Employee theft suspect wants paid

On October 6, 2003, we discovered five days' deposits (10/1-10/5 including original credit card receipts with full numbers and at least one check) had disappeared from the safe. We called the employee who worked both weekend days. He said the pouch was missing on October 5 and that he had left a note to that effect. This person had called me at home on October 5 about another matter and never mentioned the missing money. We did find the note on October 6, written on the back of the register tape from October 5, yet there was no money from that day with it.

His next scheduled work day was October 7. He neither showed up nor called to say he wouldn't be in. He still has a key. When I reported all employee hours to ADP on October 15, I told them to remove him from the list as he had not appeared or called. He called on October 17 (payday) and demanded to be paid. I told him I had him removed from the list since I hadn't heard from him in all that time and thus had no check for him. His story was he had been in jail and was unable to call. Am I supposed to add him back when I call in hours for the next pay period in order to get a check for him and then have him removed again? Am I allowed to hold his pay until the police complete their investigation and clear him? What if he's proved guilty?

I appreciate any help with this situation. We are most upset by it and quite unsure what to do. Thank you.

Comments

  • 5 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • I think you have to pay him.

    You may be right about this ee being involved with the missing money, but he is innocent until proven guilty. Don't compound the issue with needless FSLA violations, let the constabulary go after him for the theft. If he is proven guilty, which by the way will not happen as fast as you wish it, he will go to jail.

    Do you have any way of notifying the credit card holders about the missing receipts? You may be able to help mitigate any of their losses, and stop the ne'er-do-wells from tapping more money from those sources with a timely phone call or two.
  • Thanks for responding. Do you know if I'm in violation because the check will be two weeks late?

    All those credit card receipts are original. Even if I had copies, I'd have no way of reaching individuals from the info on the paper. I can call Discover Business Services and see if they can do anything - didn't think of that til now. They'd have a record of all transactions during that time period.
  • [font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 10-18-03 AT 04:19PM (CST)[/font][p]Probably, but I do not think it is a big deal. If a complaint was filed, they would likely say just pay him and the harm would be eliminated, but that does not mean you should wait. Pay him now so there won't be additional ramifications.
  • In NJ the ee must be paid for all hours worked. Even though he may have ripped you off, that will be decided by the courts down the road. So to protect the company from DOL infraction, pay him.
  • In WA state you would have to pay him. I ran into this with Manager at one of our retail sites. I was able to hold his finally paycheck, but I had to prove that he was the only one with access to the safe/ATM and we has to file charges with the local police. We were able to do both.

    No for some reason he is found not gulity we would be obligated to pay him at that time. Found gulity? We can continue to keep the money.

    This individual did turn us into the Dept. of Labor, but he was told he was out of luck until the trial.

    This incident happened almost a year ago, we are still waiting for a court date.


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