Are Your Employees Stealing From You? All the Ways to Know For Sure

One of the most common internal business losses that employers face on a regular basis is employee theft. Even small-scale thefts can end up causing hefty damage to the business as they add up and result in unnecessary problems.

But how can an employer avoid this problem?

One way to deal with it is to have airtight policies that lay out the exact consequences of employee theft. It’ll also help you greatly to detect theft on time and deal with it quickly. In fact, a major reason why companies face these losses in the first place is that they fail to detect the theft promptly and on time.

This is why the first step you need to take when dealing with employee theft is to implement foolproof ways to catch it before or as soon as it happens. Simply trusting your intuition isn’t enough, and you need to take extra steps to make sure you’re covered.

This isn’t always easy for the employer, especially if the thief has had extensive practice in the past or they’re particularly good at stealing. Thankfully, there are still ways to catch them in the act.

Keep reading to learn all about the ways to know for sure if your employees are stealing from you and what you can do to prevent it in the future.

Signs that Your Employees Are Stealing From You

A little vigilance can go a long way in helping you ensure that your employees don’t steal from you. To that end, you should always be on the lookout for signs of employee theft so you can deal with the matter before it gets out of hand. Here are all the signs that your employees may be stealing from you.

Unusual Occurrences

Unusual actions and out-of-place objects should always be a cause of concern for employers and must never go unnoticed. Here are some of the major red flags that you shouldn’t hesitate to question:

Unreconciled financial statements and cash discrepancies
Missing supplies or their constant shortage
Lost merchandise and inventory discrepancy
Exits unlocked after hours or use of alternate and usually locked exits
Employee vehicles parked near exits or in the loading area

All of these signs can potentially mean that your employees are involved in some form of theft. Of course, these signs may not always be a cause of concern, but frequent repetition of suspicious behaviors should not be ignored.

Suspicious Behavior in Employee

As a business owner or manager, you should always keep an eye out for suspicious behavior in your employees. Any behavior that seems out of place is cause for suspicion and enough reason for you to dig deep and investigate its root cause. Here are some of the most common suspicious behaviors in employees that should ring alarms in your head:

Working at odd hours, coming in late, or staying back after work for no good reason.
Consistently poor performance at work and inability to meet deadlines.
Baseless complaints about the workplace or unjustified criticism.
Favoritism towards a particular customer or supplier.
Unethically close or personal relationship with customer or supplier.
A sudden change in lifestyle that’s not rooted in salary increase.

How to Deal with Employees under Suspect

If you have suspicions about any employees stealing from you, you must take timely action to deal with their behavior. Of course, it’s always best to approach the situation only when the suspicion is reasonable, and you have some proof of theft.

Once the fault is established, you should move on to the next steps and decide how you want to deal with the situation. Here are some things you can choose to do once you know your employee stole from you:

Issue a formal warning to discipline the employee and inform them of the consequences of another strike.
Get restitution or some form of payback.
Consider pressing charges.
Terminate their employment with your company.

When dealing with such employees, you should always make sure you’re on the right side of the law. To that end, never detain or physically restrain these employees, don’t defame them, and do not threaten to press charges if that’s something you’re not sure about. If the employee poses any physical danger to you or your staff, make sure to call authorities to deal with them.

Under no circumstances should you take action against a suspicious employee if you don’t have any proof of wrongdoing. This is because proceeding without proof can harm your relationship and goodwill among other employees, and you may also be sued for baseless slander.

How to Prevent Future Employee Thefts

Whether you are a new or established business, you should have proper practices in place to prevent all kinds of employee theft. Here are some things you can implement to keep a check on these malicious practices.

Create Anti-Theft Policies

A strong anti-theft policy is an important way to make sure that your employees don’t steal from you. To that end, you should lay out the exact consequences of theft and make sure that your employees know that you have a zero-tolerance policy toward employee theft.

Limit Employee Access

Do not let all your employees enter the supply and storage zones of your office premises. This way, you can have better accountability of the employees that do have access to these areas.

Do Regular Audits

Regular audits of the cash and inventory should be an important part of your operations. It’s the best way to ensure that all the employees are on track and that all of the company’s assets stay protected.

Get Round-the-Clock Electronic Surveillance

Finally, you should get round-the-clock electronic surveillance on your office premises to ensure that the employees don’t engage in any kind of theft. The surveillance will not only prevent wrongdoing but also make it easy for you to catch suspicious employees in the act and back it up with solid proof.

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