I think that an employee is stealing from me. Advice sought.

In My Humble Opinion
41

[QUOTE=vetbridge]
And many hookers have a heart of gold. If you really like her, don’t turn her in on her outstanding warrant. But fire her. After you’ve had a talk with your attorney.
[/QUOTE]

As a business owner, I would think dropping the dime on her for a warrant would be the most prudent move as well as potentially giving you another free hit, this assumes she would actually be taken into custody and would miss work for a few days. IIRC being a guest of the county has never been a good excuse for missing work. Couple days of no call no show and you can terminate for a solid cause that will not come back to haunt you like poor performance or non criminally provable theft could.

42

I can’t speak for your state’s laws, but every day at work a prominently posted article entitled “Employee Polygraph Protection Act” catches my eye. In my state, an employer legally cannot force an employee to take a polygraph test. I wouldn’t be surprised if your state has something similar.

If you can fire this employee legally for other reasons, you should probably leave it at that.

43

[QUOTE=Fish]
If you have not already done so, begin rigorous cash control policies.

Somebody should be counted onto a register, in their presence. You both agree how much money is in the till. Nobody else is allowed to touch that register during that time, not even you. If you must access the register — for instance, to make change for a $100 bill — do it in the operator’s presence and count it together.

If they go on break, count the money again and put someone else on the register. Don’t “cover” a register that belongs to someone else; it makes it hard to pin down accountability.

When they leave the register, count the money together, down to the penny. Record it and have the person sign it. Make a note (if you have an electronic register) of what the till ought to have in it.

Yes, it takes time, and you can’t do this half-assed. But this will make it much, much easier to hold someone accountable for their cash-handling skills. It will also scare off potential thieves.
[/QUOTE]

The amusment park I worked in did this and saw significant increases in profits over the next few months. We also started monitoring some of the register stations for proper transaction handling.

Favorite examples: Amusment park
Mini golf course, 2 players come up, pay for the games and leave without their scorecard (receipt attached, scorecards are numbered and tracked). Next couple comes up and pays for golf, cashier resells the same scorecard and pockets the cash. This was easily to the tune of several hundred dollars a night until we started watching.

More advanced: Cashier had a Z key from prior job that fit our registers. At the start of her shift she would ring up 20-25 receipts for full price sales then Z the register (clearing totals). Customer comes up and pays, cashier rings up a 2 for 1 coupon sale, provides the coupon for the till, gives the customer a full price receipt, and keeps the difference. Cashier roomate worked at a grocery store that had our coupons on the bags. She was bringing in an extra couple hundred a day as well. Busted by…observation. We started observing because one cashier was doing 90% coupon transactions vs average of 24% on the rest.

44

I’m not sure what the “cash bag” is in the OP, but here are some tips:

  1. Each employee gets their own cash drawer. No sharing. This means each employee is accountable for their own cash. If the drawer comes up short, you know exactly how much and who’s at fault.

  2. Start each cash drawer each shift with a minimal amount of money to give customers some change when the shift begins, allowing the cash in the drawer to build as the shift continues. (Maybe $50).

  3. Mandate employees call a manager any time they think the cash drawer has “too much” money in it (say, $300). The manager must then count the “excess” money with the employee watching, they must both sign for it, and the manager then takes the money to the safe in the back.

  4. If employee theft is a big problem, you can mandate all cash not in a cash drawer and not in the safe MUST be held under “dual control” - as in two people who can keep an eye on each other. Otherwise, ONLY a manager can handle cash that is not in a cash drawer.

  5. You have no proof that this employee stole anything, so I wouldn’t accuse or fire her for theft. You can hold her responsible for a “cash loss” even though it’s not theft. Otherwise, you can fire her for any reason or no reason whatsoever (other than an illegal reason, e.g., discrimination, etc.), provided she is an at-will employee (ie., there is no employment contract altering the default at-will employment status or the cause for termination).

  6. If you fire her, she may be elligible for unemployment benefits, which may affect your unemployment rates. If she claims unemployment benefits and you try to deny her benefits because of theft, you must prove theft, which it sounds like you can’t do, and also sound like it’s not worth your time and effort. Without a rock solid case of theft, she will probably qualify for benefits. So, it may better to just avoid that whole mess and don’t even bring up the theft issue in the context of unemployment benefits. Just let her go. This may be the cleanest and easiest way to go.

