Help DU I feel like a heel

[Andy_Stephenson]

I know I shouldn't but...I have an employee that was caught stealing yesterday. Termite and I are very generous with our employees and feel betrayed. He has never done this before, but there are other things that grate our nerves. He has been given several chances. What should I do...

I am seriously thinking about going in and firing him. This is tough for me to do...but stealing is not acceptable! Especially when we are as generous as we are...

Advice...

[RedSox02]

1. Stealing from your store/company?

Unfortunately it seems most people who do this can't help themselves adn will do it again. However, maybe you can simply tell them that if they are caught again, you will have to fire them. I guess if you are torn there is no rule saying you HAVE TO fire them, but you probably have to stand up for yourself and at least lay down an ultimatum.

[demnan]

2. Fire him, don't feel guility about it, either

and hire someone else more worthy who will appreciate that job.

[Sapphocrat]

3. Sounds like you already know...

...what you need to do.

But if you need an extra push: Fire him.

[blm]

4. Try this then...

Hand him a 100.00 and send him on his way because you can understand that he may have felt a need to steal, but, that it is no way acceptable to you.

I think this tactic captures who you are while reinforcing the distinction between right and wrong. It will be the better lesson for him. The generous severance (under the circumstances) should really make him see the error of his ways. And, at least you'd feel better.

[Old and In the Way]

5. He broke his trust with you.

I hear you GBnC, I'd feel the same way. It's great to hire, but it would suck to fire. I haven't had to deal with that issue, but I think if you have proof of the crime (really, that is what it is), then what choice do you have? Trust, particularly in small businesses, is absolutely essential. Can you honestly say you could ever trust him in the future?

He ought to feel lucky that you don't press charges. Maybe he'll learn from the experience.

[LARED]

6. My 2 cents

I would fire him. If you don't it may come back to haunt you someday if you need to fire someone else for stealing and don't give them a second chance. And IMO you have nothing to feel bad about. you are the victim.

I've had to let several people go over the years and it is never easy, but stealing is an offense that warrants termination.

[roughsatori]

7. My brother's partner stole 40.000 dollars from the company

a year ago. My brother took no legal action. He called me yesterday and has proof that his partner stole over 100.000 dollars recently. I told him to take legal action the first time, he would not.

For me stealing is an absolute bottom line. I would fire an employee who stole from me. If I really liked the person I would tell them that I wished I could keep them, but their action has made that impossible. I would tell them that due to liking them I would not take legal action and will never mention anything but their employment dates if I am called for a reference (legal protection for me as you can be sued by his future employer for providing a fake good reference).

Good Luck.

[noiretextatique]

8. fix your system

first and foremost. i know you can't watch everyone all the time, but i tell you it's amazing how trusting some business owners are. i see it all the time as an accountant. if you have any vulnerabilites that make it easy for people to steal, do what you can to fix them. as to the employee...do what you think is best. you can always make him pay back the money.

[Cheswick2.0]

18. hey, where have you been, being happy I hope?

haven't seen you for several days!

[noiretextatique]

21. i've been around

and i'm ectastic. after two years of underemployment, i have a telephone interview for a dream job on monday. it's an accounting job at an art gallery...how f'n cool is that? :smoke:
they specifically ask for a "polished" person, and compared to most accountants i know, i am a stone, cold diva :smoke:
everyone: claim this job for me please! and i see my friend tonight...suddenly, my life is full of possibilities and energy. all is well :hi:

[Cheswick2.0]

23. I wasn't sure which answer I should answer

I am glad to hear everything is going so well. :7

Accounting huh, I didn't know that is what you did. I admire people who have talent at thing I am hopeless at.

[noiretextatique]

22. i've been around

and i'm ectastic. after two years of underemployment, i have a telephone interview for a dream job on monday. it's an accounting job at an art gallery...how f'n cool is that? :smoke:
they specifically ask for a "polished" person, and compared to most accountants i know, i am a stone, cold diva :smoke:
everyone: claim this job for me please! and i see my friend tonight...suddenly, my life is full of possibilities and energy. all is well :hi:

[SOteric]

9. He has treated you this poorly, - and you're the ones feeling

bad. What's wrong with this picture?

