Employee is (probably) stealing- now what?

DarrenX · #1 03-14-2007, 11:10 AM

Summary at bottom.
----------------------------------------------
My fiancee and I own a salon together (1.5 years)- she has there 95% of the time it's open. I have a day job, so I'm there some nights and most weekends.

Recently we had hired a new girl as a receptionist from 5-9pm, Monday - Friday. We trained her on the front desk, and things were working out well. After a few weeks we decided we could leave her alone to close the salon. Things seemed to be going okay, but a couple times the cash drawer was off. One time under $20, one time over $12. We took this as more that she didn't know what she was doing vs. stealing, so I came in and trained her again. Nothing weird that night.

Last week we took $15 out of the drawer for something and didn't tell her. She said the drawer balanced. We took $35 the next day- again, she said nothing about it not balancing. I was supposed to go in to again see what was going on tonight, when Mandy (fiancee) called. An employee recently stopped working at the salon, and a tip that she had received from a client was in an envelope. Mandy had put it there personally, and knew it was $10. When she opened it, it was now $2. While the front desk girl isn't the only person who could have done this, she is the one with the easiest access to the tips and the only one alone in the salon at any given time. We're 80% sure it was her.

So now what?
----------------------------------------------
Summary: We suspect an employee is stealing, but are only 80% sure. How should we handle this?

guids · #2 03-14-2007, 11:12 AM

You call someone like me up, and have some cameras, or controls put in place.

DarrenX · #3 03-14-2007, 11:24 AM

[ QUOTE ]
You call someone like me up, and have some cameras, or controls put in place.

[/ QUOTE ]

You near Chicago?

Oh, also forgot- a few supplies have gone missing as well in this period.

My brother's fiancee's sister has expressed an interest in working at the salon. This was a month ago or so. At the time I told him that we had front desk help, but if it didn't work out we'd let them know. Easier/quicker/cheaper than cameras?

We know what we want to do (let her go), but looking for a tactful/legal way to do it.

jba · #4 03-14-2007, 11:26 AM

link

for like $50 you can probably cover the money areas with cameras. this is probably a good idea for your business in general.

guids · #5 03-14-2007, 11:28 AM

It is hard to fire someone w/o 100% proof. Im in st. louis, and Id probably be too expensive to come up there and install anything, but I would def look in the yellowpages at point of sale systems. You can get a new register and a 10 camera system that time stamps everytime the drawer opens on the camera, for under 2k. In the long run, this is your best solution whether you fire her or not.

Quanah Parker · #6 03-14-2007, 11:16 AM

1st time offense?

The left hand.

ScottieK · #7 03-14-2007, 11:30 AM

Yeesh....that sucks. My dad used to own a store where a new employee was suspected of stealing. He rounded them all up and told them his suspicions without singling anyone out, hoping that would stop the thief. It did for a little while, but the thief started up again. Dad compared the incidents against the work schedule, and narrowed it down to one employee. He confronted the employee, and the employee confessed. Employee got fired.

I like guids's suggestions. That way, you've got security and tapes all the time, regardless of who's working there.

ScottieK

deadbody · #8 03-14-2007, 11:44 AM

At will employment. Tell her you're sorry but it's not working out, and fire her. Don't give her a reason. She hasn't ben working there long enough to qualify for any unemployment or the like, just tell her you no longer need her services, and let her go. Change the locks though, and long term the camera thing isn't a bad idea.

DarrenX · #9 03-14-2007, 12:02 PM

[ QUOTE ]
At will employment. Tell her you're sorry but it's not working out, and fire her. Don't give her a reason. She hasn't ben working there long enough to qualify for any unemployment or the like, just tell her you no longer need her services, and let her go. Change the locks though, and long term the camera thing isn't a bad idea.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for all the replies. The cameras make sense, and we are looking into security systems this afternoon (yes, probably overdue).

As far as firing her, I like the idea of just no longer needing her services. If she pushes for a reason, we could say that things have been disappearing on her watch, which basically gets the point across without directly accusing her.

And yes, the locks!! [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

guids · #10 03-14-2007, 12:04 PM

If you are looking at just camera systems, and have ANY, even just a tiny bit of technical ability, just buy a system off ebay. If you are getting a camera system that will hook up directly to your register (which is what Id go with) call a pro. Cameras = very easy and much cheaper if you DIY.