suspended from work

[kc79]

hi,there was an incident yesterday where i left work with a plate of waste food that was going in the bin and i got pounced on outside by head office.they said it was thief and now me and my collegue who also had something has been suspended.the man from HO told us not to return to work until further notice,and within an hour i was hand delivered a letter at home from 2 area managers.i know you are not allowed to take new stock but seriously will they sack me for taking something that was going into the bin?i know if i don't get sacked there will be a bad atmosphere at work with people talking about it when i return.should i just hand in my notice and learn from my mistakes.

[Hawkwalk]

it is still theft as the food did not belong to you. It would still be classed as theft if you took it out of the rubbish bin.

It is a bit petty but those are the rules. Depending on what type of boss you have they may go easy on you in which case just take a telling off and go back to work. It not the great train robbery after all.

[meltoadhall]

if you are told yes and you have asked then that would be fine, but it is classed as theft because you just took it without permission.
are you new there? they may overlook it with a warning if you didnt know the rules.

[kc79]

there was no one to ask because it was a school kitchen and we were running it.i have heard today that the headmaster of the school has told everyone that me and my collegue has resigned and will not be returning.but this is rubbish as we have done no such thing.i am not employed by the school i am employed by the council so the decision is nothing to do with the head teacher.we have been told not to discuss anything that has happened but the teachers all know and are spreading gossip.

[teddybon]

I am very surprised that you did not know that you shouldn't take food from a school kitchen. There should be very little food left over and it definitely should not leave the premises on school plates /school containers etc. I'd put this one down to experience and try a job in a works canteen where the rules (And portions) are not so rigid.

[Ebbs]

You need to get some legal advice.
Try these people they gave me some very useful advice a couple of years back.

http://www.acas.gov.uk/