Boss threatens to sack staff for using these everyday items

Employees at a hand dryer company face being sacked if they dare to bring single-use plastic into the office.

The strict policy was introduced at Intelligent Hand Dryers in Sheffield, a city in the English county of South Yorkshire.

Owner Andrew Cameron, 41, phased in the ban last month after growing increasingly more frustrated at plastic piling up in office bins.

UK hand dryer company employees face being fired if they bring single-use plastic into the office, including water bottles and plastic straws (pictured are stock images of these two items).
Employees at a UK hand dryer company face being sacked if they bring single-use plastic into the office, including water bottles and plastic straws. Source: Getty Images, file

After consulting with a mentor, Mr Cameron had his 10 staff watch a video on climate change, then implemented the new rules.

This involved banning plastic milk cartons, plastic-wrapped sweets, potato chips, and plastic water bottles.

To make the change less of a “hardship” for employees, Mr Cameron introduced some environmentally friendly incentives including a weekly delivery of fruit, glass-bottled milk delivery and a weekly collection of “sweet treats”.

The response from employees, who had the policy written into their contracts, was predominantly positive, however some conceded the adjustment was going to be difficult.

Intelligent Hand Dryer founder Andrew Cameron phased in the plastic ban last month after growing increasingly more frustrated at waste piling up in office bins. He is pictured on the left and on the right is a stock image of a fridge full of food.
Business owner Andrew Cameron phased in the plastic ban last month after growing increasingly more frustrated at waste piling up in office bins. Source: intelligenthanddryer/YouTube and Getty Images, file

“Looking forward to the challenge of going plastic free, it's going to be harder than it sounds but in the long run will be worth it,” a staff member named Rich said in a company blog post.

“Putting it in employment contracts was a new one on me, never experienced anything like that but I think it's an innovative idea that sets us apart from others.”

Another employee named Adrian said: “I think the ban on plastics has been targeted at me because I bring plastic bottles into work. I think it’s a positive addition to our company ethos.

“I think it’s a good standard to advertise to the local community. I think little changes like this can have a massive effect on society and the way we do things in the future.”

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