24 million Britons 'steal' from their employers

24 million people (82%) employees in Britain have taken property from work or exaggerated expense claims

Over a quarter of a million workers in Britain have taken a laptop from work for personal use and not returned it.

Almost 1 in 7 employees has claimed they worked more overtime than they did or made false or exaggerated expense claims.

Over half a million workers do so every day.

Over 1 million employees in Great Britain steal stationery from work at least once a week.

A new survey commissioned by insurer Royal and Alliance (R and SA) has shown that employers are victims of multiple cases of thieving, with 24 million workers taking property from work or exaggerating expense claims.

Most British employees are guilty of some form of office pilfering (82%).

However, R and SA's statistics show that some employees are guilty of more serious crimes such as removing and keeping company laptops (almost a quarter of a million workers) and exaggerating expense and overtime claims (one in seven).

Perhaps more startling are their reasons for committing these crimes.

Of those who have taken something from work, nearly one million did so because they considered it to be their property, and a further 963,200 workers did so to spite their company.

Jon Woodman, Trading Director of Broker, R and SA, said, "Our research has shown that taking work property home and making false claims are very common in the workplace.

"Per worker, thefts are mostly of small items, but given that 82% of people who work have admitted to pilfering from the workplace, the overall impact on a business could be significant.

"As an insurer, we take theft very seriously and advise businesses to be aware of the actions of their employees.

Policies can be enforced which encourage employers to respect company property or sign in and out materials such as laptops." For more information please speak to your usual R and SA contact, or see our website, www.royalsunalliance.com.

Back to top