Can You Take the Office Chair When Resigning?

Whether you can take the office chair when resigning depends on the specific circumstances and cannot be generalized.

1. Office chairs belonging to company property cannot be taken away

If the office chair is a company-owned office item, such as a fixed asset provided by the company, according to legal experts, it must be returned to the company upon resignation and cannot be taken away privately. Company property has a clear ownership, with the ownership belonging to the company and employees only having the right to use it. At the point of resignation, the employee's right to use the item terminates, and the item must be returned to the company. For example, in a case, HR staff Xiao Zhang believes that 'a chair placed in the company is company property.' This view aligns with the basic logic of company property ownership, that is, the storage location of an item to some extent reflects its ownership relationship, and office items within the company premises are usually assumed to be company assets by default.

2. Self-purchased and authorized office chairs can be taken away

If the office chair is purchased by the employee at their own expense and the company has explicitly authorized its use, the employee can legally take it away. In this case, the employee owns the office chair, and the company has only granted the right to use it. For example, in a case, an employee presented a purchase invoice (with the payer being themselves and an amount of 28,000 yuan) and administrative chat records. These pieces of evidence clearly prove that the ownership of the chair belongs to the individual. The purchase invoice specifies the purchaser and the amount, while the administrative chat records reflect the company's authorization. Based on this evidence, the employee was ultimately able to take the chair away successfully.

3. Situations related to office chairs involving special information

The law explicitly prohibits the taking away of materials involving trade secrets or intellectual property rights, such as design drawings and customer lists. However, ordinary office chairs usually do not involve such issues. Nevertheless, if an office chair stores information related to the company's trade secrets or intellectual property rights, such as design drawings of the chair or descriptions of special processes, employees also cannot take it away; otherwise, they may face legal risks.

4. Advice before resignation

To avoid unnecessary disputes, before resigning, employees should confirm the ownership of items, check purchase vouchers, company authorization records, and other evidence; negotiate with the company in advance to confirm the handling method of items; and avoid affecting their professional reputation due to property ownership disputes.