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Black Friday, Stealing Time and Employee Theft Prevention Tips

Posted by Brandon Weaver | Fri, Nov 08, 2013 @ 06:38 AM

employee theft retail shoppingFriday, November 29 - Black Friday - is the most profitable, de facto holiday on the calendar. For some retailers, it marks the first time all year that the ledgers go from red to black!

When everything rides on your success during such a compressed time period, what are you doing to grow and protect profits?Have you made the controversial decision to stay open on Thanksgiving Day? Have you hired seasonal help? What loss prevention measures do you have in place as Black Friday looms? Not just employee theft, but shoplifting too.

To handle increased store traffic, you may be planning to beef up your roster with seasonal workers. Often paid minimum wage, with seemingly little or no loyalty to your store’s profits and hired for a few short months, seasonal hires are often viewed as having questionable motives. Nothing but a stereotype, because a smart GM keeps their eye on everyone. All employees get stressed out from the crush of customers, sometimes becoming careless and vulnerable to theft’s temptation. Maybe it's skimming a few dollars out of the register, taking an extra long lunch, blatantly stealing product, or a little of each. 

Let this sink in - total employee theft cost retailers about $600 billion last year. It is so serious that some retail establishments go out of business because of it. Of course, this is alarming, but what’s worse? All industries experience employee theft!

Hotels and restaurants are at risk, because of increased travel during the holiday season. For instance, at hotels, temporary employees monitoring the front desk often have Internet access. This can open up a plethora of time-wasting activities such as online gaming, checking sports scores and, of course, updating social networking profiles.

Restaurants, on the other hand, have hourly employees that earn less than minimum wage but rely on tips to make up for it. But what if an employee claims to have worked overtime due to the holiday rush, but only worked his or her normal hours? Not only are they getting paid for hours they did not honestly work, but at time and a half!

employee time theftConsider this scenario: If an employee arrives just five minutes late, leaves five minutes early and takes an extended lunch, he or she can potentially accumulate up to three extra paid days off per year! Multiply that number by your total employees and the affect to your bottom line can be devastating.

Employee theft isn’t just about money or store product. Stealing time is an increasing form of employee theft that managers need to be even more aware of. We’re not saying any of your employees will steal time, but quick math shows how time theft can hurt your business and its profits.

How can you avoid this scenario? Tip 7 in our 30 Tips to Prevent Employee Theft eBook notes that installing fingerprint time clocks can certainly help reduce this practice of time hedging. Want to know more? We’ve got 29 additional tips hot and ready for you.

No doubt, seasonal employees play an important role during the holiday season. Some experts even point out that as many as one-third of these temporary workers become permanent employees of the company. Do yourself a favor while helping increase your store’s bottom line especially with holiday shopping and a busy travel season right around the corner. Stock up on your knowledge of these 30 Tips to Prevent Employee Theft today. Oh, and good luck with the holiday rush!

employee theft prevention

Topics: Retail

Written by Brandon Weaver