CONDUCTING AN EMPLOYEE BACKGROUND CHECK, NO MATTER THE POSITION
These last few weeks have really been rough. If you work LP for the holidays you know what I’m talking about. It was a constant battle to keep merchandise in the store and on the shelf. Not to mention the onslaught of GL claims, customer issues and of course internal theft. Silver lining; it’s all behind us now and we can look forward to starting off a new year and close out 2015 on a high note. As you look ahead to 2016 and the new staff you plan on hiring, I would implore you to conduct an employee background check on any new hires.
I feel encouraged to share a story with you all in hopes of encouraging you to always run a pre-employment screening before bringing anyone new into your stores.
A new regional manager had just taken over the area and there were several stores that had General Manager vacancies. Either the internal candidate were not interested in moving up, or there were some issues that prevented a promotion, so she was left scrambling trying to fill these openings in some of our highest volume stores. The Regional Manager did what any savvy manager would do; she relied on her network of previous employees and employers and scoured for talent. It wasn’t long before she had found a candidate for one of our stores that she had worked with years ago. In such a rush to get the position filled, the Regional Manager elected to bypass the pre-employment screening and bring the candidate in immediately. Surely, she trusted this man’s character enough to do so. Things were great for about 6 months.
The LP department began receiving copious amounts of anonymous tips from this one particular store. All seemed to involve the General Manager in some form of fraud. There were allegations of payroll fraud, manipulation of financial documents, and even theft. How could this be? The RM vouched for this guy. He was touted as a District Manager level candidate due to his experiences. He was such a strong candidate, even bypassing an employee background check. So what was going on?
I was assigned the case to investigate and it didn’t take much to uncover a literal pile of crap. Once I began interviewing supervisors and managers, I started to develop a clear pattern of his behavior. This General Manager would take every Friday, Saturday and Sunday off, while maintaining a schedule that showed he was in the store. Interviewing supervisors, I found out that he threatened to fire anyone who spoke out against him, even forcing some managers to lie to the Regional Manager regarding his presence in the store. In addition, after some financial investigations, we determined that he was manipulating the store sales on the weekly PL report, to show greater sales and profitability; increasing his bonus potential. This, folks, is fraud.
The proverbial nail in the coffin came when a part time sales associate contacted me directly. The employee was a retired police officer who sold power tools part time for us. He claimed to have witnessed the GM steal an entire socket set and felt it was his duty to report this. Long story short, the claim was investigated and proven. Our investigation also uncovered thousands upon thousands of dollars of theft by this General Manager in just the few short months he was employed. When the case came to a close, and police were contacted, the detective assigned to the case asked, “Don’t you guys run an employee background check?”
Surely this General Manager, who was spoken so highly of by the Regional Manager, couldn’t have any type of criminal record, could he? Of course he did. He had been arrested nearly a dozen times for shoplifting, check fraud and several other crimes. If he had gone through the pre-employment screening process, we could have saved the company countless thousands of dollars. This set a new policy in our company and as a direct result of this case, no one, not even the CEO could waive the employee background check requirement for new hires.
For more information about Background Checks, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
These last few weeks have really been rough. If you work LP for the holidays you know what I’m talking about. It was a constant battle to keep merchandise in the store and on the shelf. Not to mention the onslaught of GL claims, customer issues and of course internal theft. Silver lining; it’s all behind us now and we can look forward to starting off a new year and close out 2015 on a high note. As you look ahead to 2016 and the new staff you plan on hiring, I would implore you to conduct an employee background check on any new hires. I feel encouraged to share a story with you all in hopes of encouraging you to always run a pre-employment screening before bringing anyone new into your stores.
A new regional manager had just taken over the area and there were several stores that had General Manager vacancies. Either the internal candidate were not interested in moving up, or there were some issues that prevented a promotion, so she was left scrambling trying to fill these openings in some of our highest volume stores. The Regional Manager did what any savvy manager would do; she relied on her network of previous employees and employers and scoured for talent. It wasn’t long before she had found a candidate for one of our stores that she had worked with years ago. In such a rush to get the position filled, the Regional Manager elected to bypass the pre-employment screening and bring the candidate in immediately. Surely, she trusted this man’s character enough to do so. Things were great for about 6 months.
