As if the economy wasn’t bad enough, small busines owners are finding micro-mini Bernie Madoff’s in their midst. Employees desperate for cash are stealing from their small business employers. they are running everything from check cashing fraud to theft of petty cash. Some small business owners find that when they believe the bills are current the reality is that their once trusted employees have made off with the cash.
It’s amazing. Sure, times are tough. But these are people who are lucky to have a job. Having a job in this economic slump can be a blessing. Survival of a small business is a mutual effort between owners and workers. If you can’t pull together, then failure is far more likely. And yet here you have workers stealing from what is already dwindling funds.
It’s really not fair. In fact, it’s pretty disgusted. As the article in the Wall Street Journal attests, “desperate people will do desperate things.” Yeah, true. But still. It is biting the hand that feeds you, even if the hand itself isn’t as beefy as it once was.
And what gives with these workers engaged in fraud and theft? Is the consumer habit so strong that they simply can’t cut back? So now they must steal to fund their shopping habits. True, they may have seen their slaries cut back as a result of this lousy economy. But to rob the people who have trusted you? People you have befriended. And worse, most believe they are justified as they are making up for their pay cuts.
It’s allthe more reaosn to run background checks on your employment candidates. background checks may not do much to filter your current staff. But the new hires, after you fire the old ones for stealing, may come with the assorted type of sordid baggage you really don’t need at your business. You may want to run backgorund checks on current workers. to do so, you must issue a statement that this will be general business policy. You never know what you may find not in criminal records that have received disposition, but the court cases that are still pending. for those it is always best to run the county criminal background search.
Get your workers to sign off on consent forms. Those who refuse, I would view with suspicion.
I realize it’s an added expense when the economy is the toughest. But think what you could lose and what you might save in the long run. It’s always best to check them out before you hire.
