In a recent article published in LPM Insider, “Security Footage Sinks Employee Lawsuit Targeting Employee Bag Checks” by Garrett Seivold, Feb 7, 2018, they discussed a lawsuit brought against Nike by an employee who complained that he was being required to have package checks done when he was off the clock. His argument was that he was not being compensated for the time he is delayed. For the time being Nike has not been found to be excessive in its demands. They were able to demonstrate that employees were only being stopped for an average of 18 seconds for an inspection. This is hardly excessive by any measure. However, courts have a tendency to be inconsistent or a higher court may overturn a lower court decision. While one court may uphold the decision in favor of Nike there is no guarantee this will be true should a similar lawsuit be brought against other retailers.
This case brings up some interesting questions for retailers. No one should ever work off the clock (unless of course the employee is classified as “exempt” in which case there is no time clock per se) but what constitutes reasonable requests? Can an employer “ask” employees to bring in a shopping cart from the parking lot if they are coming to work or returning from a break? It seems like an innocuous request. It helps the store keep the parking lot clear of hazards and saves the time of sending someone out to gather buggies and the employee is already on the way in. The problem in this situation is that the suggestion may not be perceived as a suggestion. The request is coming from a person in authority so there could be the sense that the request is a requirement and if it is not done, will the staff member get in trouble or be perceived as a non-team player? This type of request has been made of employees and does fall into a gray area. To prevent it from becoming a problem it is probably best to err on the side of caution and not do it.
Is it reasonable to ask a closing employee(s) to clock out and wait to exit the building with the closing manager who still has to set the alarm system for the store? Again, the process of setting the alarm may only take an extra minute but having been a closing manager I have had alarm panels that won’t set properly due to a faulty alarm sensor. Those take time to clear or shunt so the rest of the system can be set. How much time is reasonable? There may not be a clear answer.
Last but certainly not least what about delays due to electronic article surveillance alarm activations? Unlike a package check at the end of the shift in which a quick peek is all that is required to look for obvious unpaid merchandise, an electronic article surveillance alarm requires more attention. Something is in the possession of the person and that has to be resolved. This also means more time will be required for inspecting receipts and items the person has in their possession. Until the cause for the alarm is determined there is reasonable cause for a delay but should that employee be paid for the time? What if the cause for the alarm is due to faulty equipment that did not de-tune a Checkpoint tag? What if the cause is due to cashier error and the failure to remove a hard tag at the time of purchase? Would any of these factors shift a court decision in favor of an employee suing for the same reasons?
It appears for the time being that courts will allow reasonable time demands from employees for things that impact the security and safety of a store. What makes one requirement reasonable while another is not could become problematic. Conduct package checks and ask your closing employees to wait a minute to enable the group to leave together for safety reasons. Consider making the expectation clear and why you are doing it in a release form signed by the employee during the hiring process. If you still have concerns then manually adjust timecards to reflect the additional time. At least the employees will know they are being compensated for that 18-second bag check.
Many small and big chain businesses across the country are fed up with the amount they lose due to shoplifting and employee theft.
Because like alcohol abuse, both legal and illegal drug use, affects your bottom line. This issue 
I recently read an article entitled “How to spot a liar in your inbox” by Vanessa Van Edwards. The article discussed the nuances of how to tell if someone is lying to you in an email. The writer made some interesting observations on the lack of personal pronouns in the body of an email, inconsistency in tense usage and vague language. It dawned on me that often this is the same thing supervisors handle on a regular basis with employees. Think back to a phone call you have taken from an employee calling out of work. Often the conversation goes something like this, “I don’t feel well, I think I am going to have to call out today.” The employee is using language that does not make sense. They “think” they have to call out. Either they do or they don’t have to call out, the decision is theirs to make. Saying “I think” sounds more like asking permission to call out than making a decision of their own. Avoiding responsibility is one way an employee may try to lie without feeling guilty about it.
As managers and supervisors, we are all guilty at some point of assuming our employees will know what we are wanting from them when we make a request or assign a project. It may be something as simple as asking someone to empty a trash canister or as complicated as resetting a plan-o-gram. In our minds, the requested task may only require common sense but to the employee, it may be something totally different. Take the trash can example, you may ask an employee to empty it and assumed they would empty it into a compactor and place a new trash can liner inside. The employee may only hear that you want them to take the bag out and place the trash beside the compactor. They don’t hear you tell them to put a new liner inside the canister when they are done because you never said it. It seems like it should only be common sense but it isn’t necessarily the case. The same problem exists for every aspect of a job. Sometimes those of us in management positions make unfair assumptions and then get angry when our team members don’t do what we expected them to do.
Hopefully, your store is one of those places where employees look forward to coming to work. You know what I’m talking about it’s that environment where everyone is happy to be there. Employees know they are there to get a job done and take pride in the service they offer to the customers. It’s the type of job where people may have an off day but their co-workers are supportive and help pick them up. It happens to all of us. These jobs have a manager who interacts with the employees and takes a real interest in each of them. The boss may take time to say hello and greet everyone. They know their employees by name and may even know their families. Unfortunately, not every workplace has such a camaraderie amongst the team members. There is any number of reasons this can happen but a major contributor to an unhappy workplace can be the hiring of an employee with a poor attitude.
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It’s that time of year when all store owners and managers start to make personnel decisions. Remember those people you hired in late August, maybe in September or even as late as October or November? Remember the conversations you may have had with them discussing how this was a “seasonal” position? You may have really dangled the carrot in front of them and told them that if they worked hard and showed initiative they might be retained on your staff after the holidays. Guess what? It’s time now for you to start taking a hard look at your staff and making some decisions and that isn’t always pleasant. Now you have to evaluate those employees and consider whether you want to keep them or you may have to decide if you can afford to keep them.