Cleaner faces sack - over 20p | Manchester Evening News

Cleaner faces sack - over 20p

Yakub Qureshi

January 03, 2008

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A SUPERMARKET cleaner could be sacked for pocketing 20p he found lying on the floor.

Alan Rowbotham was sent home after picking up the coin at the Tesco branch in Macclesfield.

The 56-year-old store worker, who has an 18-month-old son, three grown-up children and four grandchildren, said he was suspended without pay from his £6-an-hour job last month and could not afford Christmas presents for his family.

He now faces a disciplinary hearing after being accused of 'gross misconduct'.

Alan admits taking the coin but said that if anyone had been looking for it he would have passed it over.

He said: "I was mopping up around one of the tills when I saw a 20p coin on the floor.

"I put it in my pocket. If it had been a bigger sum I would have handed it in.

"There wasn't anybody within 15ft of me so it wasn't as if I could have asked a customer if they had dropped the coin.

"I didn't think any more about it until a manager ordered me to the office.

Treated me

"The boss treated me as if I had been fishing £50 notes out of the till.

"I admitted it straight away because I didn't think I'd done anything wrong.

"I was unemployed for two years before and am desperate to keep this job."

Alan was employed by Carlisle Cleaning , which has the contract for the Tesco branch.

Bosses at the Hertfordshire-based firm, who have CCTV footage of the incident, are considering further action.

A spokeswoman for the company, which cleans council buildings, shops and railway stations, would not comment.

Tesco also refused to discuss the matter.

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Showing comments 1 to 25 and replies | View All

Bill, Kiriat Motzkin (03/01/2008 at 06:23)

I want to work for them, they sound great.

DOOBYDO (03/01/2008 at 07:11)

So I take it that Tesco did a till check on all tills to ensure that the 20p belongs to them? Probably not. Therefore the 20p should technically be handed in at the local police station as lost property. It will be recorded and after a period of time, if not claimed can be handed to the person who found it.the cleaner. If this had been me I would have put it in the nearest charity collection box as I do with any money found in the street. Those 1p, 2p and 5p's certainly mount up and are useful to someone. Come on Tesco, lighten up. Don't you make enough profit!

Mike, Manchester (03/01/2008 at 08:39)

Every little doesn't help then.

What if he had found 1p - would they expect him to hand that it too in case somebody was missing it?

Ms D, Manchester (03/01/2008 at 08:53)

20p ? He could have put it in his pocket to declare later for all Tesco knew !!!! Every little helps 'eh ? Pity this hard working cleaner wasn't a Spice Girl as he could have pocketed one million pounds !

He would be better off getting a job elsewhere where he is appreciated.

Timberman, MANCHESTER (03/01/2008 at 10:17)

Suspended over 20p, the world has gone mad, if that's the rate then there are some in Manchester council who should be 'suspended' by the neck.

CrankedUpReallyHigh, Tameside (03/01/2008 at 10:29)

Can you imagine a customer handing in 20p, they would laugh at you,

The Bobelesque (03/01/2008 at 10:48)

I know it sounds ridiculous - and it is - but if pocketing 20p is ok, at what figure does it cease to be ok? What if it had been a fiver, pound coin, 50p? At what figure does dishonesty begin?

ace, manchester (03/01/2008 at 11:46)

20 pence or twenty thousand pounds,its not how much involved here its the honesty of the staff member thats in question.If you allow staff to keep money that has been lost where does it end? I think the store was right to fire this person .it keeps the stores integrety for honesty.well done to the store for setting a good example.

CrankedUpReallyHigh, Tameside (03/01/2008 at 12:26)

Tell you what. Let's polygraph the whole country to see if anyone's ever nicked anything from work- a pen, some paper, anything. Why not? It's theft, isn't it?? After that we can look forward to a few sackings and a few extra million thrown on the dole.