The LP department began receiving copious amounts of anonymous tips from this one particular store. All seemed to involve the General Manager in some form of fraud. There were allegations of payroll fraud, manipulation of financial documents, and even theft. How could this be? The RM vouched for this guy. He was touted as a District Manager level candidate due to his experiences. He was such a strong candidate, even bypassing an employee background check. So what was going on?
I was assigned the case to investigate and it didn’t take much to uncover a literal pile of crap. Once I began interviewing supervisors and managers, I started to develop a clear pattern of his behavior. This General Manager would take every Friday, Saturday and Sunday off, while maintaining a schedule that showed he was in the store. Interviewing supervisors, I found out that he threatened to fire anyone who spoke out against him, even forcing some managers to lie to the Regional Manager regarding his presence in the store. In addition, after some financial investigations, we determined that he was manipulating the store sales on the weekly PL report, to show greater sales and profitability; increasing his bonus potential. This, folks, is fraud.
The proverbial nail in the coffin came when a part time sales associate contacted me directly. The employee was a retired police officer who sold power tools part time for us. He claimed to have witnessed the GM steal an entire socket set and felt it was his duty to report this. Long story short, the claim was investigated and proven. Our investigation also uncovered thousands upon thousands of dollars of theft by this General Manager in just the few short months he was employed. When the case came to a close, and police were contacted, the detective assigned to the case asked, “Don’t you guys run an employee background check?”
Surely this General Manager, who was spoken so highly of by the Regional Manager, couldn’t have any type of criminal record, could he? Of course he did. He had been arrested nearly a dozen times for shoplifting, check fraud and several other crimes. If he had gone through the pre-employment screening process, we could have saved the company countless thousands of dollars. This set a new policy in our company and as a direct result of this case, no one, not even the CEO could waive the employee background check requirement for new hires.
For more information about Background Checks, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
CP Tags-3 , Clothing Security-2 , Security Tags On Clothes-2
Protect What Is Really Being Stolen
Most small business owner sell a specific category of products. You have stores that specialize in electronics, collectibles, sporting goods, cosmetics and more. But your electronics stores may also sell trending or seasonal items like radio controlled toys and hard to find batteries. It is a great business strategy to sell cross merchandised items that can add sales to your bottom line. I think it would be interesting to see which items these stores are considering when they make their plans to prevent shoplifting though. It wouldn’t be very smart to just adhere Checkpoint Tags to the cell phones in a wireless store, but leave all the high retail accessories unprotected. The cases, chargers and ear buds are just as vulnerable as the devices themselves.
I just saw this problem in a small sporting goods store I visited over the weekend. They sell guns, ammunition, fishing gear, archery supplies, and much more. All the rifles and pistols had some form of Checkpoint Tags attached to them. I saw them on metal detectors, fishing rods, and more. They also had some very popular clothing items on display, but while I was browsing around, I never saw any type of clothing security in place. It seemed that the store management was so caught up in their flagship items they forgot about the extras they sell. I was browsing through the hoodies and other cold weather gear and could not believe the complete absence of security tags on clothes. The restrooms and fitting rooms were both in the back corner of the store and there did not appear to be anyone monitoring the entrance to either. There was also only one cashier at the front register area. All the other employees were concentrated in the back around the gun sales counter. What I saw was a perfect equation for a major theft issue in this particular store. Clothing security should be a key component of any product protection plan. It would be a lot easier to conceal some clothing in the fitting room and get out the door undetected than it would be to try to get out with a big metal detector box.
