Liability insurance and preventing employee theft

Theft is a concern for any business owner, but employee theft can be even more devastating than robbery by a stranger, partly because of the betrayal in trust it signifies and also because employee theft is often not covered by PA liability insurance.

Some business owners accept employee theft as an unavoidable fact of business but with a few basic strategies it may be possible to significantly lessen the risk of your employees stealing from you:

• Take care when hiring. Always vet potential employees thoroughly and check references
• Create a positive work environment – good employer/staff relations may mean employees feel less motivated to steal
• Ensure staff receive adequate pay – this may decrease the need for employees to supplement their income by stealing
• Create clear guidelines for behavior and follow them consistently
• Keep money well organized. This way you will know if something is missing and be able to follow up on it quickly before too much is lost
• Ensure any money handling duties are divided among more than one employee
• Undertake financial audits at irregular times
• Encourage an anonymous reporting system for employee violations

By taking measures to reduce the risk of employee theft you can hopefully minimize the likelihood that your staff will want to steal from you, and make it easier to catch them if they do.