Let’s step back a bit on this. What would motivate someone to take a lunch from the break room fridge that didn’t belong to you? They are probably too poor to afford their own lunch. Poverty can drive people to do things you wouldn’t imagine. Instead of trying to punish these people, why not just make an extra lunch and label it as FREE.
In one of the past threads, someone said the thief was caught and it turned out it was a company executive. Some people are just cheap.
This made me laugh. At my former place of employment, a hidden camera was installed by one of the aggrieved coworkers, and it turned out the culprit was a rather high up member of our management team.
Came in here to say this. For $23 you can get a USB-powered dashcam; add in $10 for a flash card that can hold several hours worth of video, and then dig a wall-wart USB power supply out of your junk drawer, and you’re all set. Tuck this thing in a corner of the room where it can see who’s raiding the fridge; when you notice your lunch is gone, review the video to find the thief.
A nice, big, chewy brownie, shot through with blue food coloring. The [del]victim[/del]thief won’t see it, but it will definitely be visible on their lips and tongue.
Yes, install a video camera and catch the person. Do call the police on the thief and fire him/her.
I found the best solution to the lunch thief problem was to keep my lunch and snacks in a small cooler at my desk. Sure it was awkward carrying that cooler in to the office every morning but my lunch and snacks didn’t get stolen.
In a small office, I’d be tempted to announce at 3 pm, “Well, my lunch was taken again, but this time I’ll have the last laugh. I mixed my Uncle Jim’s leftover chemo medication into the food”.
Then watch to see who freaks out.
I can see someone sneaking a bit of someone else’s creamer that they keep in the fridge, but the idea that people steal coworkers’ entire lunches just completely astonishes me.
I vote for the hidden camera route, followed by intense shaming, if not firing.
Is your thief stealing the whole lunch or just taking single items out of the lunches?
What about getting one of those driveway alarms? They come in two parts–a battery-powered remote motion sensor and a base station. Put the motion sensor in the lunch bag and the base station at your desk. When the thief opens the lunch bag, the base station will ring and you can catch the thief red handed.
They also have motion activated alarms which work in a similar manner. Put the alarm in the lunch bag and it will go off when the thief opens it up. Some have a remote control so you can turn it off while it’s still in the bag.
I agree, it’s just astounding to me that there are adults out there who would do this. I’ve read posts like this before, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it happening in any place that I’ve worked.
WAG: Lunch thieves fit the same profile as shoplifters, only a fraction of whom actually need the things they steal.
It depends what kind of ‘solution’ you’re looking for. If firing the person isn’t an option available * to you*–the thief might even outrank you–then the booby-trap is the way to go.
Off the top of my head:
revenge
sense of entitlement/ego
outsmarting others
getting away with something
thrill seeking
sense of power/control over others
kleptomania (rare)
other psychological issues
misplaced aggression
Apparently, in the OP’s case, no “FREE” label is necessary. Besides, in reality workplace petty theft is not commonly driven by need, financial or otherwise.
Also Conduct Disorder/Antisocial Personality Disorder. This is a criminal type who can not follow rules and can not respect the boundaries of other people.
Teens…
Conduct Disorder: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment
Adult version…
Antisocial personality disorder - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic
And just how much money is a victim expected to spend on this, on top of the inconvenience and expense of having his lunch stolen? Some of us can’t really afford to play James Bond here.
At an employment some years ago, a lunch thief was caught by a security camera. IIRC he was a highly paid contractor and fired on the spot.
Same here. Kind of grosses me out too…
Put a sign on the door which says: “To combat thefts, items may be booby-trapped. To avoid the consequences, only take your own items.” You don’t have to actually booby-trap anything. The sign itself may be enough to discourage the thief.
We’re just throwing out ideas. Depending on your situation, some may work better than others. I have a dash cam and USB chargers I could use if needed. I just so happen to have one of those driveway alarms at my house which I could take to work if necessary.
Another idea is to use an old cell phone to film the fridge. Some can be set for motion capture. If you can hide it from view, you could leave it there maybe catch the thief that way.