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As petty as taking a pen or coffee capsule home seems, it’s technically a crime under Hong Kong employment laws

Martin Wong SC is the current honorary secretary and treasurer of the Hong Kong Bar Association and a civil litigator.

I seldom, if ever, assume people in general do a particular thing, unless, of course, I do it too. But if it is a criminal act, then I assume in general that nobody would do it.

There is a peculiarity, it seems, with taking office supplies home, like a pen, or a soda, or a coffee capsule. Apparently, some people think it is no big deal, or even that there is nothing wrong with it. Some go so far as to assume everybody does it – maybe because they do it too?

Both lines of thinking are wrong, but it is perhaps more wrong to think that there is nothing wrong. You might think these supplies are simply there for everyone to take, that they are just “freebies”.

The starting point is, however, that they are the property of your employer and are not yours. For you to legitimately take them, you need your employer’s consent, and the precise extent of this consent is key: when these supplies are left around the office for everyone to take, your employer is consenting only to staff taking them for use at work. If you take them home or for your own benefit, then the consent no longer covers the taking.

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