If you let this employee stay with your firm, what ways would you have to send him and all your other employees the message that theft and betrayal are unacceptable?

What powerful, overwhelming circumstance could possibly lead you to believe that it was somehow acceptable for your employees to steal from you?

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. I'm a small business owner

and anyone who is caught steeling, should be fired on the spot. No excuses. There are too many good people in the world, who need a good job to waste your time on a loser.

Good luck and don't lose too much sleep over it. You'll feel much better when its over and done.

[Kamika]

11. you have nothing to feel guilty about

Ok i dont know the details. But if he broke your trust you should fire him. Its pretty easy.

But maybe theres more details you didnt tell us

[buddhamama]

12. you have nothing to feel bad about

you are one of the most generous persons i 'know',GBnC.
and this employee is trying to take advantage of your caring and generous nature. wrong is wrong,what they did was wrong.

[Caution]

13. Was once a business owner myself

IF he has been given his second chance already, which you state he has, then you have to fire him. Have you never fired anyone before? It happens and it has to be done occasionally and this is clearly one of those times. Tell him exactly why and if he gets angry tell him you could have had him arrested, and if he is apologetic don't cave and let him knwo that you have already given him chances in the past. Also do not allow him to use you as a reference.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

14. Fire him and if the amount was more than nominal prosecute

Letting employees commit crimes only sets up other unsuspecting employers who will later hire him. If he uses you on a job app, you will NOT be able to warn future retail employers.

To do anything short is enabling him.

[Character Assassin]

30. Sniff, sniff.... Ducky, you make me proud. You'd be a great cop

Testify, my sista.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

33. I'm still gonna cuff you and whack you with my nightstick

:D

[EOTE]

15. I'm just curious...

What was the item stolen? Or was it cash? If you don't feel comfortable divulging that information, can you atleast say it's value? I tend to agree that firing would probably be the best route to go, but I also think that the value of what was stolen would be a determining factor for me. After all, I've been known to take home pens and stuff from time to time and what he and I did are the same, the only difference might be degree.

[liberalnurse]

16. Try and work with him.....

Share what you know, offer a restitution plan.... Share your feelings of dissapointment and distrust. He can make the choice to stay and payback or leave. You may cultivate a grateful employee out of the compassion.

[greatauntoftriplets]

17. Don't feel like a heel.

I don't think you trust this employee any more and with good reason.

[amazona]

19. you must fire him, keeping a thief around unfair to everyone else

The stress of having to work with a thief is unbelievable. You can't keep your eyes off your wallet for a minute. You also have to worry about being falsely accused yourself, because thieves have a way of trying to throw suspicion on others. It creates total chaos in school and workplace. There is NO way he has never done this before; you just haven't caught him before. Thieves are repeat offenders.

[Cheswick2.0]

20. of course it feels bad to fire him

but he needs to learn not to do this or he will do it again and be in worse trouble.

[trof]

24. Important question: Stealing what?

paper clips?
post-it notes?
$100,000 out of petty cash?
I think the degree of the offense matters.

[davsand]

25. The first time I fired anyone it was for theft.

I threw up as soon as the girl left. I'm going to tell you the same thing I got told way back then: "People fire themselves. All you did (will be doing) is deliver the wake up call."

After several years of supervising people I came to see the wisdom in it.

I do want to hit on a point that came up earlier, and that is the one about it not being fair to the other employees if you do keep this person on payroll. If they don't steal now they are about to see you reward (allow) THEFT. I understand being sad about terminating someone, but not terminating him sends a message that you don't recognize THEY are worth keeping for being honest. Please don't demean them that way.

