When Business owners discuss theft and loss prevention, the same subjects tend to stay front of mind:
Embezzlement, theft of product, petty theft, and fraud tend to take the spotlight when it comes to discussion and prevention measures. That is no surprise, seeing as more than 40% of employees admit to participating in theft of product, or petty theft of supplies, with a total cost of around $50 billion dollars in the US annually.1
Despite seeming enormous, the losses incurred by more traditional forms of theft may be dwarfed by an even more widespread phenomenon: Time Theft
What is Time Theft?
Time theft is any of a collection of activities that results in employees of a business being paid for activities or time that they have not completed, including:
Buddy Punching: Punching in for friends and colleagues who may or may not be present.
Time Card Fraud: Exaggerating time worked, an employee claiming they started early or worked late.
Extended Lunches/Breaks: Routinely taking elongated breaks and lunches.
Overtime Fraud: Routinely working additional hours to receive overtime pay, despite a lack of authorization.
Why Does it Matter?
These may seem like minor infractions, however the costs add up:
43% of employees self-reported exaggerating time sheet hours, buddy punching, and taking extended lunches and breaks.
On average, employees who report extra time on their timesheets steal 4.5 hours of wages each week. That is nearly 6 weeks of wages over a year of false timesheets.
If your $20 an hour employee is engaging in the average amount of time theft, you are losing $4680 in stolen wages to a single employee in a year.
“A single Employee can cost an unaware business up to $5000 a year in stolen wages. Now multiply that by the number of employees at your business.”
This is not to say that every single employee at a business is ruthlessly stealing time. However it does show that just a handful of bad actors can have a significant impact on your business. A business with just 10 employees, on average, will experience about $20,124 in wage theft a year.
That is $20,124 in revenue out of your businesses pockets, preventing expansion, reinvestment, or potentially even benefits out of the pockets of your trustworthy employees.
What can I do?
The bottom line is that these activities, in small doses, make up a normal work day. However when established in a culture of unaccountability, can run rampant, and cost your business thousands. Tackling time theft is not a simple task, and involves shifting the attitudes of your employees, taking a more active role in the culture of your workplace, and listening to employee feedback regarding these changes.
1. Open Communication
Discuss the problem with your employees. They are the ones who are your closest allies in alleviating time theft issues, and if they feel their concerns are being heard, they will be less likely to take advantage of the benefits provided to them.
Use this time to discuss a clear time theft policy, outlining which activities you consider time theft, as well as what activities (Regularly scheduled breaks, office chit chat) are not. Illustrate how these small activities add up to the bottom line.
Outlining clear expectations of what constitutes time theft can go a long way. You’re telling employees off the bat that you trust them enough to communicate.
2. Address the culture
Just because you don’t see the culture of your workplace, doesn’t mean it does not exist. It means that you have lost control of the culture. Factor in employee concerns with time theft policies, and address concerns on an individual level. Remember, employees that feel heard and accomodated, are much less likely to engage in time theft.
3. Empower yourself with an access management system
The bottom line is that as a manager, the more information you can glean about your workspace the better.
What if you could confirm every employee’s punch in?
What if you could visually manage your employees activities in trouble spots to virtually eliminate buddy punching?
What if you could log and track trouble employees schedules to confirm attendance?
What if you could reduce your time theft costs by up to 75%
This is where SecurU can help empower managers, owners, and facilitators to take back control of their businesses.
We want to enable anyone who runs a business to help prevent time theft.
What is Access control?
The short answer is that an access control system is a combination of solutions that makes it simple for business owners to control, and verify who has access to the premises of their business. These solutions can include customized keycards, video verification, and camera monitoring systems to help ensure peace of mind that employees are where they should be, when they should be, with no surprises.
The bottom line is that every business is different, with different requirements, to solve unique problems. However, the info is in: Businesses that adopt access control systems experience a reduction in time theft costs of up to 75%.
What solution is right for your business?
This is where we shine. No two businesses are alike, however big box security retailers are in the business of selling out-of-box solutions. Like hiring a partner for any facet of your business, your needs are unique. A poorly fitted security solution may only serve to inconvenience yourself and employees, and can hurt productivity.
This is why we have a team of security experts on staff to build a custom solution that fits your needs, your budget, and your timeline.
We work with the top names in Security: Alarm.com, Kantech, Dahua, and DSC to build a cost-saving, peace of mind delivering solution that allows business owners to stamp out time theft, and take back control of their business.
Ready to take back control of your Business?
Schedule a free consultation with one of our security experts today:
