Employee theft is on the rise. In its study on 2012 retail theft, Jack L Hayes International found over 71,000 employees of 23 large retail chains were caught committing fraud by stealing from their employers, a 5.5% upswing from 2011. 
An additional 1.1 million shoplifters from those same chains were detained, an increase of 7.4% from 2011. The magnitude of loss from internal fraud and theft is staggering, and these are only the ones who were caught!
Experts suspect the increase in employee theft may pertain to newly hired and part-time employees who are re-entering the workforce as the economy bounces back and unemployment treads down. Perhaps making up for previous lost wages, these new employees seem to be ripping off their places of employment the most. Another more troubling factor may be an increasing population of believers in the “if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying” workplace mentality. Regardless, it is vital to the success of a business to keep a good house and to safeguard your assets. The best way to accomplish this is to perform thorough pre-employment background checks, for everyone from owners, partners, and managers, to cashiers and facilities employees.
KNOW YOUR EMPLOYEE
You’ve worked too hard building your business to suffer losses (or worse) from internal fraud and theft by your employees. It’s crucial that you know who you are hiring before your new cashier, manager, sales representative, and after-hours janitor report for duty. The “bad apples” are not likely to divulge all of their secrets on an employment application. The only way to get the truth about their employment history and criminal record is through a comprehensive pre-employment background check.
DID YOU KNOW?
The FCRA requires that a potential employee provides consent for you to conduct their pre-employment background check. Any adverse findings that prevent their hiring must also be disclosed to them. Those candidates with the deepest and darkest histories will be scared away by the consent form, which alone, acts as a better layer of protection than many employers utilize. I’ve even heard of candidates asking their employers, “do you do background checks?,” a naive plea for you to move onto the next application.
DON’T DELAY
Before you hand out the keys to the register, the shop, the company car, the shipping dock, do your research by getting an employment background check. We are business professionals, licensed as Indianapolis, Indiana Private Investigators. We are certified in the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act), and we are ready to help you make a hiring mistake that will be too costly.