Store owners and managers need to take a look at what would actually be targeted for theft. I know the retail price has to be a factor in deciding what inventory needs Checkpoint Tags, but it can’t be the only piece of the puzzle. Simply putting security tags on clothes in this store could have the potential to save this store a lot of shrink issues. They can be attached very quickly by the receiving staff as the inventory arrives at the store. There are hard tags attached with pins, or labels that you adhere to the back of the price label. They will be easily deactivated or detached by the clerk at the checkout counter. If there is an attempt to remove the item from the store, the alarm will be prompted to sound when it detects those Checkpoint Tags are still actively attached. Just remember: it’s not always the most expensive item in the store that gets stolen; sometimes it’s the easiest item to conceal and get away with.
For more information on Clothing Security, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Most small business owner sell a specific category of products. You have stores that specialize in electronics, collectibles, sporting goods, cosmetics and more.But your electronics stores may also sell trending or seasonal items like radio controlled toys and hard to find batteries. It is a great business strategy to sell cross merchandised items that can add sales to your bottom line. I think it would be interesting to see which items these stores are considering when they make their plans to prevent shoplifting though. It wouldn’t be very smart to just adhere Checkpoint Tags to the cell phones in a wireless store, but leave all the high retail accessories unprotected. The cases, chargers and ear buds are just as vulnerable as the devices themselves.
I just saw this problem in a small sporting goods store I visited over the weekend. They sell guns, ammunition, fishing gear, archery supplies, and much more. All the rifles and pistols had some form of Checkpoint Tags attached to them. I saw them on metal detectors, fishing rods, and more. They also had some very popular clothing items on display, but while I was browsing around, I never saw any type of clothing security in place. It seemed that the store management was so caught up in their flagship items they forgot about the extras they sell. I was browsing through the hoodies and other cold weather gear and could not believe the complete absence of security tags on clothes. The restrooms and fitting rooms were both in the back corner of the store and there did not appear to be anyone monitoring the entrance to either. There was also only one cashier at the front register area. All the other employees were concentrated in the back around the gun sales counter. What I saw was a perfect equation for a major theft issue in this particular store. Clothing security should be a key component of any product protection plan. It would be a lot easier to conceal some clothing in the fitting room and get out the door undetected than it would be to try to get out with a big metal detector box.
Store owners and managers need to take a look at what would actually be targeted for theft. I know the retail price has to be a factor in deciding what inventory needs Checkpoint Tags, but it can’t be the only piece of the puzzle. Simply putting security tags on clothes in this store could have the potential to save this store a lot of shrink issues. They can be attached very quickly by the receiving staff as the inventory arrives at the store. There are hard tags attached with pins, or labels that you adhere to the back of the price label. They will be easily deactivated or detached by the clerk at the checkout counter. If there is an attempt to remove the item from the store, the alarm will be prompted to sound when it detects those Checkpoint Tags are still actively attached. Just remember: it’s not always the most expensive item in the store that gets stolen; sometimes it’s the easiest item to conceal and get away with.
For more information on Clothing Security, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Bottle Locks-4 , Liquor Bottle Security-2 , Alpha Security-1
The High Cost Of Liquor Theft
It’s hard to hire the right people. Even when you do choose the best and most qualified person for the job, a bad personal situation can turn a great employee into a nightmare you can’t get rid of fast enough. I’ve lost a number of employees over the years, and it never gets easier to fire a part of your team. In the retail pharmacy business, I have dealt with employees stealing cash, merchandise, and even prescription drugs. We just have to look at what is being targeted and choose our best anti theft devices. Bar owners and managers have to face another equally large dilemma: the best choice for liquor bottle security.
There are many ways a bartender can steal from their employer. Some will over-pour drinks and exceed the legal amounts of liquor per drink. Some have been documented for pouring expensive drinks, hitting the “no sale” key, but actually putting the money in the tip jar instead. Then you have the ones that dare to steal whole bottles of liquors. Sometimes they take them directly from behind the bar area, but sometimes they take them from the overstock storage room. There is money to be made with the renewed interest in high priced and handcrafted products that are on the market right now. Stealing bottles of liquor is much more serious than just handing out free drinks. If you don’t have bottle locks on your inventory, you are taking a big chance. These are tools offered by Alpha Security that secure your extra bottles and they cannot be opened without the S3 key provided. Of course, access to that key must be restricted, but bottle locks are a proven solution.
