How to Prevent Theft in the Workplace : A Guide

It’s reported that 75% of all employees steal from their employers at least one time in their career. Studies have shown that it’s more likely for younger, under the age of 35, employees to steal.

If you’re having issues with theft in the workplace, there is preventive action you can take to stop it. Keep reading, and we will walk you through how to prevent theft in the workplace.

How to Prevent Theft in the Workplace

If you’re having issues with your employee’s stealing, or you just want to get ahead and not become a part of the statistic that almost 95% of businesses suffer from theft in the workplace, we are here to help.

It’s better to have policies in place before any theft happens. Here are some of the top tips from our theft prevention guide.

Company Policies

First, it’s essential to have policies and procedures in place and make sure they are a part of employee training and their handbook. Emphasize that theft will lead to severe consequences.

You could list out different levels of consequences that can be the same if the item is small or big. For example, first, a warning and the item must be returned, and if it happens again, you will lose your job.

Background Checks

Do your research before hiring someone. You can use a third-party background check service to determine whether the past employee had a criminal record.

Also, follow up with references and make sure there are no character issues or concerns.

Install Security Measures

First, you should have computer security measures. Make sure that only individual employees have access to company credit cards, money, or inventory. Restrict access and change passwords frequently.

You can also get lockers for employees to keep their belongings during the day or if they’re leaving their laptop at work overnight. That way, another employee can’t break into their coworker’s things.

You can find some sizable lockers for a great price; check out these health club lockers for sale.

Evidence

Did you know that $50 billion is stolen from U.S. businesses by their employees a year? If you ever find out that one of your employees did steal, you not only want to have consequences in place, you want to have clear evidence.

Make sure that you have a paper trail before confronting an employee. You also should have a system in place that protects your other employees if they come to you about one of their coworkers stealing from the company.

Yearly Audits

Another measure you can take is to have unannounced yearly audits done by a third party. That way, you can be sure that no one is stealing and take action if they find anything.

Put Theft Policies into Place

Now that you know the steps you can take to prevent theft in the workplace, you are ready to put policies into place.

Make your employees aware of all policies and security measures that are being taken for your safety, the company’s safety, and their safety.

Start adding policies to your company handbook, or keep reading about the latest in sports and entertainment here!