How Employee Theft Affects Everybody

Most people don’t think about employee theft unless it affects them directly.  But employee theft does affect everyone every day.  The business that suffers from internal theft, whether it’s in the form of cash, property, or merchandise either has to recover the amount of loss by increasing prices to consumers, or by going out of business altogether. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has estimated that 3 out of 4 business failures are attributable to employee theft of all types.  However, business owners frequently don’t look at internal theft as a cause of loss because they don’t want to admit that they can’t trust their own employees.

In the case of government workers who steal, the taxpayers suffer (it’s their money after all), and the intended recipients of whatever program was targeted also suffer.  A school official in Maryland was recently accused of stealing over $100,000 of federal funds intended for economically disadvantaged students.  The five-year employee bought computers, video game consoles, TV’s, and other electronics for herself and her family members.  Tax money – yours and mine – went into that employee’s pocket.

But as aggravating as stealing from the government can be, stealing from a business can be financially devastating.  Employee theft can also become almost commonplace if ignored by management, as more and more employees see that there are no consequences to the act.

The important thing for an employer to do if he even suspects that there is theft occurring at his business is to initiate an employee theft investigation using a qualified and experienced loss prevention investigator.  Not only is a loss prevention investigator trained and experienced in getting to the bottom of theft problems, he has the advantage of seeing the situation with an unbiased eye toward the employees.  One survey indicates that 55% of employees who steal are managers.  And overwhelmingly, the thief is someone that the employer placed a great deal of trust in.  The investigator will also point out vulnerabilities found in controls and procedures that allowed the situation to exist, and be able to advise ways to prevent such instances of internal theft and others from occurring in the future.

Call 770-426-0257 to speak with a loss prevention investigator about your employee theft issues, or click here for more information.