Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I run a small business. I have 3 employees. One has been with me for 12 years since day one. He has never been late and never missed a day. Never had problems with him. When I can't come in I call him and he is right there at the office.
My wife and I installed Nest security cameras in the office and they record in hi-def on Google's cloud.
One of our customers came in one day and complained my employee had over charged her and that he said he could only take cash. This concerned me so I started watching the videos. The employee did quote her a price higher than we normally charge and told her the cc machine was broken and she had to pay cash. She paid him cash, which he put the normal $20 in the pos system and register but he took the overcharged amount and stuck it in his pocket. I was in shock. Well I've watched him on video and saw him do it 2 more times. So this is blatant theft. I feel so violated and walked all over.
My wife says he should be terminated immediately. Not only that, she says I only caught him 3 times but he's probably been doing this for years. $20 here and there doesn't seem like much but that's $400-$500/month. And it's ripping off our customers.
Looking for input here. Should we terminate him or give him another chance? 12 years is a long time to have a relationship with a person and we treated him like a friend, not just an employee # in a file.
Show him the video and fire him. Do it with regret, but fire him nonetheless. A person who is dishonest in small ways will be dishonest in big ways, too.
I run a small business. I have 3 employees. One has been with me for 12 years since day one. He has never been late and never missed a day. Never had problems with him. When I can't come in I call him and he is right there at the office.
My wife and I installed Nest security cameras in the office and they record in hi-def on Google's cloud.
One of our customers came in one day and complained my employee had over charged her and that he said he could only take cash. This concerned me so I started watching the videos. The employee did quote her a price higher than we normally charge and told her the cc machine was broken and she had to pay cash. She paid him cash, which he put the normal $20 in the pos system and register but he took the overcharged amount and stuck it in his pocket. I was in shock. Well I've watched him on video and saw him do it 2 more times. So this is blatant theft. I feel so violated and walked all over.
My wife says he should be terminated immediately. Not only that, she says I only caught him 3 times but he's probably been doing this for years. $20 here and there doesn't seem like much but that's $400-$500/month. And it's ripping off our customers.
Looking for input here. Should we terminate him or give him another chance?
He violated your trust. You likely could have him charged for theft. He's been overcharging your customers and lying to them, which could easily ruin your business. What do you really think you should do?
Graft is extremely common among long-term, often highly-reliable and trusted employees in retail situations.
I'm sorry to hear it, both for you and him. The few thousand he's likely pocketed is going to be his retirement fund.
But fire him immediately, with two weeks to one month's pay in exchange for a no-dispute letter (get legal help with this and nail down every point you can). It may seem outrageous, but it's a small gesture that will forestall a huge amount of hassle should he sue, drag you through unemployment hell, slander and trash your business etc.
Also: Do NOT let him spend one unsupervised minute on your premises once you've dropped the bomb. Change your locks. Change your alarm codes. Change your passwords. Immediately.
Basically, line up everything before you so much as stop smiling at him.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,585 posts, read 81,206,701 times
Reputation: 57821
Terminate.
I had a similar situation, with an employee of 4 years that I trusted. I contacted the police, and decided not to prosecute because the amount "taken" was unknown, and the District Attorney would have had problems determining the level of charges. In my case it was not video, but emails - free delivery if the customer would pay cash, and no record of the transaction in the billing system. There were also additional theft issues that couldn't be quantified, such as using my equipment for personal business, and buying personal items using my wholesale tax ID. I fired the employee immediately, and did not show the evidence, just told her I had it. She did not deny it but was apologetic (and cried). I changed the locks and the password on her company email immediately, before actually firing her, no severance, and in fact advised her not to use me as a reference for future jobs.
I run a small business. I have 3 employees. One has been with me for 12 years since day one. He has never been late and never missed a day. Never had problems with him. When I can't come in I call him and he is right there at the office.
My wife and I installed Nest security cameras in the office and they record in hi-def on Google's cloud.
One of our customers came in one day and complained my employee had over charged her and that he said he could only take cash. This concerned me so I started watching the videos. The employee did quote her a price higher than we normally charge and told her the cc machine was broken and she had to pay cash. She paid him cash, which he put the normal $20 in the pos system and register but he took the overcharged amount and stuck it in his pocket. I was in shock. Well I've watched him on video and saw him do it 2 more times. So this is blatant theft. I feel so violated and walked all over.
My wife says he should be terminated immediately. Not only that, she says I only caught him 3 times but he's probably been doing this for years. $20 here and there doesn't seem like much but that's $400-$500/month. And it's ripping off our customers.
Looking for input here. Should we terminate him or give him another chance? 12 years is a long time to have a relationship with a person and we treated him like a friend, not just an employee # in a file.
Just terminate. But don’t show the video until you are challenged by the employee.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