Why would a bartender steal your liquor? They may have been approached by another bar owner that cannot purchase from a reputable dealer. They could sell it and make a serious profit for themselves. The demand for high end liquors, like some brands of rare single malt scotch, exceeds the supply. With the increased consumer knowledge, the illegal resale of these products will just rise. If your bartender is having a rough financial time at home, they are going to be more susceptible to fall for the temptation to make a buck off of your valuable inventory. Let’s say they are approached by a big event planner. They are putting together a big wedding on a budget, and they know they can make more money if they can save on the liquor for the open bar. The easiest way to do that is to make an illegal deal with an impressionable bartender to buy some of your booze instead. If those excess bottles in storage are not being monitored properly, they could soon start disappearing. That’s why it’s so important to make them impenetrable with bottle locks. It’s like adding a tiny Fort Knox to each bottle. They can pry and pull all they want, but the bottle will shatter before those bottle locks will come off. The main thing is not to dangle the opportunity in front of someone that may fall victim to a money making scheme. Liquor bottle security should be near the top of your priority list, and an investment in bottle locks will pay you back.
For more information on Bottle Locks, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
It’s hard to hire the right people. Even when you do choose the best and most qualified person for the job, a bad personal situation can turn a great employee into a nightmare you can’t get rid of fast enough. I’ve lost a number of employees over the years, and it never gets easier to fire a part of your team. In the retail pharmacy business, I have dealt with employees stealing cash, merchandise, and even prescription drugs. We just have to look at what is being targeted and choose our best anti theft devices. Bar owners and managers have to face another equally large dilemma: the best choice for liquor bottle security.
There are many ways a bartender can steal from their employer. Some will over-pour drinks and exceed the legal amounts of liquor per drink. Some have been documented for pouring expensive drinks, hitting the “no sale” key, but actually putting the money in the tip jar instead. Then you have the ones that dare to steal whole bottles of liquors. Sometimes they take them directly from behind the bar area, but sometimes they take them from the overstock storage room. There is money to be made with the renewed interest in high priced and handcrafted products that are on the market right now. Stealing bottles of liquor is much more serious than just handing out free drinks. If you don’t have bottle locks on your inventory, you are taking a big chance. These are tools offered by Alpha Security that secure your extra bottles and they cannot be opened without the S3 key provided. Of course, access to that key must be restricted, but bottle locks are a proven solution.
Why would a bartender steal your liquor? They may have been approached by another bar owner that cannot purchase from a reputable dealer. They could sell it and make a serious profit for themselves. The demand for high end liquors, like some brands of rare single malt scotch, exceeds the supply. With the increased consumer knowledge, the illegal resale of these products will just rise. If your bartender is having a rough financial time at home, they are going to be more susceptible to fall for the temptation to make a buck off of your valuable inventory. Let’s say they are approached by a big event planner. They are putting together a big wedding on a budget, and they know they can make more money if they can save on the liquor for the open bar. The easiest way to do that is to make an illegal deal with an impressionable bartender to buy some of your booze instead. If those excess bottles in storage are not being monitored properly, they could soon start disappearing. That’s why it’s so important to make them impenetrable with bottle locks. It’s like adding a tiny Fort Knox to each bottle. They can pry and pull all they want, but the bottle will shatter before those bottle locks will come off. The main thing is not to dangle the opportunity in front of someone that may fall victim to a money making scheme. Liquor bottle security should be near the top of your priority list, and an investment in bottle locks will pay you back.
