Something for the weekend: Although a free fruit box or an employer-paid cafeteria may be the norm for staff at some organisations, the Metropolitan Police appears to take a more guarded stance to its employees’ snacks, as a police constable was taken to a misconduct hearing for reportedly stealing a colleague’s biscuit tin.
PC Thomas Hooper, a Metropolitan Police constable based at Kingston, was reported to the Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS), which investigates complaints against the professional conduct of police officers, for allegedly taking a biscuit tin that belonged to another officer on 7 May 2016 and for providing a false account of the incident on 10 October 2016.
The three-day hearing was to determine whether PC Hooper’s cookie-grabbing antics amounted to a breach of Metropolitan Police’s standards of professional behaviour in respect of honesty, integrity and discreditable conduct.
The DPS panel announced on Wednesday 21 February 2018 that PC Hooper was found not guilty of gross misconduct and he has been given permission to return to full duties, although it is unclear whether a new biscuit tin will be provided for employees' future tea rounds.
Here at Employee Benefits, we can sympathise with jammy dodger PC Hooper, as we too have heard the siren call of the biscuit tin, which is typically at its loudest after making tea or coffee for the team. Although we know that is just the way the cookie crumbles when it comes to workplace snack cravings, we still feel that this case really takes the biscuit...
