Labour Law expert Sonja Vorster
Theft and fraud by employees have become such a common occurrence and happens in so many organisations that the figures are shocking.
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Many cannot survive and have to close their doors, and many take years to recover. Managers, mid-management and even junior employees seem to be dipping their fingers into the cookie jar all too often. I have spoken many times to these employees and asked why, and many seemed to think they were entitled, as they felt they should be paid more.
Some started off with the full intention that they were just borrowing the money and would pay it back. However, that never happens, as it all starts to snowball.
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And others said they did it just because they could and it was easy.
All too often, the person just quietly leaves the organisation by either being dismissed or asked to resign and a settlement agreement is reached to pay back the money the person enriched themselves with at the cost of so many.
Unfortunately, it is not all the money, as organisations seldom go back far enough.
And then the perpetrator can go off and still claim unemployment benefits, and go work elsewhere, and the pattern is often repeated.
In most cases, I have found hesitation in companies to prosecute the individual. Who has time for a long, drawn-out criminal matter in our busy lives? Why expose the company’s name?
Why allow the embarrassment that the perpetrator managed to get away with theft and fraud over a long period of time?
Why name and shame the person who stole the money and defrauded the company? They are members of the community, after all. Shame, they also have a family.
A pity the perpetrator had no concern about helping themselves to the organisation’s money.
And at the end of the day, if the person pays back the money, no one has lost anything. Right? Wrong!
If you do the crime, you MUST do the time AND pay back the money you stole.
Why? Because theft and fraud affects every single individual in the organisation; from the customer to the most junior worker.
A very hard line MUST be taken and the perpetrator, once identified, must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Not only as a preventative measure, but as a warning to any others busy with the same crime in the workplace.
It needs to be a zero-tolerance policy, especially as our country is riddled with crime.
For any organisation to just survive in our economy today, no other viewpoint can be acceptable.
In most cases when large amounts of theft and fraud come to light, it has been found that it has been a long, ongoing process.
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In investigating fraud and theft cases over the years, I have often found that companies and organisations are hesitant to go back and find the starting point. It is very important to go back as far as possible, as it never starts off with big amounts. The perpetrators start testing the systems with small, insignificant amounts. As confidence grows, the amounts grow larger and larger. The arrogance and confidence of the perpetrator become so blatant and it is at these times that they start making mistakes and it is picked up. Unfortunately, the damage has already been done.
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