The adventure usually begins with a notice from the bank that a deposit was either short or is missing.  It triggers questions of who was supposed to have taken it to the bank and when.  When the accountability for the deposit is determined, the employee in question undoubtedly swears that they followed deposit protocols to the letter and denounces the bank records.  Requests are made to the bank to inspect their night depository including the chute and all deposit records.  If applicable, recorded video may be viewed to determine when the particular deposit in question was prepared and removed from the store.  It’s a long, arduous process.  Trust levels are threatened, feeling can be hurt and false accusations could lead to civil action.

Last week the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced a proposal to ban pre-employment background checks by employers. The proposal was in response to the heads and spokespersons of several social agencies that prepare convicts to re-enter the workforce. The EEOC chair, Amy Solomon stated in a press release, “Today, we had the opportunity to add to our knowledge of this issue and learn about the practical ways employers have been able to balance business concerns with the need to ensure that employment practices are fair and non-discriminatory.”

I met with a potential client this past week.  It was a referral from a current client that knows I can help this business with their many in house “issues”.  The manager of the business said that he suspected an employee of stealing and perhaps bringing drugs into the workplace.  When I asked, “What makes you say that?”  He then related that the employee in question changes addresses, moving from friend to friend.  One of those former roommates told him that his employee frequently brought home unpaid merchandise for them all to share.  There were also unexplained cash shortages on the community cash register during the shifts the employee was working. 

He was a great find. An experienced fast food manager walked in and applied for an open shift manager position. He interviewed well and obviously had a great deal of experience. All of the favorable first impressions were verified with a phone call to a former district manager of the applicant, who gave a raving endorsement of his abilities, aptitudes and experience. “We hate to lose him” was the most memorable comment by the former supervisor.

Two employees working late at night for a franchisee of a national fast food (QSR) chain decided to post a video of themselves on You Tube.  What they thought was a good idea at the time was videoing themselves tampering with food products.  Disgusting, unsanitary, vile… you get the idea.  It received over 60,000 hits on You Tube and was viewed by millions more on several major network and cable newscasts. The employees were promptly fired and the information flowing out from the location ensured the public that the food was not served.  It was also determined that one of the employees was a convicted sex offender.  The highly embarrassed franchisee admitted that there was no pre-employment screening process in place – not uncommon in the industry.