Should I have to police the fridge?

Question

Work had a meet & greet/going away party. There was leftover food(sandwiches, salads, cupcakes).

When the quitting employee left, she took some sandwiches, some cupcakes and all 2 of the salads with her. These were purchased by the company.

In every instance in the past the company has urged employees to take food home with them. So I didn't think anything of it.

Turns out that because she took all the salad my company thinks I should have said something.

If it matters, I am the accountant here and not a security guard.

Answer 1

You say "my company thinks" when in fact the company itself can't think.  This is somebodies idea. They probably had their eye on the salad and were upset when the salads went with the person who left.  Let's face it, how much does a couple sandwiches, cupcakes, and two salads cost?  Unless they were large, fancy, salads bought at a deli it certainly won't break the bank.  

Ask for clarification from your boss.  Well, unless this is coming from your boss.  Still, you should ask if there's been a change in the policy.  There are precedents that have been set about taking extra food home.  This helps keep the fridge clean and free from old, moldy food.  Maybe if you ask for some direction the person who thought this up will realize how petty it is.  

As far as you policing the fridge, most job descriptions say "and other duties as necessary" or something like that.  If your boss tells you to monitor the fridge you probably don't have much choice.  

There are laws about what can be deducted from a person's paycheck and salads aren't part of what's allowed.

Answer 2

The breakroom refrigerator is a tricky territory to navigate.  Many people believe that because it's in a communal area, anything placed in there is fair game and should be available to everybody.  While this can be applied to certain items like condiments, ice in the freezer, and a few other things, for the most part whatever's in there belongs to the person or persons who placed it in there.

Since it was the employee's last day, I'd brush it off.  I'm sure your superiors would argue with that logic until they're blue in the face, but she took advantage of a vague but constant encouragement from the company to take home leftover food from every party or event held.  A lot of companies do this, and some pay heavily.  Perhaps you should revoke that privilege, with the exception of those who brought any food in (if it was a potluck affair, where employees brought whatever they wanted to).  They will have to take their own leftovers dishes home, of course, but they can ask for servings from others if they want.

The company I work for has a low country boil every year, usually around October or November.  They encourage people to take some of the food home with them.  One year I got a box of gallon-sized Ziploc bags, and filled one up for myself.  Others followed suit, while others just filled up a small bowl or container sitting in the breakroom.  No one complained that I had a gallon bag of low country boil leftovers, or if someone was taking home two or three bags.  As long as you marked the bags with your name, and when you put them in the fridge you remembered where yours were, you were fine.

One way companies try to defer the cost of such events is to make them potluck.  They'll ask employees to bring in side dishes or even main dishes (one employee at the company I work for always brings in stuffed shells...and they're delicious!), and all the company might pay for eating utensils, drinks, and in some cases, a large meat like a precooked ham or turkey, or have someone cook hamburgers and hot dogs on a grill outside.

One policy you might want to consider having enforced is something the company I work for does.  They have signs taped to every refrigerator (we have three) in the break room that state that no one is to remove any food from the refrigerators, unless it is their own.  I inquired about that, and they told me the person I replaced had a bad habit of stealing others' lunches because he was always broke and forgot to bring his own food.

If your superiors are really bent out of shape about her taking the salads, deduct it from her final paycheck.  If she comes back and wants to argue, tell her that she took them without their permission, and she should have asked if anyone else wanted to finish them off before just deliberately picking them up and carrying them home.