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This topic comprises 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5
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Author
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Topic: Firing employees who steal
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Michael Hunt
Film Handler
Posts: 63
From: Gloucester, Gloucestershire, UK
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 03-26-2001 12:26 PM
We had a similar situation at our cinema over a year ago.One of the Box Office manageresses (we have two) had taken to borrowing money from the till for lunch, and paying it back when she returned from lunch having got money out of the bank whilst at lunch.
Because she was doing this, it encouraged the other Box Office staff to do the same. At a three monthly cash audit of the Box Office by our external auditors, the petty cash float was found to be down, as was the float for the Box Office. As the Box office was understaffed, the excuse was used that there were a lot of ticket refunds unaccounted for for a three week run of a Pantomime at a local community theatre that our Cinema printed tickets for, and also provided a City Centre & Telephone Box Office for. The auditors weren't happy with this, and wanted all sales to be reconciled before their next visit. They also suggested that Petty Cash be handled in future by my department (Building Operations) as we were the major users of it. I think at this time it was suspected that someone in the Box Office was stealing. Anyway, about a month before the next audit was due, two of the Box Office assistants informally reported to our administrator that they thought money was going missing from the till. Refunds had been attributed to their shift, and yet they had not made any refunds.
All Box Office staff were reminded of the forthcoming audit, and told informally that if they had borrowed any money from the till in the past, that they were not to do so in future. Anyway, I'm screening the last night of Almondovar's 'All about my Mother' to about a third full house on a Sunday night, finish the screening, break the film down, and start two days off. When I return on the Wednesday afternoon I am asked by our Administrator if there was a problem with the Film on the Sunday - not that I know of I reply, and tell her that some of the staff were in watching that screening, and had complimented it in the Centre's Bar.
It turns out that all of the tickets for this screening had been refunded, as a result of technical difficulties with the film and projection equipment - but that this was done on the following Tuesday, when the Box Office Manageress was working.
Now we have a computerised box office system, so were able to trace who the tickets had allegedly been refunded to, after a couple of calls to customers asking if they had enjoyed the film, and would they be interested in joining our frequent attender scheme 'Screensaver' we discovered that it appeared that no customer had received a refund, which suggested that it had to be a member of staff.
As it appeared to be the Box Office Manageress, she was called into the office, and suspended on full pay whilst further investigations continued.
Two weeks later she was due to be interviewed by the investigating panel, but was too ill to attend - she had had a breakdown.
It was three months before she was fit to be questioned by the panel - and then unable to remember her actions. She was given a written warning, and permitted to return to work, but not at our premises - she was to be redeployed elsewhere in the organisation, but no other department would take her, so she resigned. The auditors would not report how much they thought had gone astray, and in view of the persons breakdown decided that it would not be appropriate at this late stage to prosecute.
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Christopher Duvall
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 500
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 12-23-2002 12:40 AM
I just recently had to deal with a box office scam. As usual, the employees were caught and swiftly terminated. However, this time around it was the most heartbreaking experience I had to go through. The ring of 6 employees busted, half of them were my best floor supervisors that I was considering for management. A good portion of the scams and thefts I have cleaned up over the years have had this in common. It always hurts when you have to fire what you think are your best employees and managers for dipping in the till.
However, everyonce in a while you have that one idiot that comes along that makes it all right. It will be that one employee that just grates your nerve like a cheese grater on the back of your thigh that royaly tries make off with the cookie jar but just screws up. Unfortunately, I cannot do this anymore due to the policies in place, but I used to make examples of said idiots through public firings and/or arrests at staff meetings.
I could go on and on about this topic, but more often that not, I have been emotionally beat down. However, that last 2 years in Vegas, I have become more callous to these events. It seems that somebody is always waiting in the wings with knife with your name on it.
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Tim Reed
Better Projection Pays
Posts: 5246
From: Northampton, PA
Registered: Sep 1999
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posted 12-24-2002 02:42 PM
The one and only time I was a manager was in a drive-in for Chakeres. This theatre had lost money for 7-8 years because of dishonest managers, so I was anxious to get in there and make it turn a profit.
Most of the staff were faithful return employees -- some had been there several years. The concession manager, who I knew when I was the projectionist at this theatre in the 70s, had been there for 18 years. I only had to hire one or two new employees for the start of the '89 season.
