| You thought you'd hired the perfect associate for your store. The customary background and reference checks were favourable, and the individual seemed like a great fit. But now you're beginning to think he might be stealing from you.
The retail environment provides an abundance of opportunity for employee theft since associates have access to both your product and your cash register, says Stephen Waldron, Director of Loss Prevention for Toronto-based Danier Leather.
In fact, out of an industry average of 1.8 per cent shrink, between 40 and 50 per cent of that figure can be attributed to internal shrink, says Gilles Bellemare, National Resource Protection Manager at Sears Canada.
"[At Sears] internal theft occurs many hundreds of times each year — maybe even thousands — we're not sure. We can't catch everyone," he adds.
Retail investigators don't have it easy. It's one thing to catch a shoplifter red-handed, but when it's your own trusted employees stealing from you, that can be an awkward situation. (It should be noted that the majority of employees are honest and law-abiding and want very much to do a good job.) Still, how do you tactfully and lawfully handle employee theft?
No matter what type of theft you think the employee has committed — stealing money from the cash register or pilfering products — there are steps you should take. Danier's Waldron says two things are critical at the outset: maintaining credibility (of both the investigator and the company), and focusing on the facts first.  Page Two
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