money sectionmoney sectionIf an employee steals from you or intentionally damages company property, you cannot withhold money from his pay without his permission unless you win a court judgment and obtain a writ of garnishment from the court. Even with a court order, Florida places restrictions on the amount you can garnish, and in certain circumstances, employees can be exempt from garnishment. If you receive a writ of garnishment, you can garnish up to 25 percent of your employee's net wages until the employee quits or satisfies the judgment.
Workplace surveillance is governed by several laws in the state of Florida that both protect people in the workplace and punish violators. Recording, videotaping or otherwise using surveillance equipment in Florida is potentially a crime. Consult with a Florida attorney if you need legal advice about the state's workplace surveillance laws.
In a 2005 study, the American Management Association found that 16 percent of employers monitored their staff with video cameras. In many cases, employees know they are being filmed, with the understanding that the cameras help to deter or catch thieves. However, laws on surveillance exist to protect employees' privacy from unscrupulous filming or recording. Florida laws build upon national regulations that govern workplace surveillance.
When you have an employee at your business that is not performing up to standards and you know he must be replaced, the task is not a simple matter of showing him the door and walking another person in the door to fill the spot. Depending on the job, various associated costs apply with replacing one person with another. According to the Sasha Corporation website, the cost of replacing even an entry-level employee making little more than minimum wage can be significant. The site suggests an average cost of $9,444.47 for the replacement of an $8 per hour employee because…
California's Labor Code explicitly bans taking surveillance videos of employees in bathrooms, locker rooms or areas designated by the employer for changing clothes, unless the company has a court order authorizing it. Other than that, state law has no specific rules for workplace video monitoring. Employees have a reasonable expectation of privacy, but courts have disagreed over what that means.
Employees might be professional, qualified and experienced, but they're still human and still susceptible to emotions better left outside the workplace. Jealousy, anger, fear, sullenness and worry can occur in business environments at any time, but these negative emotions are exacerbated when favoritism takes place. Before indulging in workplace favoritism, consider how your actions might affect other workers.
All employees pay a price for employee theft in terms of increased scrutiny and a loss of privacy as employers attempt to thwart stealing. Employers focus on protecting profits as they seek to prevent workplace theft. Unfortunately, workers who aren't stealing from their employers are subjected to theft-prevention methods that put all employees under suspicion.
You may imagine theft from businesses as being perpetrated by shoplifters and outsiders, but employees themselves are responsible for a large amount of theft. Employee theft is a more difficult problem for businesses to deal with than other forms of theft, because it is employees themselves who are often given the responsibility of preventing theft.
The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA) is Public Law 108-159 and is dated December 4, 2003. FACTA amended the Fair Credit Reporting ACT (FCRA) and addressed the growing concerns regarding identity theft. Under FACTA, employers are required to take certain measures to protect their employees from identity theft.
Employers receive a great deal of personal information from their employees upon their hiring. This information is retained at the companies throughout their employment. Because of this employers have a duty to safeguard their employees' information from potential identity theft. An employer can take various steps to protect the personal information of its employees. A single step or any combination of steps used can reduce the risk of an employee's identity theft.
Although employees are commonly the greatest assets in a company, they can also be a great liability. A 2008 report by the Association of Certified Fraud Managers states that 7 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product was lost to fraud and theft. Instituting company-wide policies will help curb the prevalence of theft and help struggling companies in tough economies.
Setting forth policy and procedure to protect your business from employee theft is a necessary part of business management. Some policies develop over time and some can be written and followed no matter the season. Informing employees of the theft prevention policies and ramifications for violating the policies will help your employees all be on the same page and know what is expected of them. Theft prevention policies should include the actions management takes after the first, second and final offense.
The Visa P-card is a credit card used by companies for procurement activities. The P-card allows businesses to control and track expenses.
Many employers use video surveillance to curtail illegal activities by employees, including theft and drug use. However, employees may bring action against their employers for video surveillance under federal and state laws. Understanding these protections and how they apply to video surveillance monitoring in the workplace can help employees keep their privacy intact.
Bar owners may not realize how vulnerable their liquor cabinet is from their own employees. The busier the establishment, the easier it is for the staff to either drink the owner's profits or pocket the money from drinks sold, and the owner is none the wiser. Even the best bartender may be tempted to skim liquor, but there are steps you can take to prevent shrinkage due to liquor theft.
If you are a bar owner, you can probably bet on the fact that employees are stealing from you. In fact, the National Restaurant Association estimates that employee theft is the culprit behind 75 percent of inventory shortages and 4 percent of total restaurant sales.
According to a 2009 publication by the National Retail Federation, employee theft was responsible for 44 percent of retail losses in 2008, adding up to $15.9 billion in losses for retail businesses. Employees stole more than shoplifters, whose theft accounted for $12.7 billion in losses that year. It is no surprise that many employers take measures to reduce employee theft.
Most theft in the workplace is done by employees. Eighty percent of employees will steal only if they are positive they can get away with it. Ten percent of employees will never steal. And ten percent will always steal. Focus on reducing employee theft by 80 percent with a few easy steps.
When it comes to theft in the workplace an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Here is how to keep employee theft from happening.
