When An Employee Steals From Your Business
By Randall Barker, Vice President of Human Resources - A Plus Benefits
In a previous blog entry I discussed theft, specifically when an employee steals from a customer. In this blog I’ll address when an employee steals from his or her employer.
There are a number of different ways an employee can steal from an employer, including, stealing office supplies, stealing from the petty cash fund or embezzling company funds.
We have one client that didn’t apply proper accountability with their accounts payable person and the person opened credit card accounts in the company name and then enjoyed several vacations on the company to the tune of over $20,000. It’s tragic but we have these kinds of things come up all the time.
I advise my clients all the time to trust your employees but to verify and install a system of checks and balances to prevent situations like this from happening. There are a couple of simple steps that can be taken to prevent this type theft, including:
· Trust and verify. By this I mean trust that you’ve done a good job by hiring good people but verify what is going on. Even if it’s simply asking for clarification or an explanation the simple act of asking will deter many people from stealing.
· Never sign a blank check. I’ve known business owners who have done this in the past, but this just opens the door to temptation. You should never leave yourself vulnerable to somebody having a blank check and unlimited access to your funds.
· Check employees that handle, deal with or have access to company money. A business should always have a system of checks and balances in place. I recommend monthly reviews of accounting records with the business owner and the accounts payable person. The businesses CPA can be included in these or in quarterly reviews. As part of this system of checks and balances never allow the accounts payable person to be the only person with access to these records.
Many business owners feel betrayed when an employee steals from them. Those types of feelings are natural, but I always tell my clients that they are partly to blame if they don’t take the appropriate measures to protect their business and prevent these types of thefts from occurring.
About the Author
Randall Barker is Vice President of Human Resources at A Plus Benefits and has been with the company for over 14 years. He has been involved in human resources for over 20 years and is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and Certified Employment Law Specialist (CELS). He received his master’s degree from the University of Phoenix and has taught Human Resource classes at a local college. He has extensive experience with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and has successfully managed more than 80 discrimination claims for A Plus Benefits clients during the past 14 years in Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, and Colorado.
The content of this blog reflects the views and opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of Utah Business.
Tags: Business Management, company money, dishonest employee, firing, hiring, honesty in the workplace, HR, Human Resources, termination