Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Hypothetical Question

Let’s say you work for Company X.

During the course of an average day at work you run thru 30 to 40 pieces of paper, well over half of which get thrown away after a few marks are made on them. 

Company X has a recycling program so you don’t feel quite so bad about wasting so much paper, but you just recently started to save it all to take home and use in your home printer. After all, work related business only used one side = there’s still another side completely blank that can be used.

Could that be considered stealing? 

Company X was just going to throw it out anyway, and you have every intention of recycling the paper when you’re done with it. It just will get more thoroughly used than if it had been left at work.

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:06 PM

    I would think if it's not "sensitive" business correspondence, or information that could be used by a competitor, or something of a personal (not yours) nature, it shouldnt be a problem. But that being said, what harm could there be in asking your boss for permission? The worst he can do is say no, right? Personally, I would ask, just so I didnt feel like I was sneaking around... but thats just me.

    tues

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  2. Anonymous10:08 PM

    I'm into recycling, but I'd ask your employer first. We have a basket at work that we throw non-sensitive paperwork into for recycling. Anything sensitive gets shredded or thrown away.

    Britt

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  3. Anonymous3:38 PM

    I think the concern is whether the information on the paper is confidential and whether they would not only accuse you of steeling paper but actually of steeling information …
    Anne

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  4. Update: I spoke with my boss today and she said as long as it didn't have any numbers or names on it, it was ok. In fact, she was impressed that I was finding a way to be even MORE green than we already are!

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