Loyalty to company not being appreciated.

[HJT40]

My partner and I work for the same company, but in different areas. The other night he informed me that his dad had seen another employee taking something from the company that did not belong to him. His reasoning to the father in law was that someone had not padlocked it up. When he told me I immediately wished he hadn't as I knew that this person was to come in for a final disciplinary hearing soon, Any how, I mentioned to my boss what had happened and asked that my father in law not be brought in to it as there are otherways of dealing with it.

I just got called in to the office to say that they had in fact gone straight to my father in law to discuss it with him. I had not told my partner that I had spoken to someone at work. Leaving me in an awful situation because someone at work had gone in feet first without thinking about the outcome of the person showing loyalty to the company.

Was my loyalty misguided? Should I have been loyal to my Partner instead?

And is this kind of behaviour by my employees acceptable?

[bednobs]

sorry, i've read and re-read your post but i still can't undestand it, so i can offer no help

[jen78]

I guess that is part of the problem of working with family, divided loyalties.

The company may well have been wondering about why your FIL didn't tell the company himself (does he work there too?) and wondering about his loyalty seeing as it came to them second hand.

It could prejudice your relationship with your partner, yes, having potentially dropped his father in it but then I guess it's one of the risks you take on when members of the same family or similar work for the same company, there are potentially conflicting loyalties.

You can't blame the company for them expecting their staff to be loyal to them and report such things, it's not their fault that you have other issues. To them you are members of their staff, the family tie doesn't come into it and why should they make allowances in this kind of context?

I'd be concerned finding out a member of staff knew that something had been stolen by another member of staff and it was not reported.