For more information on Bottle Locks, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Alpha Shark Tags-4 WC blog 76
Wardrobing-3
Return Fraud-4
Curtail Return Fraud – Clip Clothes With Alpha Shark Tags
Often return fraud is easy to identify. Someone comes in with a receipt and they present a piece of merchandise that doesn’t match any information on the receipt and they want money back. It may be a case of not paying attention and getting the wrong receipt from home, but if they are insistent on getting cash, not a merchandise card or a credit on a credit card, it is probably a fraudulent return. Merchandise being returned with the wrong tags is another fairly easy method to detect. There are thieves who have tag attachment guns at home and can change out tags on garments. These fraud attempts can be prevented by sales associates paying attention to the merchandise returned and ensuring all the appropriate information matches. On the other hand, there is also return fraud which can be a little more difficult to prevent. There are people who will pick up receipts from outside the store, and if they know how to read the information, they go into the store, find a matching item and take it to the return desk for a refund. There are also those people who will enter a store, walk past an unoccupied check lane, pick up a store shopping bag and then proceed to fill it up while posing as a customer. These people then “return” the merchandise, in most cases without a receipt. Often they don’t mind receiving a gift card or merchandise card because they turn around and try to sell it to another customer. The most difficult fraud to deter is wardrobing. This is the customer who buys an item, wears it a time or two and returns it for a refund. They ALWAYS keep the receipt and the tags so there a fewer chances that a refund will be denied. There is only one good method to prevent this type of return fraud and that is to use Alpha Shark Tags on your clothing.
Alpha Shark Tags prevent wardrobing because they are pinned onto a piece of clothing and cannot be removed and re-attached when the clothing is done being worn. These are one-time use only devices and have to be removed by the customer. They are to be pinned in a highly visible area of a shirt, slacks, skirt or any other garment and the customer cuts the tag off at home when they are ready to wear it out. The purpose is so that if someone attempts to wear the item out with friends or even to work as a “New Outfit” the tag makes it clear that the item is intended to be returned. Imagine the embarrassment of wearing a new suit into a job interview and a bright orange tag is hanging from the tie, from the seam along the edge of the knee on a pair of slacks and one from the collar of a suit coat. The interview is probably going to be somewhat awkward when the applicant has to explain what the tags are for.
If your store is using Alpha Shark Tags and you have made your store return policy very clear, there will be no cause for your store to take back an item that has had the tags removed. The use of these tags will reduce the shortage you incur each time you refund and a garment that has been worn and may have odors or makeup on it. Those items are often marked way down and the loss is in your gross margin.
Don’t become a victim of wardrobing and other types of return fraud. Use Alpha Shark Tags on your clothing and see how much your profits will increase when you don’t have to mark items out of stock or take excessive markdowns.
For more information on Alpha Shark Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Often return fraud is easy to identify. Someone comes in with a receipt and they present a piece of merchandise that doesn’t match any information on the receipt and they want money back. It may be a case of not paying attention and getting the wrong receipt from home, but if they are insistent on getting cash, not a merchandise card or a credit on a credit card, it is probably a fraudulent return. Merchandise being returned with the wrong tags is another fairly easy method to detect. There are thieves who have tag attachment guns at home and can change out tags on garments. These fraud attempts can be prevented by sales associates paying attention to the merchandise returned and ensuring all the appropriate information matches. On the other hand, there is also return fraud which can be a little more difficult to prevent. There are people who will pick up receipts from outside the store, and if they know how to read the information, they go into the store, find a matching item and take it to the return desk for a refund. There are also those people who will enter a store, walk past an unoccupied check lane, pick up a store shopping bag and then proceed to fill it up while posing as a customer. These people then “return” the merchandise, in most cases without a receipt. Often they don’t mind receiving a gift card or merchandise card because they turn around and try to sell it to another customer. The most difficult fraud to deter is wardrobing. This is the customer who buys an item, wears it a time or two and returns it for a refund. They ALWAYS keep the receipt and the tags so there a fewer chances that a refund will be denied. There is only one good method to prevent this type of return fraud and that is to use Alpha Shark Tags on your clothing.
