Advice on Employee and Theft

[WarrenD]

To follow up on Warren's comment, "getting on the same page" is typically done by having a program of regular performance reviews with all employees. In many businesses these are done annually, but they could be done at a more frequent interval. Typically, the employee is asked to complete a self-assessment of their work, and the employer may do formal observations, look at productivity metrics, or gather other "data." This might be followed by a meeting where the employer and employee would sit down to discuss the employee's work performance, strengths and weaknesses, and goals for improvement (as necessary). The key thing is to document, document, document.... It is a fair bit of work to do it right (but less than doing it wrong and ending up in court). If you have 20 employees, establishing some sort of formal program of regular evaluation would be worthwhile. Do you have an employee handbook?

Yes, that's what we do in my business. I sit down with each one of my people individually - informally every quarter and formally annually - to do their performance assessment. It helps build a record of who has been doing what. Thankfully I've never used these records to fire anybody yet. Only to give promotion and incentives. But I can see how such a process can be used for terminating someone's services.

[Paul]

It sounds like a sad situation for your employee. Something is obviously wrong. Sad, but you have a business to protect and more important is that you have CHILDREN to protect.You probably need to terminate. I don't know your state laws, some states are "at will", meaning generally no cause is required for termination. You may want to hit her straight up, let her resign in lieu of being fired and being reported to the state. Might check with attorney first, might be better to have attorney make that proposal. One bad apple really can spoil the barrel.

On the other end of the spectrum you may be inclined to help her. Gambling, drugs, drinking or whatever the cause might be resolved with help. It's obviously a money problem so it could be as simple as bad money management on her part. Some help might turn a liability employee into a loyal soldier. In any case you MUST protect yourself, your business and the kids.

[MichaelTeamTCA]

You certainly shouldn't fire her without evidence from your business specifically. However, you may want to make a general statement (via email or posted in a shared space) about integrity or security. Word it in such a way that the language suggests that we are safeguarding against outside attacks. This will create a door to conduct more security and loss prevention checks as others have suggested.

You never want to treat your employees as criminals -- just the opposite. But, of course, keep your eyes open.

No matter how good a thief is, they always get caught. Don't put too much effort into this. Just remain aware.

[MCM Risk Consultants]

Interesting thread. Almost 80% of internal theft isn't prosecuted due to fear of media and taking time away from the business to attend court. Most of the time charges are dropped or reduced frustrating business owners. In reference to the daycare, I had a similar situation come up with me. I had a daycare that was hiring convicted felons with some serious crimes.