According to U.S. News and World Report, 34 percent of all 18- to 29-year-old employees believe it is justifiable to steal from their employer. And the Department of Justice reports employee theft increases by about 15 percent each year. That along with the FBI’s findings that the number of robberies nationwide rose 7.2 percent (to 447,403) in 2006, makes restaurants and specifically quick-serves with their late-night hours, quick turnover, and high-traffic surroundings ripe for potential loses.
The Crime: A Pennsylvania caterer began noticing small amounts of food missing from his business. It was never anything bigger than a few beverages or a fraction of a case of food, but enough to make him go to the authorities. After they set up surveillance equipment, the owner was surprised to discover the thief was none other than his most trusted employee. A month later he brought misdemeanor theft charges against the employee and totaled the losses between $20,000 and $30,000.
If you’re already thinking, “I would never let this happen in my restaurant.” Think again. According to the 1999 “Survey of Restaurant and Fast Food Employees” by the National Food Service Security Council, the average employee steals about $218 worth of merchandise each year. With most quick-serves employing roughly 15 employees at any given time that adds up to $3,270 disappearing each year right from under your nose. Add the cost of lawsuits if you press charges and the lost business from negative media attention once the papers get wind of the scandal and the experience becomes pretty costly.
With all that in mind, stopping employee theft before it begins might be the best strategy despite initial prevention costs. Mark Visbal, director of research and technology for The Security Industry Association says hidden wireless cameras are a good way to catch an employee who you think may be stealing from the company.
“It could be a clock that’s on the wall, it could be a book that’s sitting on the shelf, it could be a clock radio, it could be anything,” he says.
Visbal warns though that sizing the camera’s lens so that it focuses on the most important point in the room, for example the safe or refrigerator, is essential to catching an internal thief. If the camera pans the entire room for 180 degrees of view, individual details will be indistinguishable.
“You know that someone is there and you know something is going on but you can’t quite pinpoint what it is. It may be enough for you to go in there and take disciplinary action, but you don’t know who it is so it’s tough to do,” he says.
Keith Pyburn, managing partner at the national law firm Fisher & Phillips’ New Orleans office, has a different approach.
“Quite frequently if you’re seeing signs of repeated shortages it may conclude, depending on the circumstances, that you’re better off not waiting for iron-clad proof of the theft and just taking employment action based on the fact that the person is repeatedly short.”
The Crime: In August a Florida man was arrested for stealing about $5,000 worth of bathroom fixtures from local fast-food restaurants and park restrooms. Along with his accomplice, the man managed to strike more than 70 times, taking brass and chrome toilet fixtures from stores—never once forgetting to turn the water off before doing so. Authorities guess that the items were sold as scraps since few were compatible with household fixtures.
From bathroom fixtures to plastic cups to wall art, customers can rob you blind if you don’t keep an eye out on the items in your store. As a preventative measure try selling branded items, commonly stolen as souvenirs, at the front of the store. Selling objects like logo-bearing glasses, T-shirts, and napkin packs might curb the number of thefts and even bring in extra revenue, suggests The Stew, a Chicago restaurant blog.