  7. Oh… and all customers get a receipt. If they don’t get a receipt, the customer gets a bonus of some sort. This prevents an employee from pretending to ring up a transaction at the register then simply pocketing the cash without actually entering the sale into the register.

  8. No polygraphs!

  9. I like the idea of an anonymous call from a pay phone to make a warrant tip to the police. The employee gets dinged, they can’t trace it to you, you get a free arrow in your termination quiver, and it’s probably a good thing to help the police enforce a warrant. Also, I don’t know that I would want an employee with me knowing there was an arrest warrant out there. I would rather have an employee whom I was fairly certain would not get arrested at any given moment. If the employee is arrested, you may have to fill her spot with no notice and no time to plan for it.

  10. At the start and end each employee shift, a manager must confirm that the cash drawer has $50 in it, or whatever your starting drawer amount is.

  11. All cash drawers must be locked up when not in use.

45

[QUOTE=Joey P]
. And second, is there anything she does wrong on a regular basis? Is she ever late (that’s the easiest)? Does she not do things you ask her to do? Is she rude to customers? etc…
Let’s say she’s late today, you make her sign something that says she understands what she did was wrong and that she understands that if she does it again she may lose her job. Next time she walks in late, tell her she’s fired. That’ll keep you covered for unemployment.
The thing about UC is that the person has to be warned for doing something wrong, and in the warning they have to be told that they can lose their job for doing it again. It’s stupid I know, but it’s how you CYA. .
[/QUOTE]

This is so fucking rude. There doesn’t seem to be any evidence at all that this employee has stole this money (other than a stong feeling on the part of the partner, who likely has taken a dislike to her), and not only are many her suggesting that she be fired, here we are plotting ways to cheat her out of her Unemployment benefits. For forty fucking dollars?! That is simply morally wrong, it is stealing thousands of dollars from her!

Marconi & Schmeese: if you don’t trust her and your partner doesn’t like her, then ask her to leave, but don;t be fucking evil and cheat her also.

46

[QUOTE=drachillix]
As a business owner, I would think dropping the dime on her for a warrant would be the most prudent move as well as potentially giving you another free hit, this assumes she would actually be taken into custody and would miss work for a few days. IIRC being a guest of the county has never been a good excuse for missing work. Couple days of no call no show and you can terminate for a solid cause that will not come back to haunt you like poor performance or non criminally provable theft could.
[/QUOTE]

I think it would be completely shabby to arrange to have someone thrown in jail and then fire her for missing work because she’s in jail. YM obviously V.

47

Amen!
[QUOTE=Jodi]
I think it would be completely shabby to arrange to have someone thrown in jail and then fire her for missing work because she’s in jail. YM obviously V.
[/QUOTE]
“Shabby” doesn’t even begin to cover it, IMO. I’d have no respect at all for anyone who would be that pathetic.

48

Also, from what I vaguely recall about unemployment benefits, signing something saying you can be fired for showing up late isn’t going to result in a denial of unemployment benefits. In order not to get those benefits, you have to do something egregious (like, say, embezzlement), or you have to voluntarily quit.

Daniel

49
  1. Give the employee a $10/week raise. Do not tell them of the raise. Fire them in one month.
    You get your $40 back.
    :smiley:
50

[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness]
Also, from what I vaguely recall about unemployment benefits, signing something saying you can be fired for showing up late isn’t going to result in a denial of unemployment benefits. In order not to get those benefits, you have to do something egregious (like, say, embezzlement), or you have to voluntarily quit.

Daniel
[/QUOTE]

That makes perfect sense, otherwise most people who are legitimately fired would not be covered for unemployment. I’ll bet the most common reason for termination is being late and that’s always mentioned in the hiring process, “We like our employees to be on time and starting time is 7 AM.”
I also think it would be in poor taste to call the cops on her. Take the high road and let her go on her obvious faults. Tell her what they are when you terminate her just like any other employee. If she gives you any crap you may mention that you know that there is a warrant out for her (if indeed that’s really true, maybe she made that part up?) and that this should be a clean break.

51

On a tangent issue, what if it were a felony warrant–would that change folks’ minds as to whether it would be appropriate to call the cops? Would the nature of the crime make any difference to folks?

Daniel

52

[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness]
On a tangent issue, what if it were a felony warrant–would that change folks’ minds as to whether it would be appropriate to call the cops? Would the nature of the crime make any difference to folks?

