In 25 years of practicing employment law, I have unfortunately had to advise many clients who have been robbed by their own employees. They have lost thousands of dollars to theft of cash and inventory. In most instances, when my client has called me with questions about employee theft, the business has already been ripped off by its employee and is now just trying to figure out whether to prosecute and if there is any way to put in an insurance claim. I would rather see my clients take some preventative measures to stop employee theft before it happens.

Prevention starts by screening applicants with thorough reference and criminal background checks. Any employee with access to the financial records, bank accounts, credit cards, cash or inventory should have a clean record both with past employers and with law enforcement.

You should also assign overlapping job duties. Many of my employers who suffered losses to employee theft trusted just one person to handle the finances, the checkbook, cash receipts, reimbursement of business expenses or the bank deposits and didn’t require a second set of eyes on these records. Even if you don’t constantly have two people double-checking these records, learn a lesson from banks. Most banks require employees in sensitive financial jobs to take their vacation time in at least one week segments so that another employee can get a good long look at the vacationing employee’s records.

Every employer should also identify those areas of the business that are at high risk for theft and conduct audits every quarter or every six months on expense reporting, cash reconciliation, firm credit cards, etc. If you stock inventory, then performing a regular count of your inventory is also important. You should protect your inventory by watching for cars parked close to loading zones, unlocked exits that should remain locked, and bulging bags.

Finally, you should know your employees. The U. S. Chamber of Commerce recommends that you watch your employee’s behavior for unusual working hours, poor work performance, defensiveness when reporting on work, an unexplained close relationship or favoritism with a supplier or customer and/or a personal lifestyle that doesn’t match the employee’s salary.

One word of caution. If you suspect an employee of theft, don’t make the mistake of falsely imprisoning that employee or defaming that employee. If you detain an employee in the workplace by restricting his movement in some way, you could be guilty of false imprisonment. Let him leave if he wants to, and then let the police track him down and arrest him later if you have proof of theft. Defamation involves publicizing to others (such as your other employees) that an employee stole from you before that fact has been clearly established. In most instances, there is no reason for anyone else to be notified that you are accusing your employee of a crime. Only when the employee has been convicted of theft can you safely report to others, such as prospective employers who call for a reference, that your former employee stole from you.