How to Stop Employee Theft

It is very interesting to know and figure out all the possible ways how some employees commit theft at work. Internal theft is one of the most common crimes especially in retail industry.

Every company should always be vigilant about this issue because nowadays it is very hard to trust someone especially if it involves a lot of money or the product itself.

What is Employee Theft?
 

Employee theft is situation wherein a certain worker from a company steals money or item or did some dishonest acts that favors himself or herself instead of the their employer’s gain. This is considered as a serious crime and is punishable by the law. There is a lot of theft crimes associated with the employee theft.
 

Dishonest Acts in the Workplace
 

The following are some of the wrongdoings that are under the category of employee theft:

  • Stealing
  • Fraud
  • Embezzlement
  • Forgery (typical form of embezzlement)
  • The use of company phone for his/her personal call
  • Overloading expenditure for personal use
  • Ringing up fake refunds and use the money for personal use
  • Making spurious invoices
  • Pocketing the money from sales
  • Intentionally overpricing customers and keeping the extra money
  • Conspiring with vendors by forging invoices
  • The failure to deposit the exact amount to the bank
  • Writing a good product as bad one, so that he or she can take it home
  • Intentionally damaging a product or property of a company, so that he can take it home for free or purchase it but with discounts.
  • Giving away such good products to friends or family members
  • Accepting bribes
  • Has “ghost” employees on the payrolls
  • Espionage or spying (selling classified information or secret)
  • Forging the time records
  • Reporting and staging false hold-ups

Stopping Employee Theft

In the event that you are experiencing a lot of unexplainable loses on your business. Then perhaps you are now a victim of employee theft.
 

As you know it has been projected that about $52 billion annually is lost as caused by employee theft and that is about 95% of all business encounter employee theft. That is why, it is very important for the employer to know the early signs of employee theft to stop this terrible crime that cannot just affect financial aspect of a company but also emotionally and mentally for the owner.
 

Early Warning Signs of Internal Dishonesty

  • Inconsistencies of an employee when explaining errors or discrepancies
  • Unpleasant behavior or bad temper that discourage someone to ask questions
  • Signs that he is been using prohibited drugs, which can be a sign that he need more money to support that habit.
  • Habitual borrowing of property or money without permission.
  • Expensive lifestyle (drinking, shopping and others)
  • Already committed a theft from previous employer

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