Someone broke into the backdoor at work and stole my backpack with my “to-go-home” in it. Am I covered? What should I do? [closed]

manpreet Best Answer 2 years ago

We have a backdoor that is always unlocked when someone is working because we use it quite often. All of our staff things (coats, boots, shoes, bags) stay at the back. I was working in the middle of the day and 1 hour before the end of my shift (I am the opener so I leave early) I noticed my bag wasn't where I left it all day. I asked around if someone moved it but no one did. So we looked and looked… nothing. We went outside to see if someone would have stolen the bag, took my money and left the rest to be buried in the snow somewhere… nothing.

I am not rich. I work extremely hard to make ends meet. And when I buy something, I worked really hard for it. I don't spend much time home, so I carry a lot of my "life" in my bag. I counted for about $1,500 worth to replace everything. It included prescription sunglasses and cash money, my entire designer wallet with all my cards, my keys, toiletries… my super awesome tea mug that I cannot find anymore, my water bottle… I know they are all material belongings, but they are my “survival kit” from Monday to Friday.

I work outside and alone with animals quite often. my headphones are gone, my phone charger is gone and now I am blinded by the sun when I work outside.

They are supposed to provide a safe working space. I work in a clinic. There are no cameras, no security measures. I made a little bit of research, but I would like to know what I can argue on, or what I could demand of the company since, in my opinion, there is a big lack of safety measures, knowing already that we have people knocking on that door to ask if we can give them drugs.

I was also victim of a theft (just my keys) at work not even 6 weeks ago. It cost me about $200, lots of stress and lots of time. Now it is so much worse!

manpreet 2 years ago

No one 'broke into the backdoor' it wasn't locked.

Having your stuff stolen is upsetting to everyone, but best not to let it make you too frustrated and take it out on innocent people, rather learn a lesson from it. This can happen at any workplace, even offices in the middle of buildings. You need to be careful with your valuables at all times, do not rely on a third party to protect them. This is unfortunate, but a fact of life. You should have learnt that lesson a month ago when your keys went missing.

As far as your workplace goes, you probably cannot do much over what is missing although if you're in dire need you may be able to get some financial support in terms of an advance or something.

You can push for implementation of better security measures though, this won't help you but will help others in the future and give you some peace of mind. This could range from lockers to security cameras etc,. Be aware that neither of these will stop a desperate thief, but they will deter a casual opportunist.

Something as simple as having a rule where the door is locked would make a big difference.

Apart from that the normal recourse of informing the authorities to investigate and perhaps advertising a reward for finding your stuff and things like that.