Daniel
[/QUOTE]
As AuntiePam said, it’s lame to get her arrested as a means of firing her. If OP decides to call the cops, he should do so for other reasons, such as ethics or fear of liability. He should make this decision independent of her employment record.

53

[QUOTE=sugar and spice]
As AuntiePam said, it’s lame to get her arrested as a means of firing her. If OP decides to call the cops, he should do so for other reasons, such as ethics or fear of liability. He should make this decision independent of her employment record.
[/QUOTE]
Yep, that’s my thinking too.

If it’s worth calling the cops over, then by all means call the cops. But if you wouldn’t have called the cops otherwise, then don’t do it as a cowardly, backdoor way of terminating the employee.

54

[QUOTE=Kalhoun]
Tell her that more care must be taken with the handling of money and that everyone is going to be watched closely for “training purposes.” I seriously doubt she will attempt it again (if, indeed, this was a willful act of theft).
[/QUOTE]

ding ding

If you do this, and she did steal the money, there’s a damned good chance she won’t show up for her next shift.

-Joe, speaking from experience

55

Years ago when I worked for Sally’s Beauty Supply there was a period of time when cash would be short from the drawer sometimes only $5 sometimes it was $40+. Sometimes if you put too much or too little in the night deposit, the money comes up wonky- always the following day. After reconciling deposits and what not, it wasn’t the deposits. Either way too much money went unaccounted for.

After about 2 weeks or so of random amounts of money disappearing two corporate loss prevention managers came in. All of the employees were questioned, not just a friendly chat, but saying things such as “Just confess, we have it on camera that you took this money”(they said this to everybody, individually). I stood my ground knowing I had done nothing wrong, I told them if they had me on tape stealing, show me the tape. I don’t think that they were prepared for anyone to ask that! I knew it was BS because the store didn’t have any surveillance. They got nowhere with their “strong-arm” tactics.*

After that we did have to do drawer countdowns at a shift change, and only one person on the register**. It turned out it was this one girl who had been stealing the money… she did it even after it went to one person on the drawer at a time. She quit before they could fire her.

*I should have quit after this incident stating I couldn’t work in a hostile and un-trusting work environment, but I figured it would make me look guilty, that and I couldn’t afford to quit. The manager said she knew it wasn’t me because she said “I wish the others were as responsible as you. Your drawer at the end of the day is always 100% on the money”

**it really sucked, because if two people were working, only one could run the register. The manager wanted it so that only one person would be running the reg during that shift. It was a small store, so we only had one register. I hated it because it made it impossible to take a break (bathroom, 10min, lunch or otherwise) I eventually quit for a job that paid better.

56

[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness]
On a tangent issue, what if it were a felony warrant–would that change folks’ minds as to whether it would be appropriate to call the cops? Would the nature of the crime make any difference to folks?

Daniel
[/QUOTE]

It might. But this warrant is what it is. Some states, but not all, treat bad checks as a criminal charge (in other places it is a civil matter). NC, where I live, is one that does. This policy is criticized as using the power of the state to enforce collections for businesses that may be careless in the checks they take. Obviously, the policy also has its defenders, in that if you get something by writing a bad check and don’t make good, it’s the same as stealing.

All of this is leading up to the fact that, when this is a criminal matter, it is not an uncommon criminal matter, and is often a low priority compared to other crimes. It seems likely to me that the cops/sheriff/whoever is not desperately unable to find this woman, they just have bigger fish to fry. A semi-recent thread about the right of cops to run your license plate discussed how a lot of warrants will just remain outstanding unless you’re detained for something else. If the manager does call this in, would anything even happen? Significant jail time, or even someone showing up any time soon, seems unlikely to me.

Finally, using arrests, rather than convictions, to make employment decisions is legally risky and the employer should consult a lawyer before doing so.

57

[QUOTE=DrDeth]
This is so fucking rude. There doesn’t seem to be any evidence at all that this employee has stole this money (other than a stong feeling on the part of the partner, who likely has taken a dislike to her), and not only are many her suggesting that she be fired, here we are plotting ways to cheat her out of her Unemployment benefits. For forty fucking dollars?! That is simply morally wrong, it is stealing thousands of dollars from her!
[/QUOTE]

I take it you’ve never owned a business.
Those ‘thousands of dollars’ that you’re ‘cheating’ her out of, they come out of your pocket, it’s not free money from the goverment. It’s from the employer’s unemployment compensation account. You learn to do what you can to protect anyone from getting at that money. Sure, if they deserve it, you let the claim go through, but if they don’t you owe it to yourself to put up a fight. Assuming the OP/partner is correct in their assumption (let’s assume they are 100% instead of 99% sure) all I did was give a method to terminate them without UC benefits being paid out.