Pax to you, and just to make you realize it could be worse I'll tell you about my WORST management experience ever:

I hired a guy as a bartender and he worked his first few shifts and did an ok job. I was well pleased with myself for finding him... Sometime after his second week he doesn't show up and doesn't call.

My usual policy was that the first time around I'd call and inquire if they were ok since they didn't show and didn't call in. (it usually worked out that I'd explain nicely that it was expected that they call in if they weren't coming and everything was ok...

So I call this guy's number and get no answer. I figure he's running really late and I'll give him a few more minutes...

He still doesn't show up so I go to my office to call him and I get an answer. I ask to speak to him and there is this long silence... then this person says, "I'm ______'s father and he died last night. WHO is this?" I stammer out why I was calling and apologize for bothering them and how sorry I am for the loss and then hang up the phone.

My boss is sitting there in the office and he asks me if I'm ok and what had happened... (to this day I am ashamed of my response, but I share it with you so you feel better about your situation--ok?)

"I just heard the only acceptable reason for a no show-no call."

Laura

[Chuckup]

26. I stole my best friend's girlfriend when I was

a teenager, he still thanks me today...

Theft is theft, it doesn't matter what it was. I don't believe in a scale of severity. If an employee takes home pencils from the office, it's theft. Do you have any idea how many millions people steal in pencils from their employers each and every year?

It amounts to the GNP of a small country, yes, the GNP of a small country.

Sure, it doesn't come close to the Bush deficit, but what does. Oh, wait a second, since we're talking about theft..

[Ohio Dem]

27. I'm assuming you can prove he stole from you.

If that's the case, give him a choice:

1. Resign and return the money (or whatever). No charges will be filed. (He won't get unemployment if he quits.)

2. Refuse to resign but give the money (or whatever) back. He will be fired but charges will not be filed. (I don't know if he would get unemployment under this scenario or not.)

3. Refuse to resign and refuse to return the stolen money (or whatever). He will be fired and charges will be filed.

Of course, I'm also assuming we're not talking about taking pads of post-its home with him. I'm assuming the value of whatever was stolen is relatively great. If it weren't, you probably wouldn't be posting this.

[Booberdawg]

28. Gotta fire him

Sorry - but it's just not acceptable to steal, regardless of the circumstances. It's a business decision, not a personal one. Good luck.

[ScreamingMeemie]

29. Is he going through a tough time? Financial troubles? Is there a reason

why? If it's to finance gambling or another nasty habit, I guess I'd get rid of him. If he has a hungry baby at home, that might be another story.

[amazona]

31. if there is a "good" reason you must DEFINITELY fire him

My business doesn't have employees so I haven't dealt with this. In a friend's business, where there are large sums of money being handled, he has learned that he can't even hire people with a "good" reason to steal in the first place. The man who can justify theft because of a hungry baby (even though the real reason is his poor planning of his salary) is a man who will ALWAYS rationalize theft. He had a man who was stealing to pay his rent. It's like, OK, in theory a good reason; in reality, if a man cannot live on $50 or $60K a year can't pay his bills (in Mississippi?) and can straight-face pretend he had a good reason to steal...that man is not just a thief but a liar who lies to himself above all.

And it won't necessarily just be the business owner who is robbed. The other workers will get stuff taken out of their wallets and purses. My friend told me the other day that he almost preferred it if the thief had a stupid reason for stealing like "borrowing" to go gambling, as the thief with an acknowledged stupid reason at least he knows did wrong and there is some (very tiny) chance the crime would not be repeated. In the end, my friend never came to any benefit by giving thieves second chances and he actually harmed the honest employees who also ended up getting robbed. An ugly and unfair situation all round.

You should not have any employees you must pay so little that their babies starve. If you can't pay them fairly, fire them and let them get on with their lives elsewhere. Don't make thieves of them.

[ScreamingMeemie]

32. One of my father in law's best employees stole from the company to cover

a foreclosure on his home. He made restitution, never did it again, and went on to serve my father in law (eventually becoming management) for 20 years. People make mistakes out of desperation.