Here's a Quick Way to Prevent Theft in the Workplace

Unless you have a magician on staff, your employees are most likely responsible for making office supplies disappear. How much is this type of magic act costing your business?

According to a study conducted by the Ipsos Reid Corporation for Ernst and Young-the average employer spends about $1500 on office supplies due to loss from theft. The same report goes on to state the cost can even triple if upper-level management are the ones responsible for the theft. All in all those pads of papers, post-its, and pens going home with employees cost the average business at least $19,000 per year.

Though theft is hardly ever discussed in the workplace the latest ADP Pre-Employment Screening Report found:

• 5% of all employees had a criminal past within the last seven years. With construction jobs seekers averaging a rate of 8% and those in health care related professions having a rate of 3%
• More than 35% of all employees showed one or more violations and convictions for traffic related offenses.
• About 46% of all employees had some type of financial judgment issued against them or pending.

Not surprisingly, more than 80% of all business now performs comprehensive background checks on all potential employees, compared to less than half that number 10 years ago.

Still not convinced that the cost of background checks is a wise investment for your company? Consider the statistics associated with different types of work place fraud as reported in the Ipsos-Reid report:

• 37% Theft of office supplies
• 18% Claiming extra hours worked
• 13% Stealing product/money
• 12% Pocketing money from cash sales
• 8% Inflating expense accounts
• 2% Cooking books
• 6% Kickbacks
• 2% Improper use of company vehicle
• 1% Creating phony invoices
• 21% of workers were aware of fraud in their workplaces.

The average cost of a comprehensive back ground check is less than $40.