Throw away account as my job is somewhat classified.
I (33M) work as a security guard at a research facility. The location is rather remote so the live-in staff generally rotates every two weeks. Staff includes researchers, maintenance staff and an on-site chef. I have signed on for a longer rotation of multiple months, so I work with both bi-weekly crews. All supplies and equipment brought into the research center (aside from personal items) is provided and delivered by the managing company including cooking supplies and food ingredients. A new chef recently started and after his first rotation he decided the supplies on hand were not sufficient, and took it upon himself to bring spices from home on his next rotation. These spices are used to make cultural dishes from his homeland, which I’m sure are delicious, but they are unfamiliar to me and I cannot confirm if they are truly authentic spices or if the packages perhaps contain contraband, particularly because he has them in some kind of bulk packaging that has handwritten labels. I confiscated the spices and told him he had to stick to the supplies provided by the company. He was pretty pissed about this and argued with me for some time, but I stood my ground. I told him he could submit a requisition form to request the spices through the company, but he argued that the spices they source are not authentic and would not work in his recipes. He has not let it go, and asks me about the spices every chance he gets. I once even caught him trying to sneak some of the spices out of my storage locker. I’m sick of having this discussion with him, but this is my first real serious security contract, I take my job very seriously and don’t want to make any exceptions. AITA????
Info: Could he just want the spices to take back home since he spent the money on it ?
If i were you, i’d just get written confirmation from management and show it to him the next time he harasses you about it
INFO: Is this research facility also a prison?
Is this part of your job description? N T A. Are you just too big for your britches and don’t like people doing something you can’t control? Y T A
YTA. And maybe figure out what you need in your personal life to not power trip in your professional life.
INFO – have you asked management for instructions how to proceed? If I were you, i would contact my boss, explain and get their instructions.
If you believe they are contraband, then why have you kept them instead of destroying them… How were you planning on getting rid of it?
Have you asked your boss/superior about this particular issue? If they are backing your position, then you are fine and if they aren’t then you are the AH.
Have you reported this to your supervisor? If you haven’t, you should do this ASAP.
Info;
What duties are in your wheelhouse? – is it within your remit to review all personal items an employee brings with them?
Assuming for a moment it is your duty to do so, the it becomes a question as to whether this is in fact ‘contraband’ or even suspected as contraband.
It would be a genuine question from HR to ask if you honestly believed this is contraband, and what exactly you thought it was vs the likelihood of it being *just the spices he was literally cooking with and making a meal of*. You would need to be able to classify this as contraband in order to be empowered to confiscate them.
And then the follow up would be, if it’s a personal item, are you even *allowed* to confiscate it? Like, saying, it’s not actually contraband, it’s just spices, he’s allowed to have them, and then you confiscate them. What are the repercussions of that?
The next premise is that the company supplies or can requisition spices etc… fine. But the query around that is this, are employees allowed to bring their own foods with them outside of requisitioned items. E.g. chocolate, sweets, chips, soft drinks(soda) etc…
Is it ONLY company supplied foods to be consumed, strictly, and every else is forbidden expressly by policy. Or are there other things you’ve simply overlooked with other people (which means your isolating this one person on this item)?
The only way this works in your favor, is if everything not requisitioned is expressly forbidden by policy or legal necessity. There are HR or company policies in place and it is your official duty, written down in your list of duties to exercise and enforce. If that’s the case, I wonder why you haven’t started paperwork on the issue, because you need to protect yourself and highlight to the employee that smuggling contraband is an offence with consequences, and you need to cover your own butt too with the paper trail. The employee should also be warned that any attempts to retrieve said contraband could result in termination.
Research outposts, cruise ships, ships which hit many ports and countries, some oil rigs all come to mind for such restrictions. As each country has its own customs and border policies governing organic materials and foods.
If however, everything is screened before an empl6is transported to your location, and everything has been cleared, and it is not your official written duty to enforce such things and confiscate personal items, you then have put yourself in an actionable position. Outside of your duties, singling out one employee, harassment etc…
So it really, really, depends on the answers to those questions above.
YTA. There’s no way you have the authority to keep his property. Tell him he has to remove it from the premises immediately? Sure. Steal his stuff? Hell no
Since the spices are in your personal locker will he be getting them back when he leaves?
If you haven’t asked your superiors how to deal with this situation and just took the jobsworth route (the rules say no), then you’re an AH. Don’t make exceptions, but speak to someone who might be able to.
And why are you holding the spices? You should return them to him as he exits, so he can at least take them home. That’s the guy’s property.
YTA.
More info : Have you spoken to your superior about this?
INFO: Are you actually following policy? and is there an actual security concern? Like WTF do you mean “contraband” – are you worried it’s secretly cocaine or something? Why can’t you just examine it? If he is allowed personal items and not a prisoner then what is the actual security concern that would warrant confiscating this?
If the company rules are that they must supply ALL food ingredients for some kind of security reasons, then you’re correct to confiscate but you should also report. The employee can file official requests, and may have to put up with less than perfect matches for his taste.
But if the company is supplying the food because it’s remote and a matter of convenience to employees, you have overstepped the mark, especially if you haven’t reported your actions.
The way you’ve described things here, it sound like you object to unfamiliar food from a nationality you don’t respect.
I’m calling YTA for not reporting, and suspected racism/insularity.