Uncommon Sense Nope, that’s not the way it works, the point of unemployment is to compensate people who are unfairly terminated (or laid off for that matter). People who are legitimately terminated for things as big as stealing and as small as coming in late do not get compensation, provided the employer warned the employee after they did something wrong and with that warning explained to them in writing (and they signed it) that if they did it again they may be terminated (in my first post is a link to a form letter for exactly this purpose). You’ll see my example about the girl who got unemployment after we fired her for skipping work to often. After that I got those form letters, the next time we fired someone for the same reason and they filed for unemplyment all I had to do was fax over the signed sheet and the case was closed, no more calls, no hearing, no nothing.
This was my reason for the post. If you’re going to fire someone you need to document them doing something wrong, being warned and doing it again (or three times or four times, the more warnings the better) and fire them for that. I don’t care if it’s so fucking rude, dammit that UC money comes out of your bottom line. For some business (like mine) the owner takes home about 1% of what comes in through that register, those ‘thousands of dollars’ are a big chunk out of the bottom line, and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna payout with out a fight to someone I suspect is stealing from me.

MerijeekThat’s not always true, see my example about the money that went missing in large increments (usually between $50 and $200 at a time). Each time money was missing, we questioned everyone. Though we didn’t outright say anything about stealing, it was very stongly implied, and we put alot of pressure on her specifically, she had been around for a while, and we didn’t want to lose her over this (there where other reasons for not wanting to fire her as well), but she had a problem and she just kept on doing it.

58

[QUOTE=Joey P]

Uncommon Sense Nope, that’s not the way it works, the point of unemployment is to compensate people who are unfairly terminated (or laid off for that matter). People who are legitimately terminated for things as big as stealing and as small as coming in late do not get compensation, provided the employer warned the employee after they did something wrong and with that warning explained to them in writing (and they signed it) that if they did it again they may be terminated (in my first post is a link to a form letter for exactly this purpose). You’ll see my example about the girl who got unemployment after we fired her for skipping work to often. After that I got those form letters, the next time we fired someone for the same reason and they filed for unemplyment all I had to do was fax over the signed sheet and the case was closed, no more calls, no hearing, no nothing.

[/QUOTE]

Any statement about who gets what under what circumstances for unemployment really, really depends on the state. Some states are very employer friendly, some are very employee friendly. I’m glad you found what worked for you in your state.

59

[QUOTE=Harriet the Spry]
Any statement about who gets what under what circumstances for unemployment really, really depends on the state. Some states are very employer friendly, some are very employee friendly. I’m glad you found what worked for you in your state.
[/QUOTE]

I don’t have any basis for comparison, but my state seems to be employee friendly.
A conversation between myself and the Unemployment insurance person
me: Hello
UI-Hi this is the UI dept, you recently let go of Leah
Me-yes we did
UI-And why did you do that
Me-Well she was always late, and of a 5 day work week, at least 2 of those days for the past month or so, she wouldn’t show up at all, she wouldn’t call to let us know she wasn’t coming in and she wouldn’t return messages we left for her.
UI-What is your policy on attendence?
Me-If you’re on the schedule you have to be at work.
UI-And was she made aware of that and given warning for missing days.
Me-Yes
UI-Can you fax them to me
Me-They where verbal
UI-So you have no proof of the warnings
Me-No
UI-Thank you goodbye

A few days later I got a letter from them. It stated that since she was not made aware of our policy of having to be at work on they days you are scheduled to be there in writing what she did was not willfully malicious, and therefor they granted her UI. The next day I went out and got the form letters.

The UI people in my state seem to be more like DAs, I’m sure that if I had disputed that and requested a face to face hearing, I would have won it, but this was one of the first times I had to deal with it.

60

[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense]
That makes perfect sense, otherwise most people who are legitimately fired would not be covered for unemployment. I’ll bet the most common reason for termination is being late and that’s always mentioned in the hiring process, “We like our employees to be on time and starting time is 7 AM.”
[/QUOTE]

BTW Here’s a cite on being disqualifed for UC for being late. (This applies to Wisconsin)
http://www.dwd.state.wi.us/ui201/b7201.htm#C

And here’s the PDF where you can find the statutes they mentioned
http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2005/data/acts/05Act86.pdf