HR takes tough line over bending the rules

HR
professionals take a much tougher line against the bending of office rules than
workers in other professions, a survey shows.

Conducted
by Microsoft’s small business service BCentral, the survey of company owners,
managers and other workers from a range of business sectors has rated how
‘sackable’ they regard various office misdemeanours.

It
shows that workers who are discovered exaggerating their expenses or installing
unlicensed software are more likely to get the sack than those caught ‘throwing
a sickie’, turning up to work with a hangover or using the office telephone to
make personal international calls.

The
respondents to the survey – from various sectors including finance, IT, legal,
marketing and retail, along with HR professionals – rated each misdemeanour on
a scale from 0 per cent (for ‘no problem at all’) to 100 per cent (for ‘a
sackable offence’).

                                                                                                HR
professionals (per cent)       Average of
all respondents (per cent)

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1.
Exaggerating expenses                                                          94
                                           78
2. Installing unlicensed or pirated software                                 90                                            81
3. Using the phone to make international personal calls             86                                            68
4. ‘Throwing a sickie’                                                                73                                            62
5. Turning up for work with a hangover                                     58                                            52
6. Falling asleep in the toilet                                                       58                                            51
7. Using the franking machine to send personal letters                56                                            59

By Quentin Reade