Advice Needed
Hi Monkeys,
Was laid-off a while ago and just found a new gig and will be moving to the west-coast soon. Long story short, the departure left a bad taste in my mouth (not getting into it) and have not kept any connection with my old firm. I still have their laptop which they have not asked for it back and I don't really care. Is it ok if I just toss it in the trash and move-on or should I contact them to let them know?
Do not throw away anything that is owned by a corporation you have worked for. There is a clause in your contract which says all equipment has to be returned upon leaving the company.
Contact HR and ask for a pre-paid shipping label and a list of items they want back (laptop, charger, mouse, headset, corporate ID badge, ..). Also tell them you are in the middle of a move and that it is not your fault it may have to be shipped from California.
The last thing you want is some email after an IT audit which shows you didn't return your machine. They will charge you for it or take you to court as they are also leasing the hardware from Dell/HP/..
what can they do if I just toss it? I doubt they have even figured it out
Group IT have a list of s/n's against employee names. They will raise a ticket for HR to resolve it. If you don't react or keep the hardware, they can charge you for it. Companies don't usually own the hardware and late model laptops can easily be around the 1K-2K mark for them.
Regardless of what happened, be the bigger man and just ask them for a shipping label. It's about being professional here and there is nothing you can do about it.
The only other option is you declare 1) theft of the device (they may have the right to ask for a police report) or 2) accidental damage/drop/loss (permanent staff are normally insured against it).
Either way, you would have to declare these situations as well. Better just ship it back.
How will they charge me for it? send me an invoice?
You have signed a legal employment agreement which says you will return the hardware and any other corporate items.
They can and will take you to court if you just ignore it. I am not saying it will happen, but it is easier to just return it.
Also, especially if the situation was "not amicable" - by not returning it, you are providing them with a possible claim against you. If you have the receipt from DHL express they can't say you stole something. you know how companies can be...
The machine has bitlocker, OS locks, is monitored and the serial is listed as corporate. There is nothing that can be done with it anyway.
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