13 Mar Employee Misconduct: 3 Early Warning Signs
Are you noticing suspicious discrepancies in your company’s profits? Are you finding that confidential information is being leaked outside of your organization? If so, it’s possible that employee misconduct is at play.
Unfortunately, employee misconduct can be difficult to prove and detect. However, there are several warning signs that may indicate such behavior. In this article, we’ll discuss five red flags that suggest you may have a case of employee misconduct on your hands.
1. Vendors and Customers Claiming They’ve Already Paid
One significant sign of employee misconduct related to finances is when vendors and customers claim they’ve already paid for goods or services. While one or two instances may be due to an oversight on either party’s part, frequent occurrences could indicate something more nefarious at play.
An employee might log a payment to a vendor but direct the balance to themselves. Alternatively, if customers claim they’ve already paid a bill, an employee could be taking the money and marking it as paid.
2. Re-occurring Amounts Suddenly Change
Every month, certain expenses remain relatively consistent – bills for services, payroll costs, inventory purchases – until they suddenly spike or dip unexpectedly. This sudden change could indicate an employee in finance has decided to increase the amounts for bills while skimming some off the top for themselves.
Alternatively, if amounts paid out decrease without explanation, an embezzling employee might have been pocketing the difference in payroll payouts.
3. Changes in Employee Working Patterns
Changes in working hours or patterns can also signify potential misconduct by employees. Perhaps they start working late nights alone or come into work early before anyone else arrives; this could mean they’re conducting business activities they don’t want others to see.
You might also find employees requesting permission to work alone more often than usual or attempting to access restricted areas or confidential information physically or digitally without justification.
Hire a Private Investigator for Employee Misconduct Proof
To protect yourself legally and avoid making false accusations against innocent employees (which can lead to lawsuits), hiring a professional private investigator is crucial when dealing with suspected cases of employee misconduct.
At Robert Caswell Investigations (RCI Investigations), our experienced team specializes in handling sensitive cases involving corporate investigations like these ones – contact us today if you need help uncovering any potential wrongdoing within your organization!