The first several weeks went great. I'd stopped the flow of stowaways and fence cutters, who'd been so used to having free reign to sneak into the theatre for so long, that there were more people coming in the back and inside trunks than at the boxoffice. (Calling the police and pressing charges every time you find someone sneaking in soon sends the message that you do not see it as a joke or game.)
Shortages were nil, and everything balanced perfectly. The concession made money. The owner and GM of the circuit congratulated me on being the first to turn a profit at this location in years. I got a bonus. It was too perfect.
Suddenly, the weekly inventory started coming up short. I met with my concession manager to discuss the situation, and I asked her to keep an eye on the register, in case the cashier was being dishonest. After a week, she saw nothing and we still came up short. Then, I put her on the register full-time for the next week and that week it came out perfectly.
After taking my concession manager off the register and putting the cashiers back on, it started coming up short again. I began taking nightly inventories to try and find a pattern: who was on the register, what menu item price the discrepancy was a multiple of (in case of simple error), etc. The nightly inventories showed no shortages and, of course, that week balanced out, too.
Every time I started to zero-in on something, it would balance out. Then, as suddenly as the problem popped up, it disappeared. The rest of the season went without a hitch and there were no more shortages.
Later, it dawned on me (just like Columbo): it was the concession manager! I remembered dropping by the theatre one afternoon to do something in the office. As I was there, the concession manager (who, along with her husband, also cleaned the theatre) walked by and picked up an odd popcorn cup from the top of a refrigerator, saying something like "I meant to throw that away, somebody left it outside the door here." For a split second, I remember thinking it was odd for her to say that, I hadn't even noticed it sitting up there. She'd always done a good job of cleaning and had been there for years, I trusted her. But I didn't put two and two together.
What she was doing was picking up (mostly) clean large popcorn cups from the field, putting them in the inventory to be resold, and pocketing the money when she gave the cashier a break. The shortages occurred when she would remove too much money from the till.
I took another job after that, but I saw this lady several years later and asked her why, especially since we'd known each other for so long. Without me saying how I knew, she apologized. She said she was in financial trouble and felt it necessary to do something, but then she stopped when she saw it was casting me in an unfavorable light with the company.
The MORAL OF THE STORY: never have the same people who clean your theatre also work your concession!
It's ironic, the GM had told me this very thing when I came on board. "NEVER have your janitor work the concession." I politely asked him, then, would he prefer I remove this lady from the concession job or janitorial position. He said, "Oh no, she's been here for 18 years, we trust her."
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Ian Price
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1714
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 12-25-2002 03:43 PM
All states (except Montana) recognize at-will employment, that is, that an employee is hired at-will and that employment can be terminated at the will of either party. This applies to managers, supervisors, staff... all employees.
LABOR CODE
SECTION 2920-2929
2920. Every employment is terminated by any of the following:
(a) Expiration of its appointed term.
(b) Extinction of its subject.
(c) Death of the employee.
(d) The employee's legal incapacity to act as such.
2921. Every employment in which the power of the employee is not
coupled with an interest in its subject is terminated by notice to
the employee of either of the following:
(a) The death of the employer.
(b) The legal incapacity of the employer to contract.
2922. An employment, having no specified term, may be terminated at
the will of either party on notice to the other. Employment for a
specified term means an employment for a period greater than one
month.
2923. An employee, unless the term of his service has expired or
unless he has a right to discontinue it at any time without notice,
shall continue his service after notice of the death or incapacity of
his employer, so far as is necessary to protect from serious injury
the interests of the employer's successor in interest, until a
reasonable time after notice of the facts has been communicated to
such successor. The successor shall compensate the employee for such
service according to the terms of the contract of employment.
2924. An employment for a specified term may be terminated at any
time by the employer in case of any willful breach of duty by the
employee in the course of his employment, or in case of his habitual
neglect of his duty or continued incapacity to perform it.
2925. An employment for a specified term may be terminated by the
employee at any time in case of any wilful or permanent breach of the
obligations of his employer to him as an employee.
2926. An employee who is not employed for a specified term and who
is dismissed by his employer is entitled to compensation for services
rendered up to the time of such dismissal.
2927. An employee who is not employed for a specified term and who
quits the service of his employer is entitled to compensation for
services rendered up to the time of such quitting.
2928. No deduction from the wages of an employee on account of his
coming late to work shall be made in excess of the proportionate wage
which would have been earned during the time actually lost, but for
a loss of time less than thirty minutes, a half hour's wage may be
deducted.
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.. Michael Hunt.. Ever see the movie PORKY'S?? 
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