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One may have to face grave consequences if one misuses company property. It is possible that one may be fired from work if there is no policy or contract. If one is fired from work for misuse of company property, he/she may have questions on one’s rights regarding the termination. Below are a few questions that have been answered regarding misuse of company property. An employee was intimated by the company in March that he/she was using the company telephone to make a lot of personal phone calls. After this, the employee reduced the number of calls made, but did make a few calls in April. Due to this the employee was terminated. However, this employee filed for unemployment benefits, which would be decided after a telephonic hearing. The employee does realize that he/she may not get the unemployment benefits as the termination was due to the employee’s mistake. The employee wants to know if he/she can still avail some benefits by presenting the case in a specific manner.
One may not be able to grant only some portion of the benefit and leave the rest. Either one may be eligible to avail all benefits or no benefits at all. One may present the case in such a manner to show that the number of calls were cut upon the employer’s notification. One making personal calls is legal grounds for termination, but may not be enough for the employer to stop unemployment benefits. An employee works in a company in Texas. This employee saw a company registration sticker in the trash and put it in his/her car. The employee was not aware that it belongs to the company truck. The supervisor noticed this and requested for the sticker. The supervisor also informed that disciplinary actions will be taken against the employee as there is photographic evidence. The employee wants to know if it would be considered as abuse of corporate asset as it was found in the trash.
Considering the scenario mentioned above, the employee may be liable to pay penalties for misuse of vehicle registration sticker by putting it on a vehicle that was unregistered. Generally, things that are discarded purposely may be taken by anyone. However, if there is a company policy restricting use of disposed objects; then one may not take it. Texas is an at-will employment state where an employee maybe terminated without any valid reason at any given point of time. Even if a company does not have any policy on picking up discarded materials, one may be terminated for doing so. However, one may be able to avail unemployment benefits in the event that an employee was fired for picking up a discarded object (as long as the termination was not for unlawful conduct). Use of company vehicle registration sticker as one’s own is an unlawful activity that may hamper one’s eligibility to receive unemployment benefits. Consider a situation where an employee in the state of Washington was terminated for exchanging an e-mail between a co-employee regarding buying of prescription of medication. The employee informed the company that he/she did not buy the drug in the company premises, but still the employee was asked to go home and a termination letter sent the very next day. As per the company policy one may be fired for misuse of company e-mail. The company informed the employee that they would not tolerate sale of drugs, but have not given the employee a copy of the e-mail that led to the termination. This person has been employed in the company for 28 years without any blemish on his/her record. Therefore, the employee believes that the company should have counseled, suspended or written him/her up and wants to know if the company’s action can be treated as a case of wrongful termination.
In the event that there is no employment contract with regards to the employer having a cause to fire an employee; it is not required that the company have proof of sale of medication within the company’s premises. The company may have the right to terminate the employee based on the fact that the employee was discussing purchase of medication and that too on company e-mail. Therefore, the employee may not have a claim for wrongful termination. It is possible that one misuses company property without knowledge. One would need to be informed in advance about the company policy so that an employee does not have to face dire consequences later. If you are not sure if the law and need clarification, ask an employment lawyer for answers.
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