Pippa, Manchester (03/01/2008 at 12:35)

Doobydo - would be very interesting to find out if indeed it was tesco's cash. As previous commenters have said, 20p seems a piffling amount to create fuch a fuss over but at the end of the day, it wasn't his. Would we be saying the same if it was £20? I think MEN have jumped the gun a little here and should have waited for the result of the hearing - this article is all about "coulds" and "ifs".

Pippa, Manchester (03/01/2008 at 12:37)

Oh and could everyone please note he ISN'T employed by Tesco, but by Carlisle Cleaners who are the ones to decide his future.

marc (03/01/2008 at 12:41)

ace, you're a total wind up artist mate ;)

if i pick up 20p in a supermarket and i'm confronted by a member of staff should i face criminal proceedings?

ace, manchester (03/01/2008 at 13:52)

marc
Ask any lawyer or policeman we have a law in britain called "Stealing by finding" Technically if you find something on the floor it obviously belongs to somebody not you or staff at a store,so its stealing? So what if you found a strong box in your garden with £10,000 in if you kept that ande got found out you would expect to be charged with theft ? "Or in your world you wouldnt" .20p to a child is a lot who knows who that 20p belonged to .what would have happened if a child had lost it.you cannot make your own rules up as you go along mate.

marc (03/01/2008 at 13:58)

if i found 10 grand in a strong box i'd obviously hand it in to the police. if i found 20p it would be a total waste of resources (paid for by YOUR tax money, by the way) for me to hand it in to the police. i think The Bob raises the the most interesting question - at which point does it become acceptably dishonest? is it 20p, 50p, a fiver etc?

Tracey-In-Athens, Athens, Greece (03/01/2008 at 14:07)

give the poor guy a break, its only 20p for goodness sake

ace, manchester (03/01/2008 at 14:22)

CrankedUpReallyHigh, Tameside
You can laugh if you want about people stealing a pen from work etc. But i worked for a company years ago who were loosing ten grand a year on the odd nut/bolt and washer going missing im sure if you had to pay for these socalled odd pen here and there.your attitude would change. i would like to know how much banks and other council offices spend each year on pens and the odd bit of paper that goes missing? i bet its thousands if not millions.

The Bobelesque (03/01/2008 at 14:28)

Thank you marc. Praise from Ceasar is praise indeed.

You can all ignore ace's moral indignation. I recall his contribution to discussions on, for instance, counterfeit clothing. I rest my case m'lud.

tramster (03/01/2008 at 14:40)

well done ace,in your world everyone gets sacked for picking up 20p off the floor,hmmmm now lets look at the real world,the guy in question now has no means to support his family so guess whos got to do that now,yes us tax payers,least he was working and not sponging off the state!

mauger 9, HANNOVER GERMANY (03/01/2008 at 15:00)

Ace!You could have put that in yer Petrol tank.

marc (03/01/2008 at 15:06)

you're welcome Bob, and i absolve thee.

Blue Ape With A Drum (03/01/2008 at 15:35)

It's because the guy is poor and powerless,if he was a rich powerful guy,who was ripping people off..(there are many fortunes with more than a whiff of scandle),then the person would get away with it.Well Tesco I was going to shopn with you tonight,but i'm going elsewhere,stick your 20p.

Mr Angry, Bury (03/01/2008 at 16:14)

ace sometimes talks sense but sometimes he spouts the most unimaginable rubbish.

This occasion is one of the latter

STONEY Mancunia (03/01/2008 at 16:21)

Give him 20 lashes and put him on trolley collection for 6 months.Its going a bit far if the bloke loses his job..

Matthew Wright (03/01/2008 at 16:43)

Quite simple really and companies need to enforce this so they do not get done for discrimination. If it is policy to leave any money where it is as it is policy in some offices not to take paper and its a sackable offence and the gentlemen has seen and signed this then he has broken his contract. If they let him off and another cleaner steals £40 this situation could be used in court and the second one thrown out as it doesnt matter to the law whether its 20p or £40 its breaking a work contract. Simple as.

stoneysdadmancunia, macclesfield (03/01/2008 at 16:44)

make him pay it back @ 1p per month. that will teach him crime dosnt pay.

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