Alpha Shark Tags prevent wardrobing because they are pinned onto a piece of clothing and cannot be removed and re-attached when the clothing is done being worn. These are one-time use only devices and have to be removed by the customer. They are to be pinned in a highly visible area of a shirt, slacks, skirt or any other garment and the customer cuts the tag off at home when they are ready to wear it out. The purpose is so that if someone attempts to wear the item out with friends or even to work as a “New Outfit” the tag makes it clear that the item is intended to be returned. Imagine the embarrassment of wearing a new suit into a job interview and a bright orange tag is hanging from the tie, from the seam along the edge of the knee on a pair of slacks and one from the collar of a suit coat. The interview is probably going to be somewhat awkward when the applicant has to explain what the tags are for.
If your store is using Alpha Shark Tags and you have made your store return policy very clear, there will be no cause for your store to take back an item that has had the tags removed. The use of these tags will reduce the shortage you incur each time you refund and a garment that has been worn and may have odors or makeup on it. Those items are often marked way down and the loss is in your gross margin.
Don’t become a victim of wardrobing and other types of return fraud. Use Alpha Shark Tags on your clothing and see how much your profits will increase when you don’t have to mark items out of stock or take excessive markdowns.
For more information on Alpha Shark Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Stock rooms tend to be highly vulnerable areas for theft. Of course they do vary in size based on the size of the store and the merchandise carried in the store but all are potential security risks. Regardless of what size a stock room is it is important to ensure there are appropriate security measures in place. It is easy to assume that since merchandise is in a stockroom area there is limited access to it and therefore it is safe from theft until it goes to the floor. There can be a tendency for complacency on the part of managers when they fail to recognize the possibility of employees stealing while in a stockroom. In many cases retail anti-theft devices are not placed on merchandise until the product is moved to the sales floor.
Retail anti-theft devices do prevent shoplifting on the sales floor. Wrapping electronics merchandise in Alpha Spider Wrap for example allows the customer to handle product and walk around the store with it for convenience. The electronic alarm capabilities and tamper proof hardware provide the store with protection against theft. Sales go up when customers don’t have to wait for assistance to get an item from a secured show case. The same protection that can prevent shoplifting can also be used to prevent employee theft. The one place that employees have access to and where customers cannot go is the stockroom so it should be a focus for making sure Alpha Spider Wraps and other devices are being used here.
When I was Loss Prevention Manager for a big box store, I recall having one particular case that made me rethink our merchandise protection strategy in terms of when we protected merchandise and specifically in our stockroom. We had a stockroom dedicated to electronics within our main stockroom.This area was monitored by several cameras and a key was required by a team member in order to enter it. It seemed that this was a secure environment with little chance of internal theft. Securing product with retail anti-theft devices could take place when merchandise was ready to go to the sales floor.
One morning I was approached by one of our stock team members who was trained to work in the electronics stockroom. She told me she had come across an empty package in the electronics stockroom. I inspected the box and left it in place and initiated an investigation. After several weeks I was able to successfully identify the culprit and caught him stealing several high dollar items, including a digital camera. During live closed circuit television surveillance I watched the employee remove contents from a box, conceal the merchandise in his pants and then hide the empty package behind other products on the shelf. I stopped him while he still had the merchandise in his pants, making it more than a little difficult for him to deny his crime.
The case made me realize that while we did a good job of using Alpha Spider Wrap and other retail anti-theft devices on our sales floor to prevent shoplifting, we had a very real flaw in our overall merchandise protection strategy. I had relied too heavily upon the stockroom controls we had in place to be the deterrent to internal theft when I could have been using the same devices to add increased security to merchandise in the stockroom areas. Even though I did catch this particular employee within his first few months of employment, I could never be absolutely certain I had an admission for ALL the theft he had caused. The question I think every conscientious investigator asks is, “Did I get a full and complete admission?” I like to believe I did, but the question always nags at me.
Don’t allow your stockroom to be the place from which a dishonest employee feels comfortable stealing. Use the retail anti-theft devices that prevent shoplifting to also stop internal theft. Protect your merchandise when it enters the store and it will be safe wherever you keep it, on the sales floor or in the stockroom.
For more information on Retail Anti-Theft Devices, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
