Employee stealing?

[Rich23]

A few times our takings have been down by anywhere between £20 and £40 for the week (against till print out) but I have assummed this was error on someones part.

Last week we were $41 down and this week a massive £53.

It can only be one person but how the hell do I prove it please? And could it still be another reason- although those amounts beat me as they surely can't be errors.

I have no idea how to investigate this well enough to get proof of whats happening one way or another.

Please help this is so awful. i hate thinking the worst of people.

Cheers

Rich

 

[MyNI]

Stick a camera over the till and use one of these methods.

1. Place it there in concealment, not telling your staff about it and then find out who is stealing. This will help you identify the thief, but you might not like what you see and approaching them will be difficult.

2. Place a camera over the till and inform your staff. This will not seem unusual as a lot of business take such precautions as deterents for robbers. This won't get back the money you have already lost but it will stop it happening in the future. Can I ask the type of business, no need to give your company name, just generalise.

 

[Rich23]

Hi MyNI

I have a newsagency.

My first thought was to stick CCTV trained on the tills for robbery purposes and I had mentioned security issues such as robbery earlier in the year so it wont seem to be linked to the staff.

Cheers

Rich

 

[creospace]

I would be more worried that one week they take dollers and the next pounds sterling!

Gary

 

[Rich23]

 

[MyNI]

A typo I am sure

 

[bwglaw]

You cannot place a camera in concealment without informing the employees. They should know if they are being filmed.

Another alternative would be for you to be there at all times and see if there is a difference.

I trust that your contract of employments or disciplinary policy recognises theft as a sackable offence

Jonathan

 

[creospace]

as an option i'm sure, as is forgiveness

Gary

 

[Cornish Steve]

Is your business large enough to encourage people to work in pairs - at least for tallying purposes? If the suspect is paired with someone you trust, maybe the problem would go away. To put the person even more on guard, you could expain the reason for pairing employees - i.e., to encourage greater accountability and accuracy in light of recent anomolies.

 

[MyNI]

You cannot place a camera in concealment without informing the employees. They should know if they are being filmed.

Yes, my apologies it was an off-the-cuff suggestion. It is illegal to secretly monitor your employees activities so disregard my suggestion to do so.

 

[bwglaw]

Steve's suggestion is a very good one!

Jonathan

 

[Rich23]

Thanks everyone for your input.

We are a tiny company and it is impossible to implement a pair working.

I will put in place the cameras. As Ive already discussed this with the employees and they found it a good idea to prevent robbery and violence from the public it has already been raised and agreed- just because it has another purpose now isnt something that needs to be said I guess

Hopefully this will either prevent the problem occurring again or catch the culprit red handed.

Cheers

Rich

 

[SuffolkDesigns]

Have you discussed the shortage with them ?

Maybe doing so would let them know you are aware of it and stop it.

 

[Rich23]

Yes the employees are aware of the problem which initially I thought would solve it so maybe these are genuine mistakes- the alternative is a very good deceiver.

Rich

 

[bwglaw]

As an employer you can suspend/dismiss an employee on 'reasonable suspicion' and an employer does not need to prove that the person had actually stolen something. You will need to ensure this is in your disciplinary policy as well as the procedure for dealing with matters of gross misconduct

Jonathan

 

[Antonia @limeone.com]

It would seem to be more a skill issue if the staff have no objections with the CCTV. Another way of resolving this is simply to make one person at a time personally responsible for the till so they sign for the float from their colleague after checking it and are personally responsible for resolving shortfalls at next changeover.

If you do need two to be on the till it is cheaper to buy two tills then face theft. You will need to make them aware of the new procedure in advance and adopt it into their contracts but it can be done and I have helped a number of employers do this to positive results. Let me know if you need some pointers on the process to adopt this.

If you really do believe it is theft then look at your stocktaking also and if this is not tallying involve the police rather than dealing with it as an employment law issue. It distances you from the process and does not stop you putting in other measures.

 

[jacobite]

It is always terrible when you have a suspicion that an employee is stealing from you.

I hope that you manage to resolve this situation, keep us all posted if the CCTV stops the shortages occuring.

 

[retailworld]

I take it you are conducting accurate till checks? Surely that would prove it for you?

Regards,
Richard

 

[Rob Holmes]

Maybe cash-up at the end of each persons shift?

Usually just raising the profile of this sort of thing works.

Rob

 

[retailworld]

Exactly, and if you have the right procedures in place, you can spot any money going missing - from £100, down to 2p...

If you need any advice on how to go about this, give me a shout.

Regards,
Richard

 

[Rich23]

Hi all

I'm ever so sorry for not replying to all your posts quicker but I seem to have lost the email notification of new replies on this thread.

Thank you for all your advice.

the current situation is this:

We made the employee responsible for the shop on days neither of us were in and when she was acting in this capacity she is paid more.

My partner and I were recently married and this employee looked after the shop while we were away for a week or so. She had her own float that was signed for.

When i worked out the takings she was about £20 odd down for the week. We told her as she was acting manager while we werent there (and being paid more for it) she would be responsible for shortfalls. She got really upset and was thinking of leaving. My partner/wife doesn't think she is stealing but that these are mistakes.

However I put in a system that should have recorded these. We have a book where the staff are required to enter any details of transactions where mistakes have been made..incorrect ringing in/ wrong product code/ customer account problems etc. This should then be able to be worked back to arrive at the correct takings.

In these cases it hasn't but I know from this business and others that the tills don't ever seem to be excatly right with the takings. Most days we are 30p up or down approximately...varying by small amounts.

I am so reluctant to get heavier with the employee as there are few people round here who apply for work in the local shops and then finding one who is this flexible hours wise is going to be so difficult. Plus she is very popular with the locals.

Take care all and thanks again

Rich

 

[kairos]

I have a friend that has cameras in place(yes his employees know) and can access them from the web. at home. Sounds like you know who the person is already, trust your instinct, don't let a thief linger in your business. Fire them as quickly as possible on whatever legal grounds you can. Don't feel bad, there are just some people with problems you can't change that. After all unless your business is charitable your there to make $ not lose it. You sound like a compassionate person and I'm sorry you have to deal with this. Weeding out a snake is never fun.

 

[Optegris]

Sorry but theft is theft is theft.

When I worked at a retailer we were told in no uncertain terms that if we stole from the store the first thing that would happen is that we would be arrested on the spot by the police. Once they had finished pressing criminal charges THEN they would be sacked.

I've see it happen to some of the people I worked with, some of which were very good at what they did as a job and the boss never had any hesitation in giving them the boot.

It's your money, not theirs. If they are stealing from your store, they are stealing from you personally.

Get the proof you need and then sack 'em.

Sorry but this type of thing gets my goat were people who thin they are above reproach get away with stuff like this...