So I have this problem at the shop.
Stuff has been going missing. As in stolen. In all the years we are open we have not had this problem. Even when we were filming it was not an issue. Now a whole size run of a dress is missing. Several skirts. And now to break the camel's back a whole bag of jewelry.
We had put the jewelry in a bin to be priced. It is expensive costume jewelry so it is not like it was worth a million bucks. But retail it is about a grand. So nothing to sneeze at. We have reviewed our camera's and it is inconclusive. We saw where it was put and we are trying to find out who took it from there. Now you have to look at the tapes in real time. If you fast forward you might miss something. So we have to do the tedious job of looking at each minute of tape from different angles to see if we can catch someone on tape.
Now I have three employees. One of them is a kid and she doesn't have the balls to take this stuff. There is now way. One of them is a hippy type who bikes to work every day. She never has a bag on the bike so I doubt she could take stuff out of the store without us noticing it. Also she is not the type and doesn't seem hard up for money. Sometimes she doesn't cash her check for a week or two.
Now my third employee is another whole kettle of fish. She is always money hungry. She asks me to get her check a day early so she can cash her check at the check cashing because they are closed on Sunday. She asked for fewer hours because she was sick and then complained about not having enough hours. She is a tattle-tale always ratting out the other employees so she will look like she is loyal and to cover up her mistakes. She starts shit by telling one employee that another one doesn't like them.
I am pretty sure that she is the one that is stealing. But I have no proof.
I didn't fire her because we were going on vacation and I didn't want to rock the boat until we got back. We are reviewing the tapes and we will come to a conclusion. I know what I want to do.
I just don't have any proof.
Yet.
36 comments:
Another reason why I was not around.
Dealing with this shit.
Whoa, dude, that is bad news. Hope you get to the bottom of it.
I was talking to a friend about government workers - one has to make 9 documented reports about an employee before a firing can occur.
Seems like about 8 too many.
I am sorry you are dealing with this.
Your instincts are probably correct--what does your better half think? Don't underestimate female intuition. And I suppose even socialist New York City is still "at will" employment. So if you do fire her when you get back, you should probably just let her go, let her get unemployment, and move on.
The other one is to set up a sting and see if she goes for it.
If someone stole from a company, including the government they would likely be fired under the spot.
If it is some sort of performance issue they go on corrective action: verbal warning...wait a month...written warning....wait a month...final written warning-fire them the first time they do something wrong. If they don't improve on the performance issue they can be fired within 60 days.
Document, document, document.
The employee at Troop's store sounds like a nig. I always believe it is best to err on the side of never hiring a nig-you will avoid the typical nig issues-tardiness, sick days, long breaks, on the phone with gf's, daycare issues with illegitimate niglets, etc.
The only exception to putting an employee on corrective action is if they have a great set of tits-then they should be given a pass with the caveat that they wear really revealing outfits to work.
I am sorry to hear of these troubles you are having Troop. My advice is to scan that video NOW and fire the bitch tomorrow, once you have proof. "Nip" it in the tit or bud.
tits.
Any issue that is considered "gross insubordination" is ground for immediate firing.
This includes theft, sexual harassment, fights, etc.
I work with high level senior executives who are educated at the finest universities so we don't have many issues that are considered "gross insubordination" but I have 13 employees on corrective action for performance issues right now. I monitor this shit like a hawk waiting for one slip up so I can pounce and throw their ass out on the street...but with a smile and a box of tissues, natch.
I am totally George Clooney in Up In The Air.
tits.
I am also involved in growing larges pieces of the business and we are "ramping up" in these areas. Forecast are for a 15 increase in staff or 200 new positions for next year.
But I am also getting rid of low hanging fruit.
I enjoy the variety. I also enjoy deciding what to people get for merit increases, bonuses and performance ratings. Compensation Design is probably the fave part of my job and comparing us to other companies and then determining salary ranges for specific jobs and skill sets. As well as some organizational design initiatives, performance management planning, learning and development programs and the "coaching" and "counseling" and "caring" and "listening" part of my job. The money rocks as well.
I wouldn't want to be just "ramping up" or just "downsizing". The combination works for me because I enjoy the variety and what is most important in all of these calculations is the diversity of my work.
RFIDs?
From someone who has watched literally years of surveillance footage I know what you mean. Try setting up the suspect..legally. The key is not to let anyone know you know shit has been stolen. If that's out in the open, you lost a big advantage. I was always neurotic about not blowing my cover when doing survellance. Once the subject knows they're under surveillance you just cease and try again in a few months.
Also, polygraphs can be helpful although not cheap because you'll need to polygraph all employees. Email me if you want to discuss this, I'll help however I can..gratis.
Wait a second, has A-Rod been in the store lately?
That's some disheartening shit. Frustrating, time consuming, energy depleting and morale zapping. Whoever is on the take is also undermining trust and goodwill. Hope you get a clear picture soon.
Tapes are deterrents, almost never proof. I've had people tell me that it's always the last person you'd ever expect, but that's nonsense. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. I hate having a thief working for me.
How do you know it is an employee? Perhaps customers. It is easy for two people to distract the staff. One person gets their attention trying on clothing and while the employee is making a sale or concentrating on the customer, the other person is lifting items.
Or a customer in cahoots with an employee.
If you cannot find evidence of actual theft, which is grounds for immediate termination, you can might be able to "lay off" a disruptful employee instead of firing. If you pay UI it shouldn't be as big of a problem as a wrongful termination suit.
"Sorry, honey. Times are tough and we will have to downsize* our staff for a while. Buh bye"
*Maybe not use the term downsize in a plus sized clothing shop :-)
Another issue. Who is minding the shop while you and Lisa are partying, eating, relaxing? Do you just leave and let the employees have free rein or do you have a trusted person, like a family member to supervise?
