be on the cards should the law allow it.
Unrelated but anyone defending supermarkets when they regularly engage in employee abuse and wage theft needs their head checked.
https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/tesco-and-sainsburys-accused-of-migrant-worker-abuse/
As someone who works nights at Sainsbury’s, I’m given far more leeway than regular staff regarding things we shouldn’t do. They were looking to sack him if bags are genuinely what it’s about. He may have worked there for twenty years, but that doesn’t mean he was any good. I’ve worked at mine for 15, and people have worked there twice as long, and I know more about the ins and outs of the business than them. They were either looking to get rid of this individual specifically, or they were trying to cut hours in any way, and he gave them an excuse.
Remember when we were forced into paying 5p for a bag and everyone was outraged, those same bags are now 30p at my local
All of you saying he shouldn’t steal are the problem with this country
Ex store manager here –
It’s likely this colleague was in the firing line and they just needed an excuse to give him the sack.
Yes. Even though it’s just a bag, it’s stock. If you’re not paying for a bag you’re breaking the law and it’s gross misconduct, it’s petty but true.
I’ve had to sack someone (with pressure from my boss) because they took a bottle of water to take their medicine and didn’t have a receipt. Personally I’d have bought the water for them myself but they wanted her gone for numerous other reasons and this was the nail in the coffin.
TLDR: don’t be loyal to these companies, they’ll fuck you in the end
You have to take a good long hard look at the wages in supermarkets before you make a judgement about someone stealing small value items.
“I’m afraid it’s worse than we thought, Sir. He’s got a Sainsbury’s ballpoint pen in his backpack too”
All these people saying *Oh that’s over the top – should have been a final warning!* Have you ever had a job? For more than a few weeks? There’s almost no way Sainsbury’s sacked this chap over some bags – there was likely other stuff going on and this was a convenient (and legal) way to get rid of him easily.
Remember when bags were free and then the supermarkets said they’re doing it for the environment and collectively started making millions basically over night
In that case lock me up for life becuase I’ve paid for those things maybe twice since they added the costing.
I’m not shocked but that’s a bit stupid nonetheless. 60p Morrisons charged me for a BFL the other day, I audibly gasped when I saw the price, and absolute ripoff. Guess if worked though because I always be taking a bag with me in future just in case.
Yeah theft is wrong and shouldn’t bring tolerated.
But it’s a shitty plastic bag, the company probably buy them for pence in the first place. To sack the worker is overkill.
Personally I find this is ridiculous. When they introduced the carrier bag charge it was supposedly to help the environment, and I seem to recall supermarkets saying any profit from the bags would go to charity.
Now the bags have gone up and up in price and, I could be wrong, but I’m willing to bet the whole charity thing has gone out of the window and supermarkets are now making a nice profit on these bags.
The guy worked there for 20 years and bought £30 worth of shopping. So what that he took a bag to carry his £30 worth of shopping in.
I have noticed the supermarkets have gone into over-drive recently trying to stop shoplifting, but spying on their employees to see if they take a plastic carrier bag takes the biscuit.
People saying he’s probably stolen before are most likely wrong. I say this as someone who has never stolen anything but did once take a bag from the supermarket and forgot to pay for it. And no, I’m not going back the next day to give Tesco 35p for their over priced bag and I don’t feel the slightest bit of guilt over it.
I don’t work for the supermarket but I press the zero bags used because the 20p covers my shift while I’m scanning items at their tills for them.
if they want it enforced then they should have it so the alarm goes off if you leave the shop without paying like it would with anything else 🤷♀️
Retail stores often have a zero tolerance policy to theft, for the simple reason that there are hundreds of opportunities each day for staff to steal, and if they catch them doing it once the odds are they have been doing it for years.
So they’ve publicly “named and shamed” this person. Wonder what that’s going to do for their job search going forward.
I’m not one for big business in general but if you steal from your job no matter the amount surely you should expect to be sacked