TIME CARD THEFT SOLUTIONS
Case of the week: Time card theft & solutions
About two weeks ago I received a call from the Vice-President of Operations of a large company, who requested a meeting with me.
When I met with him, he told me about what he perceived to be a “lack of productivity” and revenue at his Los Angeles facility. The product and employees were plentiful but results of inventory going out the distribution chain was lackluster at best.
I know that 99% of the time, this means theft of either time, money or product (or a combination of these) is occurring.
After a cursory review of personnel, their files and a visit to the warehouse, our the operative theory of the two investigators assigned was that some sort of time card theft was occuring.
(The solution to time card theft is an easy one that has been around for years, and I’ll talk more about that later in this post.)
Our immediate investigative need was to try and pinpoint what was being done and by whom. We suggested a simple camera be installed (in an overt fashion) to watch the employees. It didn’t take long until the culprits were identified and their deceptive pattern of behavior were exposed.
Here is how the scheme played out:
The video revealed the suspects had somewhat of a “catch me if you can” attitude. At this stage, the employees had so worked the system so much, that some were not even showing up for work. We watched as employee #1 clocked in and (with no regard for the camera) pulled three other time cards and punched them a few seconds later. On that day, none of the employees that employee #1 had punched in even came to work.
There’s your problem right there: Big time loss of productivity and funds paid to non-working employees.
The next day, the video revealed the favor was returned to employee #1 and others. An employee, we will called #2, came in and punched his time card, that of employee #1 and two other co-workers. It was determined, once again, that the later three employees never showed up on that day.
Our investigators are all versed in the art of interview and interrogation. Each employee was brought into the company’s corporate office for an interview. All of them admitted their guilt without hesitation. Since law enforcement and/or the District Attorney’s office would not prosecute these individuals, they were all given the opportunity to resign. All of them did.
During the interviews, most employees admitted this started out initially as just covering for a “buddy” who was running late. When no consequences occurred, they then started to come in a “few hours” late. No one seemed to notice and this resulted in nearly everyone “taking a few days off a week.”
The next day I had a heart-to-heart with the President & CEO of the company. I asked him if he would like to get into the 21st century of time attendance. He totally was on board with making a change, something he unfortunately had fought for years.
Our agency does not sell any products. When we recommend them, there is no advantage for us. The client understands this is all about their bottom line.
Biometric technology that has advanced greatly in the last ten years. It involves the identification of employees based on their own physical characteristics. The system most commonly uses fingerprints, hands, eyes or facial features. Not only is this a valuable tool for keeping track of when employees are actually working, it can be used to monitor break and lunch times and to confirm working weekends and holidays.
The cost of the system and installation will easily be recouped by the employer in the savings of loss time and productivity. Many are coming around to see the value, but candidly, it is a very slow process.
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Thomas G. Martin
MARTINPI OPERATES THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES
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