Being self employed is a pain because you never have down time or rarely can get away. I know, because my hubby and I are just NOW being able to plan a trip to get away from the business (in winter things slow down for the season). However, we don't have employees to be concerned about, but if we did, I would NEVER leave them alone with access to supplies, inventory, money or anything else.
Just sayin'
I handle all aspects of my business from production to sales. I don't trust anyone. I suppose I could increase the size of the business, but the troubles would grow exponentially.
A new low for Titus.
A new low for Titus.
Why? He sounds like a good human resources manager.
My unemployment rate is 0%. Last time I had a challenge it went against me. I called the top dog in the state and explained that the hearing was biased and requested a new hearing. He said in 20+ years of experience, he had never had that happen, but assured me that he would review the case and consider it. Less than an hour later, he called and told me I had been granted a new hearing.
We won that time.
Most times, the employee drops it after applying one time. That's the nature of lazy ne'er-do-wells--they're lazy. They will fill out a paper, hoping to get money for nothing, but won't follow up and pursue it. So, if you push back, they'll typically move along and look for easier money elsewhere.
Best case scenario is to present the case directly to the employee, in the presence of a witness. It can be a weak case, but you're not in a court room. After emphasizing the severity of the situation, give them a chance to quit and walk away with no more trouble from you. They almost always take that.
Cutting their hours and giving them the worst jobs to do is more passive-aggressive, but can work wonders, too.
I think Titus fell off his stools.
A new low for Titus.
Why? He sounds like a good human resources manager.
Good managers of human resources consider more than skin color and tits when hiring and firing.
The idea of Titus ridding his workplace of low hanging fruit is intriguing.
As is the thought of him monitoring "shit like a hawk".
Oh. I went back and read ALL of the comments. (novel concept, I know) Sorry I missed that one.
I doubt that is an attitude he takes in real life. At least I hope so :-(
Sixty and DBQ, My biz was service. Vacations were almost more trouble than they were worth. I had to hire people because the workload was killing me. However, when I hired people the work poured in even more. I had an investigator[retired homocide detective] who really wasn't very good w/ surveillance, which was 80% of my biz. But he was good @ dealing w/ clients calls and managing things when I was gone. I never had to deal w/ unemployment comp but I sure paid a lot. Over my career I also paid more than 40k in work comp. and never had a claim. Employees are a double edged sword.
(novel concept, I know)
Reading Titus comments verbatim can be a novel experience!
He seemed to be sniggering when he wrote that one.
Troop,
Maybe a dumb question, but if you are still pondering firing someone, or worse, bringing charges, why are you telegraphing these moves in your blog? Doesn't seem smart to me.
Or are we on tape delay?
A long time ago my old boss wanted/needed to fire Keith, but couldn't confront him. Just couldn't do it.
So, after crying in his beers with us in the bar after work one day, he decided to change all the locks in the building. When that was done, he gave each of us a new key, except for Keith.
Next morning my boss got to work especially early so he could intercept Keith and give him his new key.
What a wimp.
I was kidding.
And I am not some old school HR/Personnel control freak.
I am cool and get involved as little as possible.
I do get into compensation data though-I love that shit. What people are making, compared to the "market" and other companies with similar jobs.
I love it when the market for a particular job has changed so much over a very short time and as a result we have to give an entire group of people a huge pump in salary in order to retain them.
And I actually hate correction action or firing people.
Lastly, there is no tit looking while I am on the job. I am very professional and fun and funny at work.
I have a funny story. I was outside my office at work today, on Mass Ave-very fab and busy.
This muzzie woman parked her car and was digging through her purse to find change for the meter. There was another woman sitting about 10 feet away from me and the muzzie turned around at her and screamed, "do you know me". The woman politely said no. The muzzie then said "what are you staring at"? The woman politely said no. And then the muzzie woman said, "are you lesbian". The woman said no but if I wouldn't be staring at you. The muzzie then gave her the finger and stormed off. She was in the full beekeeper suit too-all you could see was her big glasses.
Usually the muzzie women around her look submissive but this thing was a fucking bitch.
I wanted to pull her beekeeper suit off and burn it right then and there.
tits.
Hey, Titus, are you feeling the earth move tonight?
4.6-M earthquake centered in ME shakes New England,
MamaM said...
Hey, Titus, are you feeling the earth move tonight?
I always feel the sky's tumblin' down....tumblin' down.
I am not worried about telegraphing it as this is a closed blog and the person who is the almost certain thief is not computer literate.
My daughter is monitoring the store by video in real time.
Also one of the employees who I am sure is not the culprit is sending hourly reports.
I hear what you are saying DBQ.
But one thing we decided is that we are not going to let the store run our lives. We had this vacation for our anniversary planned for quite some time.
What I am doing is giving the person enough rope to hang herself. The harangues that she is making in the store protesting her innocence pretty much shows her guilt. If you didn't do it you don't protest so much.
Thanks for the offer Nick. I will let you know what happens.
As to windbag's point...NYC is much worse than where he is. I will never win an unemployment claim unless I catch her dead to rights or make her uncomfortable enough to quit of her own accord.
So that is the plan. When I get back I am taking back her keys. Then the shit will hit the fan.
I just worry about your potential liability, Troop.
Oh yea, when you take her keys, change the locks. (Of course, don't give her one of the new keys. But you already knew that.)
What about my fucking feedback Troop?
Hello? I am a professional in this world.
She's a nig, isn't she?
I say pull her corn rolls out of the store and say you are done Tenisha.
tit.
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