Striking Back at Employee Theft

Small businesses invest a lot of money and effort to keep up with the rat race. Many factors can affect the overall capacity of small businesses to maintain their status in such competition. Small business investors are continuously challenged due to the fickle business climate, along with the vicissitudes of the economic conditions.

Furthermore, they are also plagued with internal factors, like employee theft, which may cost them dearly, even billions of dollars, annually. If you are a small businessperson longing to protect your business from internal pilfering activities by your employees, there are several cost-effective tips you have to know.

Firstly, though, know the common types of employee theft. It does not only entail unauthorized taking of merchandise, it can also be falsifying or destroying of receipts, pilfering money by taking small amounts from time to time, engaging in fraudulent activities with regards to shipping/billing of items and setting up exaggerated or fabricated expenses.

There are smart ways of preventing the problem even before it starts to take root. A small businessperson can avoid employee theft before it even occurs by smart hiring. You must conduct careful hiring processes.

Strengthening your accounting practices is also a way to make it difficult for your employees to steal from you. This involves rotating the accounting and inventory responsibilities, conducting independent audits of bookkeeping records and inventory, organizing invoices and shipping records, regularizing the bank account records, maintaining very small amounts of cash at your business premises and checking cash deposits against cash receipts every day.

Conceptualizing tough security policies and procedures will also make it hard for employee theft to occur. You can invest wisely on installing safety gadgets to discourage your employees from taking anything at leisure.

As a businessperson, you have to recognize the fact that your employees are your best asset. You have to make your employees know that you consider them important. Do this by paying attention to their problems. Keep your employee management at a level that they will feel comfortable enough to open up their financial troubles.

Enforce a policy regarding employee theft. It may include a warning that those who are caught stealing will be prosecuted. Set up a system that will encourage them to tip you with incriminating information about their fellow employees without having to identify themselves.

These are helpful guide for you to prevent employee theft. However, if such cases have already occurred, you have to confront the employee you suspect by presenting the evidences against him or her. You must hear out the explanation for you to know if there were other people involved, the amount taken and the chances of getting the stolen goods or money back.

Prosecuting employee theft is a recommended move for employers in order to set an example among other employees and warn other small businesspersons like you to be cautious about the possibility of employee theft.

They must report to the police department in charge of the area where the theft occurred. The chronology of evidence must be written down. Names and contact information of witnesses must also be handed over to them. A statement with the detailed facts and the declaration of employee will be asked of you, along with the originals of hard evidences.

Many employees charged with employee theft usually plead guilty and it is not anymore necessary to testify against them during trial. The prosecutor will give you the schedule when you need to appear in court once the case goes on trial. If you found out that your employee has any asses, you can further consider filing a civil suit.